Pain, Trauma, and the Path to Healing

Pain has a way of stopping us in our tracks. It interrupts our routines, changes how we move, alters our mood, and even affects how we see ourselves. For me, no pain has tested me more than sciatica. I’ve had injuries before — pulled muscles, strains, bumps, and bruises — but nerve pain was unlike anything I had ever experienced. It didn’t just hurt my body; it rattled my confidence, created fear, and made me feel like I was falling apart from the inside out.

That experience taught me something important: pain isn’t just physical. It shows up in different forms — muscular, structural, nerve-related, emotional — and every type impacts not only our bodies but also our minds and even our spirits.

In this article, I want to break down the different kinds of pain, how they affect us, how trauma ties into all of this, and most importantly, how healing is possible.

Not all pain is the same. The body communicates through different “languages” of pain, and learning to understand them can help us respond better.

Muscle pain usually feels like soreness, stiffness, or fatigue. It often shows up after a workout, a long day of physical labor, or even just tension from stress and poor posture. The good news is that most muscular pain heals with rest, stretching, and gentle movement. But when ignored, it can lead to compensation patterns — where other muscles take over, causing more imbalance and stress in the body.

Bone pain is deeper. It can feel like a throbbing ache or a sharp stab when you move. Think fractures, arthritis, or issues with bone density. This type of pain often creates fear of movement, which can then limit daily life and lead to muscle weakness or stiffness around the joint or bone.

Nerve pain is its own category. It’s sharp, burning, electric, or sometimes numbing. Sciatica is a classic example — pain radiating down the leg, sometimes paired with tingling or weakness. Nerve pain is unique because even after tissue has healed, the nerves can still fire off signals, making the brain think the body is still in danger. That’s what makes it so relentless. It can convince you that something permanent is happening, even when the body is actually trying to repair itself.

While we don’t always think of emotional pain in the same category as physical pain, the brain does. The same areas light up when you’re grieving, rejected, or heartbroken as when you stub your toe. Emotional pain can feel like heaviness in the chest, a pit in the stomach, or exhaustion that doesn’t go away. And just like physical pain, it can weaken the immune system and throw the body into stress mode.

When I was dealing with sciatica, it wasn’t just about the pain itself. It was the way it played with my mind. I started wondering if I would ever get better. Was my body breaking down for good? Was this the new normal?

That’s the trap of nerve pain: it lingers, it flares, and it convinces you that you’re stuck. Unlike a pulled muscle that clearly heals, nerve pain heals slowly, and often in waves. One day you feel better, the next day you’re back at square one. That up-and-down cycle can be discouraging.

But here’s the truth: nerves do heal. The brain and body can rewire. It takes patience, resilience, and support, but healing is possible.

Pain doesn’t always come from an injury. Sometimes it comes from trauma — experiences that overwhelm our nervous system and leave a lasting imprint. Trauma isn’t just “in your head.” It’s in your body. It can keep your nervous system on high alert, trigger pain responses, and make healing harder.

Thankfully, there are powerful ways to work through trauma:

• EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing): Uses eye movements or tapping to help the brain reprocess traumatic memories and move them out of the “stuck” place.
• Brainspotting: Identifies “spots” in your visual field that connect to where trauma is stored in the brain. It allows you to process deep emotional pain in a safe way.
• EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique): Also known as tapping, this method combines acupressure with affirmations to release stress and reframe thought patterns.
• Talk Therapy: Having a safe space to process experiences, tell your story, and reframe old patterns.
• Faith-Based Renewal: Scripture reminds us to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Practices like prayer, meditation, silence, and solitude provide grounding and spiritual strength that therapy alone cannot offer.

Healing from trauma is about more than revisiting memories. It’s about retraining the brain and body to feel safe again.

Pain and trauma both activate stress in the body. Stress isn’t just a mental state — it’s a full-body event. When we’re under chronic stress, our adrenal glands release cortisol.

Cortisol is useful in short bursts — it helps us respond to danger. But when cortisol stays high for weeks, months, or years, it becomes destructive:

• Breaks down muscle tissue.
• Stores fat around the belly.
• Disrupts hormones.
• Weakens immunity.
• Interferes with sleep and digestion.

It becomes a vicious cycle: pain raises stress, stress raises cortisol, and cortisol makes the body more fragile.

Healing requires a reset — not just in the body but in how we live day-to-day.

• Spiritual disciplines: Practices like silence, solitude, prayer, scripture, and Sabbath rest create space for renewal. When we don’t make time to rest, the body will eventually force us to.
• Nutrition: Whole foods, less processed sugar, and an anti-inflammatory approach support the body’s healing. Gut health directly affects mood and hormones.
• Movement: Gentle stretching, walking, and breathing exercises regulate the nervous system without pushing it into overdrive.
• Sleep: Rest isn’t a luxury. It’s a requirement for nerve healing, hormone balance, and recovery.
• Slowing down: In today’s culture, slowing down feels impossible. But healing rarely happens at full speed.

Healing doesn’t mean rushing back to who you were before pain. It means building a stronger foundation so your body, mind, and spirit can function together in harmony.

Pain is universal, but it’s also personal. Whether it’s muscle pain, bone pain, nerve pain, or the ache of trauma, it leaves an imprint. But pain doesn’t have to define you. With time, with the right practices, and with faith, healing is possible.

If you’re walking through pain right now, know this: your body is not broken beyond repair. Your brain can rewire, your nervous system can calm, your spirit can be renewed. Pain may shape your journey, but it doesn’t get the final word.