You have seen doctors. Run tests. Tried medications. The results come back normal, but your body still hurts. Your jaw clenches. Your stomach churns. Your shoulders feel like concrete.
Medical professionals tell you it is stress. They suggest exercise, better sleep, or anxiety medication. These help temporarily, but the symptoms return.
The problem might not be stress. It might be unresolved trauma living in your body.
Trauma does not only affect your mind. It changes how your nervous system functions and where you hold tension. Your body remembers what your mind tries to forget.
How trauma stores in your body
When you experience trauma, your nervous system activates fight, flight, or freeze responses. These responses prepare your body to survive danger through specific physical changes.
Your muscles tense to run or fight. Your digestion shuts down to redirect energy. Your breathing becomes shallow to stay quiet. Your heart rate increases to pump blood to your limbs.
In a healthy response, you use this activation. You run from danger. You fight off a threat. After the danger passes, your nervous system releases the activation and returns to baseline.
Trauma occurs when the activation does not get released. The threat was inescapable. The danger was ongoing. The freeze response prevented action. Your body prepared to fight or flee but never completed the cycle.
The incomplete survival response stays in your nervous system. Your muscles remain tense. Your breathing stays shallow. Your digestive system keeps redirecting resources away from normal function.
You no longer remember why your body activated this response, but your body continues holding the pattern.
Why doctors cannot find what is wrong
Standard medical tests measure disease and physical damage. Blood work, imaging, and physical exams identify tumors, infections, broken bones, and organ dysfunction.
Trauma does not create these measurable problems. It creates functional problems. Your organs work but they work in a stressed state. Your muscles are healthy but they are chronically contracted. Your nervous system functions but it functions as if you are still in danger.
A doctor sees test results that fall within normal ranges. They see no structural damage. From a medical perspective, nothing is wrong.
But you feel the wrongness every day. The pain is real. The symptoms are real. The impact on your life is real.
This is the gap between medical diagnosis and lived experience. Your body is telling the truth about what happened to you, but medical tests are not designed to measure that truth.
Seven physical symptoms of unresolved trauma
1. Chronic muscle tension that does not release
Your neck, shoulders, and jaw feel tight constantly. Massage provides temporary relief but the tension returns within hours or days. You wake up with your jaw clenched. Your shoulders sit up near your ears without you noticing.
This tension is your body maintaining a protective posture. When you experienced trauma, your muscles contracted to defend you. They never received the signal that the danger passed.
The tension often concentrates in specific areas:
Jaw and neck: Holding back screams or words you could not say. Your body froze your voice and throat.
Shoulders and upper back: Bracing for impact. Protecting your chest and vital organs from attack.
Hips and pelvis: Storing sexual trauma or birth trauma. Protecting reproductive organs or holding the freeze response.
Lower back: Carrying the weight of responsibility or threat you could not escape. Holding yourself upright when you wanted to collapse.
2. Digestive problems with no medical explanation
Irritable bowel syndrome. Chronic nausea. Constipation alternating with diarrhea. Stomach pain that appears without connection to what you eat.
Your digestive system shuts down during threat. Blood flow redirects to your muscles and heart. Digestion is not a priority when you are in danger.
If your nervous system stays in threat mode, your digestion never returns to full function. You experience symptoms that doctors diagnose as IBS or functional dyspepsia, which are medical terms for “your gut is not working right but we cannot find disease.”
Research published in Psychosomatic Medicine in 2016 found that people with histories of trauma show altered gut motility and increased visceral sensitivity even decades after the traumatic event.
3. Chronic pain that moves or does not respond to treatment
Pain in your back, hips, or limbs that has no clear injury source. The pain moves from one location to another. Physical therapy and pain medication provide minimal relief.
This is your nervous system creating pain signals as a warning system. Your body learned that the world is dangerous. Pain keeps you vigilant and protective.
The pain is not imaginary. Brain scans show that people with trauma histories have altered pain processing. Your brain genuinely perceives pain even when there is no tissue damage causing it.
A 2018 study in the Journal of Pain Research found that childhood trauma correlates with chronic pain conditions in adulthood, independent of injury or disease. The trauma itself creates pain sensitivity.
4. Shallow breathing or feeling like you cannot take a full breath
You sigh frequently. Yawn even when not tired. Feel like you are not getting enough air. When you try to breathe deeply, your chest feels tight or restricted.
Shallow breathing is a freeze response pattern. When animals freeze to avoid predator detection, they breathe minimally. Your body adopted this pattern during trauma and never switched back to normal breathing.
The consequences compound over time. Shallow breathing reduces oxygen to your brain and organs. This increases anxiety, creates fatigue, and impairs clear thinking. Your body misinterprets the low oxygen as danger, which perpetuates the shallow breathing cycle.
5. Unexplained fatigue that sleep does not fix
You sleep eight hours but wake exhausted. Caffeine barely helps. You push through the day and collapse at night, only to wake tired again.
Maintaining a constant state of nervous system activation drains energy. Your body uses resources to stay alert for danger that is not coming. This is like running your car engine in high gear while parked. You burn fuel without going anywhere.
Trauma also disrupts sleep architecture. You might sleep for hours but never reach deep restorative sleep stages. Your nervous system stays partially activated even during sleep, scanning for threats.
6. Skin problems that flare with stress
Eczema, psoriasis, hives, or rashes that worsen during difficult periods. Dermatologists treat the symptoms but the conditions recur.
Your skin is connected to your nervous system through the same embryonic tissue. Stress and trauma activate immune responses that manifest as skin inflammation.
A 2014 review in Clinical Reviews in Allergy and Immunology found that psychological stress and trauma history correlate with inflammatory skin conditions. The skin literally expresses what you cannot say.
7. Immune system dysfunction
Frequent colds and infections. Slow healing from injuries. Autoimmune conditions or chronic inflammation markers in blood work.
Chronic nervous system activation suppresses immune function. Cortisol and other stress hormones reduce your body’s ability to fight infection and regulate inflammation.
Research in Psychoneuroendocrinology shows that early life trauma predicts immune dysfunction in adulthood. Your body remains in a state of inflammatory alert, which exhausts immune resources over time.
Why your body holds trauma instead of releasing it
Several factors prevent your nervous system from completing the trauma response cycle and returning to baseline.
The trauma was inescapable. You could not fight or flee. Your body prepared for action but had no outlet. The activation had nowhere to go.
You were alone. Mammals regulate nervous systems through social connection. If you experienced trauma without support, you had no external regulation to help you calm.
You dissociated. Dissociation disconnects you from physical sensations. Your body went through the trauma but your consciousness was not present to process it. The experience remains unintegrated.
The threat was ongoing. Childhood abuse, domestic violence, or long-term danger kept your nervous system activated for extended periods. It learned to stay in survival mode as a baseline state.
You never felt safe enough to release. Releasing trauma activation requires a sense of safety. If your environment remained unsafe after the trauma, your body correctly assessed that it needed to stay defensive.
The difference between trauma and stress
People often use these words interchangeably. They are different.
Stress is a response to demands that tax your resources. Work deadlines. Financial pressure. Relationship conflict. Stress activates your nervous system but resolves when the stressor ends or you find resources to cope.
Trauma is a response to an event or ongoing situation that overwhelms your capacity to cope. The experience is too much, too fast, or too intense for your nervous system to process. Instead of resolving, the activation remains stuck.
Stress causes temporary physical symptoms that resolve with rest. Trauma causes chronic physical symptoms that persist even when you are resting.
Many people minimize their experiences by saying “I was not traumatized, just stressed.” But if your body is still holding the response years later, it was trauma.
What your body needs to release trauma
Your body does not need you to analyze or understand the trauma. It needs you to complete the interrupted survival response.
Physical discharge. The activation stored in your muscles and nervous system needs an outlet. This happens through movement, shaking, breathwork, or other somatic practices that allow energy to move through and out of your body.
Felt safety. Your nervous system needs to experience safety in the present moment. This is different from knowing intellectually that you are safe. Your body needs to feel safety through slow breathing, gentle touch, or calm presence.
Connection. Humans regulate nervous systems through co-regulation with other safe humans. Healing trauma requires the presence of another person who can stay calm and present while you process.
Time and patience. Trauma that took years to develop does not release in a single session. Your body needs repeated experiences of completing activation cycles and returning to calm.
Why talk therapy alone often does not resolve physical symptoms
Traditional talk therapy focuses on the story of what happened. You describe events. Analyze patterns. Gain insight into how trauma shaped your beliefs and behaviors.
This helps with the cognitive and emotional aspects of trauma. It does not directly address what is stored in your body.
Talking about trauma while sitting still in a chair does not discharge the physical activation. Your body prepared to run or fight. Sitting and talking does not complete that response.
Somatic approaches work with the body directly. Breathwork activates and releases the nervous system. Movement completes interrupted fight or flight responses. Body awareness helps you locate and release held tension.
Many people benefit from combining talk therapy with somatic work. The therapy addresses the story and meaning. The somatic work addresses what lives in tissues and nervous system.
Frequently asked questions
Can trauma cause physical symptoms years or decades later?
Yes. Trauma affects nervous system functioning and stress response patterns. These changes persist until addressed. People often develop physical symptoms in their 30s, 40s, or later from childhood trauma. The body held the activation for years until other stressors pushed it past its capacity to compensate.
How do I know if my symptoms are trauma or just aging or genetics?
Trauma symptoms typically correlate with stress and emotional states. They worsen during difficult periods and improve slightly during calm periods. Aging and genetic conditions follow predictable progression independent of emotional state. If your symptoms fluctuate with stress or seem connected to emotional experiences, consider trauma as a contributing factor.
Will releasing trauma make the physical symptoms disappear?
Sometimes completely, sometimes partially. Releasing stored trauma removes one source of nervous system dysfunction. If trauma is the primary cause of your symptoms, they may resolve fully. If trauma is one factor among several, symptoms improve but may not disappear entirely. Most people experience significant relief even if symptoms do not vanish completely.
Is breathwork safe for trauma release?
Breathwork is safe when facilitated by a trained practitioner who understands trauma. It should be approached gradually with attention to your nervous system’s capacity. People with certain medical conditions including cardiovascular disease, seizure disorders, or severe psychiatric conditions should consult a doctor before doing breathwork. Never do intense breathwork alone if you have a trauma history.
Can I release trauma on my own or do I need professional help?
Some trauma releases naturally with self-care practices like gentle movement, journaling, and nervous system regulation techniques. Complex trauma, early childhood trauma, or trauma with severe dissociation typically requires professional support. A trauma-informed practitioner provides the safety and regulation needed to process without retraumatization.
How long does it take to release trauma from the body?
This varies based on the type of trauma, how long you have held it, and what resources you have for healing. Some people experience significant shifts within weeks of starting somatic work. Others need months or years of consistent practice. Trauma release is not linear. You may have periods of rapid change followed by plateaus.
What is the difference between breathwork and meditation for trauma?
Meditation typically calms the nervous system and builds present-moment awareness. Breathwork activates the nervous system to bring stored material to the surface for release. Both serve healing but in different ways. Many people benefit from combining both practices.
Can exercise release trauma?
Exercise can help discharge activation if done mindfully. Running, dancing, or other vigorous movement allows your body to complete fight or flight responses. However, intense exercise without awareness can also reinforce dissociation. Trauma-informed movement practices that emphasize internal awareness tend to work better than pure cardiovascular exercise.
Address trauma stored in your body
If you recognize these physical symptoms in yourself, your body is communicating something important. Medication and conventional medical treatment may manage symptoms but do not address the source.
Breathwork and meditation provide tools to release stored trauma and regulate your nervous system. I facilitate breathwork sessions and teach meditation practices in San Anselmo, California and online.
Learn about breathwork for trauma release or explore meditation training to begin addressing what your body has been holding.
Contact me at kslezak304@gmail.com or call 415-250-7298 to discuss which approach fits your needs.
