Muscle-skeletal Pain from Trauma Question

[ABC01]

Dear All,

After suffering trauma this year, my body had started to tense up and lock up. I was given a muscle-skeletal relaxant and that worked for a while,as I was in alot of pain. But now the pain has returned. I still take the medication.

My Psychiatrist has suggested physiotherapy for the pain. Massage specifically.

Has anyone else had pain of this type and what techniques or strategies did you use to manage it.

I mostly feel the pain strongly in the base of my neck, my spine behind my belly button and where my spine meets my tailbone. I am starting to get regular headaches too. I feel like The Princess and the Pea, where I can feel everything underneath me when I sit. Any edges on fabrics and so on.

Any replies would be appreciated.

Thank-you,

ABC01

[Eagle Ray]

Hi ABC01,

I know that trauma-induced tension and pain in the body can be awful. I have found a few things that have helped at various times.

One thing that helped is called Bowen Therapy. It involves very subtle movements at certain points in the body done by the therapist. They then leave you for a bit as the autonomic nervous system does some resetting and recalibrating. Then they come back and do a few more movements on you. The work is on the fascia which is what becomes chronically congealed when stuck in a trauma pattern. I think people can vary a bit in how they do it. You may be able to find someone who is trauma-informed. It is done fully clothed as they can do the movements on the fascia through the clothing (providing it’s not too thick). The first time I did this treatment I could feel the release in my body and had the first decent sleep in 6 months. You sometimes initially get a bit more pain as the body is releasing, but that’s a temporary healing pain. It’s quite subtle as a therapy.

As I think I mentioned previously I’ve also done restorative yoga and myofascial unwinding. I’ve just started doing some yoga in the mornings again. I find even 10 minutes makes a difference to the whole rest of my day. Myofascial unwinding is an intuitive release based exactly on what you see dogs and cats do when they stretch however their body wants to. It is allowing the body to move instinctively and intuitively in space to release constrictions in the fascia that are maintaining the stuck state in the autonomic nervous system. Animals instinctively know how to do this but we humans often forget and stay chronically stuck.

As I also mentioned somewhere before I’ve done Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE). This uses the natural shaking mechanism the body does in trauma recovery. We have a society that has developed the idea of shaking as pathological when in fact it is how the body naturally regains homeostasis. The method activates the central pattern generators in the spine that set shaking in motion and allows the release of trapped tension. It’s used a lot for PTSD. There is a TRE Australia website which includes a directory for finding a practitioner.

Many years ago a physiotherapist taught me some tai chi. That too has been a helpful resource at various times. Once you know the movements they are intuitive and the body can just go into a state of flow. Every now and then I still use this sometimes. You can feel it being really good for stretching and giving motion to the muscles and fascia that have become constricted. I imagine there are plenty of online options to learn it now, but there would be in-person beginner classes too.

I don’t know if you like to swim, but this is another thing that’s helped me. When I was in very severe pain I found I was more supported moving in the water. I started out not trying to swim but just move about a bit in the water and feel some flow of movement. I was able to build up to swimming and then was able to start swimming laps. This was in a 25m pool so not so far as a full-size pool. I’m near the ocean here and have had great benefit from swimming at a sheltered local beach. I realised just recently that for me being in the water is like being weightless in the womb again. I had trauma from birth so always had tension from my earliest memories. So being in water is like the most primal return to a sense of safety.

Those are just some things that have helped me when my body has been really stuck, constricted and in pain. Once the body starts to know and sense what releasing the tension feels like, it becomes easier for it to do. It’s like restoring a body memory of peace and goodness which PTSD can make us forget. I hope you can find some relieving strategies soon 🙏🤗

ER

[ABC01]

Thank you so much Eagle Ray,

That is a great comprehensive list besides just massage. I noted them all down on a word document.

I took a look at TRE Australia and found some people not to far from me. They do Somatic Experiencing as well as TRE. Might be a good contact when I am ready.

I will check out Bowen Therapy too.

I hope I can find some release soon. But butt hurts even sitting on it.

We have a wobble board at home, might see if jiggling a bit helps.

Exercise and moving the body is always helpful.

Thank-you again,

ABC01

[Eagle Ray]

Hi ABC01,

Another thing I just thought of is putting on some music you like and dancing. I think uninhibited dancing can be so liberating for a stuck nervous system (providing you don’t go too crazy dancing and hurt yourself!) It can reconnect you with feelings of joy.

I have found with some modalities I have had to try more than one practitioner too. That was certainly the case with Somatic Experiencing where the first practitioners I tried were not the right fit but once I did find the right person it worked really well.

All the best ABC01!

ER

[ABC01]

Dear Eagle Ray,

Thank you for the tip. One size doesn't fit all. So, I will keep that in mind.

Always grateful,

ABC01