Episode 130: Why Stress Doesn't Cause Chronic Pain and What Really Does

Listen to Episode 130 →

When Nothing Makes the Pain Go Away

Chronic pain affects millions who've been told their symptoms are stress. They've tried relaxation techniques, stress management, and lifestyle changes consistently. But nothing really seems to work for them at all. They're left feeling stuck, exhausted, and frustrated completely. Their body just won't heal despite their best efforts.

But why does the body stay in pain even when the injury has healed completely physically?

In this episode, I look at what most believe about pain. Instead of blaming stress, I show how chronic pain comes from trauma stored in the body at the cellular level. Exploring what's really going on and why this matters for healing.

Drawing from my own experience with chronic shoulder pain after a collarbone fracture that required surgery and treatment, I explain how my body was storing trauma, not stress. Even after surgery and treatments, the pain wouldn't go away. Until I discovered what was really happening in my body.

You'll discover the difference between stress and trauma responses clearly. Why your body might be stuck in chronic trauma response. And the hidden biochemical imbalances making some people more vulnerable. More likely to develop chronic pain than others are.

Whether you're someone struggling with chronic pain currently yourself or a practitioner seeking better tools to help clients effectively, this episode reveals why understanding trauma biology matters most. Not just stress management, is the key to breaking free.

My Personal Story With Chronic Pain

My own experience with chronic shoulder pain taught me everything. After a collarbone fracture that required surgery to repair properly. This physical injury should have healed, but pain persisted for years.

I tried everything available to resolve the ongoing pain. Surgery, physical therapy, pain management approaches. All the conventional approaches doctors recommend. Nothing resolved it despite my best efforts consistently trying.

Until I discovered what was really happening in my body. It wasn't the injury causing ongoing pain. It was stored trauma that hadn't resolved from overwhelm.

My body was storing trauma, not just stress from injury. This distinction is everything for understanding and treating pain. Once I understood and addressed the stored trauma completely and the biochemical factors contributing to vulnerability present, my chronic pain finally resolved after years of suffering.

Stress Does NOT Cause Chronic Pain

This is controversial but critical to understand for healing. Stress and trauma are not the same thing. Stress is when you have capacity to handle what's happening. Trauma is when demand exceeds capacity and overwhelms your system.

Why this matters is if you treat stress incorrectly when the problem is trauma, you'll never resolve it fully. Different problems require different solutions for healing to occur.

Unresolved trauma stored in the body causes chronic pain. The body holding a defensive response that never completed. Your body is still responding as if danger is present. Even though the actual event is long over now.

The Critical Line of Overwhelm

The critical line of overwhelm turns stress into trauma. This is where the shift happens from manageable to overwhelming. When your perceived demand exceeds your perceived capacity to handle. This is the moment stress becomes trauma in the body.

Once you cross this line, your body shifts completely. From stress response to trauma response. Different biology entirely with different mechanisms operating.

Why some people develop chronic pain and others don't from the same injury depends on whether they crossed the critical line of overwhelm during injury.

When You Feel Trapped and Powerless

What happens in the nervous system when you feel trapped and powerless during an overwhelming experience matters. This creates the trauma response that gets stored.

Can't escape, can't fight, can't change the situation unfolding. This activates a specific trauma response in your nervous system. Nothing you do makes a difference to the outcome. You're helpless to change what's happening to you now. This solidifies the trauma response in your system.

When you feel trapped and powerless, your system goes into freeze or shutdown to protect from overwhelm happening. This gets stored in your body at the cellular level.

Why Unresolved Trauma Keeps You Stuck

Unresolved trauma keeps your body stuck in danger response. The trauma never completed its cycle naturally as designed. Your body is still responding as if danger is present. Even though the actual event is long over now.

Because the trauma response never got to complete fully, your nervous system is still in the middle of responding. Responding to threat that's no longer actually present.

Unresolved trauma continues signaling danger to your body constantly. This maintains pain as a protective response keeping you safe.

The Biochemical Imbalances

The role of biochemical imbalances increases pain sensitivity significantly. This is the biology underlying vulnerability to chronic pain. Neurotransmitter imbalances, mineral imbalances, methylation issues affect everything. These affect how your nervous system processes pain signals.

These imbalances make your nervous system more reactive overall. Lower threshold for pain signals being registered and felt. Everything hurts more than it should normally.

Some people are more likely to develop chronic pain because of underlying biochemical imbalances present already before injury. This isn't weakness, it's biology creating vulnerability to pain.

Oxidative Stress and Mitochondrial Dysfunction

How these contribute to functional freeze state matters greatly. The cellular level of chronic pain happening underneath everything.

Oxidative stress is cellular damage from free radicals accumulating. This creates inflammation and signals danger at the cellular level. Mitochondrial dysfunction happens when your cellular powerhouses don't work properly to produce energy needed for function.

This combination creates a state where your body is stuck. Stuck between shutdown and activation without resolution possible. Can't fully rest, can't fully engage with life. This maintains chronic pain patterns through cellular signaling.

The Hidden Link: Copper Excess

The hidden link between copper excess, anxiety, and pain. This specific imbalance is often overlooked in treatment approaches.

Too much copper relative to zinc in your system. This creates anxiety, nervous system hyperactivity, and increased pain sensitivity making everything hurt more than normal.

Copper excess affects neurotransmitter function directly and significantly. Creates norepinephrine dominance in your nervous system chemistry. This drives anxiety and hypervigilance state constantly operating.

That anxiety and hypervigilance increase pain perception experienced daily. Your nervous system is already activated, so pain signals amplify. This can be tested through hair mineral analysis. And addressed through specific supplementation and diet changes.

Practical Steps to Repair Your Biology

Practical steps to repair your biology and help your body feel safe again at the cellular level.

Step 1: Support Mitochondria – With CoQ10, B vitamins, and magnesium supplementation. Give your cells the energy they need to function.

Step 2: Reduce Oxidative Stress – Through antioxidants like glutathione, vitamin C, and E. Reduce cellular damage that signals danger to your system.

Step 3: Address Mineral Imbalances – Test and correct copper/zinc balance. Address other mineral deficiencies that affect nervous system function.

Step 4: Support Methylation – With methylated B vitamins if needed for your system. This supports neurotransmitter production and detoxification pathways working.

Step 5: Create Nervous System Safety – Through somatic practices working with body directly. Your biology must be supported, but your nervous system must learn safety.

The integration of all these steps work together synergistically. You need both the biological support and nervous system work.

Understanding Trauma Biology Is Key

Understanding trauma biology, not just stress management alone, is the key to breaking free from chronic pain. This reframe changes everything about treatment approach used.

Stress management helps with stress, but chronic pain differs. Chronic pain is from unresolved trauma stored biologically in the body. Different problem requires different solution for healing to occur.

The trauma biology approach addresses what's actually happening inside. The stored defensive response held in tissues and cells. The biochemical imbalances creating vulnerability to pain. The cellular dysfunction maintaining danger signals to nervous system.

This approach makes it possible to actually resolve pain. Not just manage symptoms but heal root cause completely.

This Episode Is For: 

✓ People with chronic pain despite healed injuries

✓ Anyone told their pain is "just stress"

✓ Those frustrated by failed stress management approaches

✓ Practitioners seeking better chronic pain tools

✓ People with unexplained persistent pain

✓ Anyone interested in trauma-pain connection

✓ Those with biochemical imbalances and pain

✓ People ready for trauma biology approach

What You'll Learn

Listen to understand why stress doesn't cause chronic pain but unresolved trauma does at the biological level. Learning the critical line of overwhelm that turns stress into trauma response in your nervous system. What happens when you feel trapped and powerless during injury. Why unresolved trauma keeps your body stuck in danger response maintaining pain as protection. How biochemical imbalances increase pain sensitivity you experience daily. The role of oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in functional freeze state keeping you stuck between states. The surprising link between copper excess and anxiety-driven pain. And practical steps including mitochondrial support, reducing cellular stress, addressing mineral imbalances, and creating nervous system safety to repair your biology and finally break free from pain.

Chronic pain comes from stored trauma, not stress—heal the root.

Listen to Episode 130 →

Disclaimer

This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The information shared reflects my clinical expertise and research, but every person's biology and healing journey is unique. Always consult with qualified healthcare providers before making changes to your treatment plan or starting new interventions. If you're experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact emergency services or a crisis helpline immediately.

Join the Conversation

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode. What resonated with you? What questions came up?

Please keep comments respectful and supportive. This is a community of people committed to healing. We welcome diverse perspectives and honest questions, but we don't tolerate personal attacks, spam, or content that could harm others on their healing journey.