Understanding the Physical Impact of Trauma: Strategies for Healing Your Body After Abuse
- Kathy Wisniewski
- Mar 23
- 4 min read
When we talk about healing after abuse, we often focus on the emotional and psychological aspects of recovery. While these are undoubtedly crucial components of the healing journey, there's another equally important dimension that deserves attention: the physical impact of trauma on your body.
How Your Body Holds Trauma
Trauma doesn't just live in your memories—it resides in your body. The phrase "the body keeps the score" (popularized by psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk in the book by the same name) refers to how traumatic experiences become encoded in our physical beings.
When you experience trauma, your nervous system activates its emergency response. While this response is protective during dangerous situations, problems arise when your body remains in this heightened state long after the danger has passed. This can manifest as:
Chronic muscle tension, especially in the shoulders, neck, and jaw
Digestive issues
Disrupted sleep patterns
Fatigue and low energy
Heightened startle response
Chronic pain
Shallow breathing patterns
While physical injuries from abuse certainly require medical attention and time to heal, these subtler physical manifestations of trauma can persist long after any visible wounds have healed.
Understanding Cortisol: Your Body's Stress Hormone
At the center of your body's stress response is cortisol, often called the "stress hormone." Produced by your adrenal glands, cortisol plays several important roles in your body:
What cortisol does:
Regulates metabolism and blood sugar
Manages your sleep-wake cycle
Controls blood pressure
Reduces inflammation
Helps manage how your body uses carbohydrates, fats, and proteins
In normal circumstances, cortisol follows a daily rhythm—highest in the morning to help you wake up and gradually decreasing throughout the day. However, when you experience trauma, this carefully balanced system can become dysregulated.
What happens with trauma:
Your body may produce too much cortisol, keeping you in a constant state of hypervigilance
Or, after prolonged stress, your body might produce too little cortisol, leading to extreme fatigue
These imbalances can affect everything from your immune system to your digestive function
Why You Feel So Tired After Trauma
If you're experiencing profound fatigue after trauma, you're not alone. This exhaustion is not laziness or weakness—it's your body's natural response to what you've endured.
Several factors contribute to this fatigue:
Energy expenditure: Your body has been operating in emergency mode, burning through resources at an unsustainable rate
Sleep disruption: Trauma often interferes with sleep quality, making it difficult to get truly restorative rest
Cortisol dysregulation: As mentioned above, altered cortisol patterns can severely impact your energy levels
Muscle tension: Constantly tense muscles require more energy to maintain
Nervous system dysregulation: Your autonomic nervous system may be stuck in "fight or flight" mode, which is exhausting to maintain
This fatigue isn't something to push through or ignore—it's a signal that your body needs care and attention as part of your healing process.
Practical Steps for Physical Healing
1. Releasing Cortisol and Regulating Your Nervous System After Abuse
These practices can help bring your stress response back into balance:
Gentle movement: Activities like yoga, tai chi, or walking in nature can help release stored tension without overwhelming your system
Breathwork: Deep, diaphragmatic breathing signals to your body that you're safe
Progressive muscle relaxation: Tensing and then releasing muscle groups can help release chronic tension
Grounding techniques: Simple practices like feeling your feet on the floor can help bring your nervous system back to a calmer state
Trauma-informed bodywork: When you're ready, modalities like somatic experiencing or trauma-sensitive massage can help release stored patterns
2. Healing by Nourishing Your Body With Food
Trauma can deplete your body's resources, making nutrition especially important:
Blood sugar stability: Eating regular meals helps prevent cortisol spikes
Anti-inflammatory foods: Colorful fruits and vegetables, fatty fish, nuts, and seeds can help reduce inflammation caused by chronic stress
Gut health: Trauma affects your digestive system, so focus on fiber, fermented foods, and staying hydrated
Comfort without harm: Find nourishing versions of comfort foods rather than using food in ways that might ultimately make you feel worse
Your body needs extra nutritional support during healing to rebuild depleted resources and support your nervous system's recovery.
3. Honoring Your Physical Need for Rest
Perhaps the most important and most challenging aspect of physical healing after trauma is allowing yourself to rest:
Permission to rest: Understand that this fatigue is part of healing, not a character flaw
Sleep hygiene: Create consistent bedtime routines and a comfortable sleep environment
Restorative practices: Try gentle yoga nidra or guided meditation specifically for trauma recovery
Pacing yourself: Learn to recognize your energy limits and honor them, even when external pressures suggest otherwise
The Path Forward
Healing from abuse is not linear, and physical healing follows the same uneven path as emotional healing. Some days will feel like progress, while others might feel like steps backward. This is normal and expected.
Be patient with your body as it processes what has happened. Your body was intelligent enough to help you survive your trauma, and it contains the same wisdom to guide your healing. Listen to it, honor its needs, and trust the process.
Remember that while self-care practices are vital, professional support from trauma-informed healthcare providers, therapists, and bodyworkers can be invaluable on this journey. You don't have to navigate this path alone.
Your body deserves gentleness, patience, and care as you move forward. The road to healing may be long, but each small step you take in caring for your physical well-being supports your overall recovery and helps you reclaim your sense of safety in your own body.
Continue Your Healing Journey
If you've found this information helpful and want to explore more practical ways to support your healing journey, I invite you to download my free ebook, "Reclaim Your Wellbeing: Self-Care Tips After Abuse." This resource is packed with additional strategies, exercises, and insights specifically designed to help survivors nurture their physical and emotional wellbeing after trauma. This ebook expands on the concepts we've discussed here and provides simple, actionable steps you can implement right away. Your path to healing is uniquely yours, but you don't have to walk it without support. Download your free copy today and take another empowered step toward reclaiming your wellbeing and creating the life you deserve.
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