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How Trauma Causes Gut Issues

Apr 16, 2023

This week I had three female patients come for treatment – all from very different backgrounds, ages and occupations. Yet what unified these women was their collective history of childhood abuse and how it manifested in their bodies.

If, at a young age if we suffer from neglect, abuse – physical or emotional then we will hold it in our bodies. It will shape our response to our external world, it will become the filter from which we view and experience the world. And depending on where we hold this trauma it will greatly impact our health.

In the case of these three women, they stored it in their gut – in fact if you drew an arch starting at the right anterior end of the 11th rib and moved up and around their diaphragm up to their xiphoid process when I palpated this area it was tender to the touch. And in one case, the patient had a slight red rash that was itchy.  When I asked about it she said she had had it for a long time.  When energy doesn’t move – when it stagnates it starts to create heat or inflammation.   Next, I palpated just below their breast in the intercostal space of their 6th rib which was also tender and sensitive to the touch.

Why? Because all their emotions (grief, anger resentment, disappointment), as a result of their systemic abuse, are stored or trapped in this area – we call it Liver Qi stagnation, and if these emotions are not processed and released than that energy will build up and start affecting their nearby organs which happens to be the stomach. When the stomach qi is not flowing smoothly, – it’s meant to flow down, then patients will experience Irritable Bowel Syndrome / IBS, constipation, diarrhea and a lot of food sensitivities. Bloating is one of the most common symptoms.  And if it continues it will go on to generate heat and form masses.

Unresolved Emotions Become Our Illnesses

Simply put – our unresolved emotions become our illnesses.  Time and time again when I am doing a patient intake and ask what was going on when they became sick it correlates back to a time when they were at either in highly stressful situations – work related or going through a life altering event – death of a close family member, divorce/ bad breakup, loss of job.

Now, the human body is amazingly adaptable.  It holds all our emotions – the good the bad the ugly.   But when something happens to further overload a system that is already overloaded then it starts to break down and we see health issues arising from it. It’s like a stop switch that says– NO> Not going any further I don’t have the capacity to go further.

How Does the Body Say No?

In one of patients’ case, she literally had to be carried off the ferry because her body just shut down – her anxiety collapsed her body’s ability to function.

Now that’s an extreme example – most people will just stop sleeping, or their digestion will get so bad – inflamed they will have to stop eating, or they will get a series of really bad migraines, their eczema will flair-up becoming red itchy and burning.

Wherever the Body Is The Weakest – That’s Where Illness Will Occur

Treating Trapped Trauma

How do we treat trapped trauma – how do we reset the body?

In these women’s instances the first thing is to identify it. The diseased area is where the trauma is stored. The next step is to release this energy – I use acupuncture, healing touch and more recently crystals.

Exercise #1 for Moving Stagnant Energy

Next, I talk lifestyle including diet and exercise.  EXERCISE in the best best best cure for stagnation. Walking in nature moves trapped liver qi – yoga, breathwork – all good short term coping mechanisms!

I will often prescribe Chinese Medicine Herbs – the work directly on the affected organ to help release the stagnation – Xiang Fu is one of the best herbs to move stomach qi downward.

It’s really important to see a licensed practitioner – don’t Dr. Google this. You need someone to put together a formula because every constitution is different and we can add herbs if for example, you also suffer from insomnia for example.

 Trauma Lives in Our Mind and Body

Trauma lives not only in our bodies, but it originated in our minds. It’s soo important to work concurrently with a counsellor, preferable someone who specializes in

EMDR – Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy.

I recommend patients seek out EMDR therapy because I found it worked the best for me.  There are other forms of therapy out there so do your research.  If we are to heal, we have to change the way we feel and view the trauma that happened to us. That healing can only occur when we are in a safe, calm regulated state. I will talk more about that so please stay tuned.

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