Medical trauma

Many of us are not aware, that surgery, medical and dental procedures, could leave incomplete protective response (fight/flight/freeze/shutdown) “stuck” in the nervous system.

For instance, when we are put under general anaesthesia the autonomic nervous system is still active, keeping you breathing, your heart beating and other crucial bodily functions under control. Being put to sleep in a state of fear (most of us are fearful and worried before an operation) can cause an incomplete response to threat to occur. And this response stays in the system until it can be discharged.

Not to mention some other occurrences that can happen before and after these procedures that can be perceived as a threat to certain systems.

I have seen people discover in their own healing journey that the reason for their panic attacks was a medical procedure that happened early in life.

In my own healing journey I was surprised to learn that a pain I used to have in my hip was due to a surgery. My body couldn’t discharge it properly at the time, and I ended up with a hip pain on my left side for many years.

It’s important to note that not everyone who go through these procedures, will end up having medical trauma, but it’s not such a rare occurrence to come out of it with unresolved trauma in the system.

There are a few things one can do to mitigate this issue. Too long to list here. But one simple step would be to visit the hospital where you will have the procedure, to talk to the doctors and nurses to learn exactly what will happen. Getting your mind prepared and on board is one of the ways we can prevent this. Another tip is to ask for local anaesthetics for the area of the incision. Cutting the skin open is perceived as a great threat to the system.