When Your Body Whispers: Healing Chronic Pain and Trauma

Tiffany Landry
Nov 2 · 4 min read

When I was 12 years old I started to feel a little uncomfortable “down there.” A visit to the gynecologist in the closest town and I discovered that I had a yeast infection. I was prescribed some over the counter fungal medicine and that was that.

Except it wasn’t. From the age of 12 years old until I was in my early thirties, I had chronic pelvic pain. Recurrent yeast infections that sometimes lasted a year at a time, UTI’s, Interstitial Cystitis and to make things extra fun: insomnia.

I tried pretty much everything you could think of: herbal ointments, yogurt, special teas and herbs, traditional medicine, probiotics, an anti-candida diet. Sometimes a certain medicine would “work” and heal me but eventually the pain would always come back.

While this was going on, I was still out there living my life and keeping my pelvic pain a secret. I studied Martial Arts, moved to Spain when I was 16, dated and had partners, went to college and started working.

Sometimes I was pain free, but the majority of time I wasn’t. While I was experiencing almost two decades of chronic pain, there was a question I never asked myself: “what is this really all about?” In fact, when one woman on an online forum suggested that my bladder pain could be connected to unresolved emotions, I remember wanting to smack her.

At the time, I didn’t connect my developmental trauma with almost over two decades of chronic pain. Numerous studies have shown a connection between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and chronic pain and illnesses. These studies theorize that extreme emotional stress can cause physical changes, such as switching the body’s stress response system into high gear and also causing increased inflammation in the body.

As a trauma resolution coach + guide, I would also add that when we experience trauma we also disconnect from the body. Case in point, when I first started experiencing chronic yeast infections-I was still experiencing PSTD from the trauma I experienced in my childhood. I was disconnected from my body and mind and shutting down memories that felt too scary to deal with. My trauma also meant that I didn’t have as many tools to connect with my inner resilience when life got challenging. Which meant that when life was stressful, my whole body got triggered and reactive. Not so good for my body’s health.

So my body began to whisper.

First a small yeast infection to let me know something was wrong and that I needed to pay attention to my body.

But the more I ignored my body and threw countless medication at it, the louder those whispers became.

Until my body was screaming at me with constant pain, a seriously painful vulva and a bone dreary fear that I would never be “normal.”

So how did I heal my chronic pelvic pain? I did something that had nothing to do with natural medicine or a healthy diet.

I became a sex coach. I studied sacred sexuality, I connected with my vagina, talked and listened to her. I did crazy things like learn about energetic orgasms, used a Jade Egg, started a self-pleasure practice and breathwork.

I healed my pelvic pain by connecting to it.

It was during a tantra retreat in the middle of a jungle in Suyalita, Mexico that I healed over a decade of chronic vaginal pain. I breathed into my vagina and gave her full permission to yell, scream, stomp, cry and express everything she wanted to release from the last 19 years of pain.

I’ll let you in on a secret. You don’t need to study to be a sex coach (although that can be fun too!) or scream naked in a jungle. You can heal your chronic pain by listening to it, hearing it and connecting to it.

In fact, I recommend that my clients heal from their trauma or chronic pain in small do-able steps. If chronic pain is a chronic message, what message is your body trying to tell you?

Could you maybe listen to it and perhaps ask it: “what do you want to tell me?” or “what do you need?”

Would it feel possible to have a daily check-in with the body part that is experiencing pain? If it feels do-able, maybe you could let it know that you unconditionally love it-even when it experiences pain?

The truth is I never would have wished to have experienced trauma or so many years of chronic pain and yet my post-traumatic growth has led me towards wholeness, deep connection and trust. It has shown me how wild and wise my body is and how magical post-traumatic growth can be. Our bodies can lead us home to who we truly are, we just have to listen.

Tiffany Landry

Written by

I’m a trauma resolution coach + guide and I empower women to come home to their bodies, sexuality and soul after experiencing trauma. www.tiffany-landry.com

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade