A new study published in BMC Public Health in January links gun violence exposure—both direct and indirect—to chronic pain among American adults. Using a nationally representative survey of 8,009 people, researchers from Rutgers University found that among those exposed to gun violence, 23.9% had pain most days or every day, while 18.8% reported having a lot of pain.
The study examined six types of gun violence exposure: being shot, being threatened with a gun, hearing gunshots, witnessing a shooting, knowing a friend or family member who was shot, and knowing someone who died by firearm suicide. According to Daniel Semenza, the study’s lead author and director of research at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center, the relationship between trauma and physical pain operates through post-traumatic stress. “Your body, through the experience of post-traumatic stress, is going to feel as if it’s happening over and over and over again,” Semenza explained.
The research is illustrated by the case of Mia Tretta, who was shot in the stomach as a Saugus High School freshman in California in 2019, and who was on campus during another shooting at Brown University in December 2025. Tretta experiences what she calls “phantom bullet syndrome”—sensations of pain at her wound site during extreme stress, similar to phantom limb syndrome. She has also been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, a chronic disease causing swelling, pain, and stiffness in the joints. Bullet fragments remain in her body years after the shooting, and she continues managing chronic pain from her injuries.
The Rutgers study is among the first to focus on chronic pain as a health outcome of gun violence exposure. According to David Patterson, an emeritus professor at the University of Washington whose work focuses on pain, the study demonstrates how broadly gun violence impacts society. “Chronic pain is a major health problem in itself, and it costs our society billions of dollars because it’s very hard to manage,” Patterson said. An inpatient psychologist at a Level 1 trauma center in north Minneapolis noted that trauma from gun violence affects survivors, families, and entire communities, extending well beyond initial medical treatment.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://kffhealthnews.org/public-health/gun-violence-survivor-phantom-pain-research-minnesota/