reopen old wounds

Verb

reopen old wounds (third-person singular simple present reopens old wounds, present participle reopening old wounds, simple past and past participle reopened old wounds)

1. (idiomatic) To cause the memory of past trauma to be recalled, resulting in renewed suffering.
   • When I had completed The Difficult Flowering of Surinam in 1976, Fred Ormskirk, the late NPS historian and radio commentator, suggested I delete a number of the more unpleasant stories in the book, claiming that it was better to let go of the past and not reopen old wounds.1994, Edward M. Dew, The trouble in Suriname, 1975-1993, page 202
   • Please, believe me—the last thing I want to do is reopen old wounds needlessly, but . . . but if it would finally bring a resolution to the whole mystery—"2007, Vicki Lane, Old Wounds, page 93
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see reopen, old, wound.
   • Old wounds and ulcers reopen and ulcerate.1998, Samuel Lilienthal, Homoeopathic Therapeutics, page 941