From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishopen old woundsopen old woundsREMIND/MAKE somebody REMEMBERto remind someone of unpleasant things that happened in the past → wound
Examples from the Corpus
open old wounds• Seeing my ex-boyfriend opened some old wounds.• In her innocent curiosity, Cissie had opened old wounds.• Whatever the outcome, Marcos's death has opened old wounds. 