Why am I Still in Pain: Time to Rethink Your Approach?
Let’s have an honest conversation. You’ve tried everything, right? Physical therapy, medications, maybe even injections or surgeries. You’ve followed every instruction, showed up to every appointment, and yet here you are wondering why you are still in pain. Still spinning your wheels, hoping the next round of treatment will finally fix what’s wrong.
I get it. I’ve been there. In fact, I did physical therapy so many times, for so long, that it made going to PTA school a breeze. Every time I went back, I convinced myself, This time will be different. This time, it will finally work.
But it didn’t. And that experience left me with a question that, looking back, I wish I’d asked myself a lot sooner: Why am I still doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results? Sounds like the definition of insanity, doesn’t it?!
Sound familiar? If you’ve been pouring energy into treatments that haven’t brought you the relief you’re looking for, it’s time to gently ask yourself the same question.
Are You Spinning Your Wheels?
It’s easy to get caught in the cycle of trying one treatment after another, especially when you’re in pain. You want relief, and the medical world tells you that if you just follow the plan, you’ll get better. But what happens when the plan doesn’t work? How long do you keep going back to treatments that don’t seem to help?
Maybe your doctor or therapist told you, “You just need to give it more time.” So, you do. You show up, push through, stretch, strengthen, and do all the things you’re supposed to. But deep down, you know something isn’t right.
I was right there with you. Stretches, I did them. Exercises, I did those too. And every time I finished another round of physical therapy, I found myself in the same place—hurting and frustrated. It felt like I was running in circles, chasing a solution that kept slipping just out of reach. For a while, I convinced myself I just needed to try harder. But that wasn’t the right question to ask.
The real question was, Why am I still doing something that isn’t working?
Pain Isn’t Just Physical
One of the reasons so many treatments fail to provide lasting relief is that they focus only on the physical side of pain. We’re taught that pain comes from damage or injury, and if we can just “fix” whatever is broken, the pain will go away. But here’s the thing: pain is more complicated than that.
Pain is an experience created by the brain, influenced by many different factors—stress, emotions, fear, and even past experiences with pain. If we’re only treating the body, we’re missing a huge part of the picture.
Nine months after that ill advised SI Joint surgery that I was convinced would stop my pain I had a come to Jesus moment. For me, I realized that no amount of stretching or strengthening was going to fix my pain if I didn’t address the other parts of myself that were involved—my stress, anxiety, and fear of moving and making things worse. I needed a different approach. And maybe you do too.
It’s Okay to Do What Makes You Feel Good
Let’s pause here for a second, because I don’t want you to think that everything you’ve done up until now is a waste. It’s not. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with doing things that make you feel good. If physical therapy or another treatment helps you feel better, even if just temporarily, that’s still important.
But here’s the catch: if you’re doing these things hoping they’ll “fix” you, and they haven’t yet, it might be time to rethink your approach. If what you’ve been doing hasn’t worked by now, how much longer are you willing to try the same thing, expecting it to fix your pain? Maybe it’s time to stop focusing on fixing and start focusing on living.
There’s a big difference between doing something because it helps you feel better and doing it because you think it’s the magic key to unlocking a pain-free life. What if, instead of chasing the idea of being “fixed,” you focused on what you need to live a better life right now, even if the pain isn’t gone?
What Are You Holding On To?
Sometimes, the hardest part of moving forward is letting go of the idea that there’s a single treatment out there that will fix everything. Believe me, I know how hard that is. We’re wired to want answers, to want solutions. And it’s not easy to accept that sometimes, pain isn’t something we can neatly solve with a treatment plan or a prescription.
But what if that’s okay? What if the goal isn’t to be fixed but to live well with your pain?
I’m not saying you should give up hope. Not at all. But sometimes, in our pursuit of being fixed, we forget to live. We pour all our energy into finding the cure, and in the meantime, life is passing by. We miss out on things we love because we’re so focused on what we’ve lost.
What would happen if, instead of chasing the idea of being fixed, you started asking yourself: What can I do right now that brings me joy? What activities are important to me, even if I have to adapt how I do them?
Is It Time to Try Something New?
At some point in my journey, I had to take a long, hard look at all the things I was doing to try to fix my pain. And I had to admit that most of them weren’t working. That was a tough realization. It made me feel like I had wasted time, like I had failed in some way. But once I let go of that pressure to be “fixed,” I started finding other ways to live better, even with pain.
So, here’s my invitation to you: Take a moment to step back and look at your pain journey. Are the things you’re doing actually helping you move forward, or are you just spinning your wheels? Are you doing them because they bring you relief, or because you’re hoping they’ll finally fix everything?
If it’s the latter, it might be time to consider a new approach. And no, I’m not suggesting some magical cure-all. I’m talking about exploring other ways of understanding your pain—ways that consider not just your body but your mind, your emotions, and your life as a whole.
Maybe that means working with a coach or therapist who understands pain from a broader perspective. Maybe it means looking into treatments that focus on the nervous system, stress management, or movement in a way that feels safe and empowering, not fear-based. Or maybe it’s simply about giving yourself permission to stop chasing “fixes” and start focusing on what makes you feel good.
It’s Your Journey, But You Don’t Have to Walk It Alone
At the end of the day, this is your journey. No one else can tell you exactly what’s right for you. But if you’ve been stuck in the same cycle—trying the same treatments over and over without real results—it’s worth asking yourself if it’s time to take a different path.
I’ve been where you are. I know how frustrating and exhausting it is to feel like nothing is working. But I also know that there’s a way forward, even if it’s not the one you expected. It’s okay to do things that help you feel good and bring you joy. And it’s okay to let go of the idea that being pain-free is the only way to live a full, meaningful life.
Here’s the good news: You don’t have to figure it all out on your own.
I invite you to join me for a no-cost workshop, where we’ll explore practical ways to move forward and finally get off the medical merry-go-round. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to stop spinning your wheels and discover approaches that can actually help you live better with pain. Together, we’ll dive into real, actionable steps that can help you break free from the endless cycle of treatments that don’t work.
If you’re ready to consider a new way forward in your pain journey, this workshop is the perfect opportunity to get the guidance and support you need. You deserve to live well, even with pain—and I’m here to help you start that journey.
Are you ready to take the next step? Join me, and let’s move forward together. You can sign up here.
You don’t have to keep doing this alone. Let’s find a new way forward—together.
