An Alternative Approach to Managing Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is often treated as something to eliminate, a symptom to silence, a structure to fix, or a muscle to strengthen or stretch. From a Move Wise perspective, this framing is incomplete. Pain is not random, and it is rarely the result of a single faulty body part. Instead, chronic pain reflects a system that has adapted to forces it can no longer manage effectively.

Understanding and managing chronic pain starts with understanding how the body works under load.

Pain as a Capacity Problem, Not a Structural Flaw

At its core, the human body is a physical system. It is made of tissues that respond to compression, tension, shear, and torsion. When those forces exceed what the tissues can tolerate, especially over long periods, pain emerges.

In this context, chronic pain is less about damage and more about capacity. The body has learned to move, stand, and breathe in ways that concentrate stress in certain areas rather than distributing it efficiently. Over time, those areas become sensitized, overworked, or inflamed, even in the absence of acute injury.

This is why pain can persist long after tissues have technically healed, and why imaging findings often fail to correlate with symptoms.

Why Treating Isolated Parts Rarely Works

A common approach to chronic pain is to zoom in on the painful area and attempt to correct it directly. While this can offer temporary relief, it often fails to address the underlying reason the area became overloaded in the first place.

The body is an interconnected system. Forces travel through joints, connective tissue, and movement patterns as a whole. When one region fails to contribute effectively, another region compensates. Pain frequently appears at the point of compensation, not at the original source of the problem.

For example:

• Back pain may reflect poor force transfer from the hips or feet

• Shoulder pain may relate to ribcage position or breathing mechanics

• Knee pain may arise from how load is accepted during walking

A systems-based assessment looks beyond symptoms to understand how load is entering, traveling through, and exiting the body.

Identifying the Dominant Driver of Pain

Not all chronic pain is driven by the same mechanism. An important step in management is identifying what is primarily preventing the system from tolerating load. Common drivers include:

• Persistent muscle contraction, where resting tone alters joint position

• Myofascial restriction, where tissues no longer yield under passive movement

• Gravity and habitual posture, where structure collapses under bodyweight

• Movement sequencing issues, where problems appear only during dynamic tasks

Each of these requires a different strategy. Applying the same corrective method to every pain presentation often leads to frustration because the intervention does not match the cause.

The Role of Alignment and Load Distribution

Before increasing strength or conditioning, the body must be able to organize itself efficiently against gravity. Poor joint stacking and excessive spinal compression increase the cost of movement and place unnecessary strain on local tissues.

Improving alignment is not about achieving a perfect posture. It is about allowing bones to carry load so muscles and connective tissue are not forced to compensate constantly. When alignment improves, the body often becomes less guarded, and pain levels can decrease without direct symptom-focused treatment.

This creates a foundation where movement can be reintroduced safely and progressively.

Breathing as a Mechanical Component

Breathing plays a critical role in chronic pain because it directly influences pressure, spinal loading, and force transfer. Inefficient breathing patterns can increase compression in the spine and limit the body’s ability to stabilize without excessive muscle tension.

From a mechanical perspective, breathing helps regulate internal pressure so the spine can remain supported while still mobile. When breathing is poorly coordinated, the body often compensates by stiffening, which further contributes to chronic pain.

Re-establishing effective breathing is therefore less about relaxation and more about restoring mechanical efficiency.

Rebuilding Movement Capacity Over Time

Once structure, pressure management, and basic force distribution improve, movement capacity must be rebuilt. Chronic pain often reflects long-term exposure to limited or inefficient movement options. The solution is not aggressive correction, but gradual reintroduction of better inputs.

This process emphasizes:

• Controlled, low-threat movement first

• Symmetry and coordination before intensity

• Gradual exposure to speed, load, and complexity

As the system adapts, tissues regain tolerance, and pain often diminishes as a byproduct of improved function.

The Goal: Tolerance, Not Elimination of Pain

From a Move Wise perspective, the goal of chronic pain management is not perfection or permanent absence of discomfort. It is restoring the body’s ability to handle real-world demands, such as standing, walking, lifting, and moving, without constant strain or protection.

Pain is feedback. When interpreted through a mechanical, systems-based lens, it becomes a guide rather than an obstacle. By improving how the body manages force, chronic pain can often be reduced not through forceful correction, but through better organization, capacity, and adaptability.

That is the foundation of a more sustainable approach to chronic pain. If you are looking for a simple place to begin applying these ideas, the free 5-Day Reset offers a structured starting point.

5 Day Reset