My Story

I’ve been dealing with chronic pain for most of my life. It started as low back pain in high school, then progressed to hip pain in college. I had neck, shoulder, and ankle discomfort too. In 2016, I was diagnosed with FAI and a labral tear in both hips. My 2017 surgeries did not help my pain. In 2018, after getting updated medical imaging, I was diagnosed with borderline hip dysplasia. Doctors strongly disagreed about what to do. As I searched for answers and dealt with the confusion of differing opinions, my pain got worse and worse. I had a high-stress, well-paying tech job at Amazon, and I wanted to put my effort into my burgeoning software engineering career. But I couldn’t sit or stand or walk without immense pain, and I was struggling just to get through each day.

In 2019 I hit my breaking point. I took a leave of absence from my job at Amazon. I started down a path of learning as much as I could about how the human body works. Because I had so many dysfunctional movement habits that had been ingrained in me for years, it has taken me an inordinate amount of time and effort to undo them, and that process is still ongoing. The blessing in disguise is that this forced me to dive deep into numerous movement and chronic pain recovery methodologies, uncovering the unique truths in each of them to integrate into my own movement practice and conceptual understanding. Since then, I have continued to make consistent progress on my hips, and transitioned my career to become a corrective exercise specialist.

My mission is to turn the greatest challenge of my life into a way to assist others experiencing similar issues. It would give me so much joy to help make your journey towards a pain-free life a little quicker and a little easier. You are not alone, and there is hope.

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Your Story

Physical

There is not a direct correlation between these pathologies and chronic pain. For example, studies show that many people with FAI have no pain, and many people who surgically “fix” their FAI still have pain.
With this in mind, it is worth exploring a non-invasive approach first. Even orthopedic surgeons would agree with this. The problem is that most non-invasive approaches are too short and too mild. They are designed to treat acute problems, where the issue is isolated and can heal quickly. They are not designed to treat chronic problems that require restoring your body’s function from the ground up.
One doctor told me my back MRI was pristine, so there was nothing he could do to help me. When I asked why my back hurt, he shrugged. He had this arrogant smirk on his face, giving off the impression that I was wasting his time.
Your pain is very much real, even if nothing shows up on x-rays or MRIs. Being left without any answers is not fun. Pain has many potential root causes, and the source of pain is not always were the real problem lies.
Let me help you discover why you are in pain, and coach you through the steps necessary to get out of pain. Slowly but surely, you’ll make progress.
Sometimes you try the non-invasive approaches first, and still elect for surgery. After the expected recovery period, your symptoms remain. Or are even worse. This happened to me, and I felt like I was “rehabbing” from surgery for many years, not the 6 month recommendation. This can be because the surgery and rehab exercises for your isolated “damaged” joint don’t address a larger movement problem in your entire body. When you get other areas of your body to work better, pain starts to dissipate.
True solutions for chronic pain issues demand much more of a long-term buy-in from the client than the “quick fix” promise that makes surgical solutions appealing. It helps to have a coach with the knowledge and support to guide you through these lifestyle changes.

Emotional

There is a lot of great information out there, but it is also very overwhelming. A lot of it even sounds contradictory. Many people with chronic pain have already heard so many recommendations from professionals and loved ones that it is confusing to know where to start.
I can help you tease out the similarities in all of the advice you’ve already received. Seemingly contradictory suggestions are often based on the same principles and can work synergistically together. I will coach you to determine the right steps to take in this moment in time. As you progress, more options will become available to you.
There are many great doctors and physical therapists out there that are hampered by the current healthcare system to help you the way you need. Doctors are overwhelmed with patients and can only spend 15-30 min with you. Physical therapists who take insurance are often only allowed to treat the body part you were referred for, even if there’s a related body part that needs addressing. They also may book multiple patients at the same time because the reality of the industry makes it difficult for them to become financially stable in other ways.
I have more time to spend with you, which is often what it takes to get to the bottom of your movement issues. Spending more time 1-1 allows us to discover together the strengths and weaknesses of your entire body. It gives me time to teach you the strategies you need to know to start making improvements. Recovering from chronic pain is an iterative process that involves persistent, dedicated contributions from the client. You need to learn to do a lot of work on your own, and use me for guidance and ideas as you learn more about your own unique body.
Chronic pain is often invisible. You may appear on the surface to be perfectly healthy even though you are experiencing constant pain. This can make it difficult to feel seen. You can even be made to feel like you’re making it all up or it’s all in your head. I remember going to doctors for my hip pain and neglecting to mention my shoulder and ankle pain, for fear that they wouldn’t take any of my pain seriously.
Friends and family may find it confusing to deal with your situation. They encourage you to suck it up, whether implicitly or explicitly. Comparing yourself to others your age that appear to be thriving can make your experience more traumatic.
The mental and physical toll my chronic pain experience has taken on me is profound, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone else. With that comes a sense of empathy and compassion for others going through similar experiences. Loved ones and health practitioners can sympathize and have good intentions, but without going through the struggle themselves it’s impossible to understand the daily challenges, the ups and downs, and how pain can start affecting every component in your life. It helps to be in communication with someone who truly hears you, who doesn’t think the pain is all in your head, and who gives you grace when you need it.