Why chronic pain needs a different approach
Chronic pain is pain that's persisted well beyond the normal healing window — months, sometimes years — often after the original injury has technically healed.
At that point, treating each flare-up as its own isolated event tends to keep the cycle going. We look for the underlying pattern — a movement compensation, a weakness that's never been addressed, a joint that's stayed restricted — that's kept the pain coming back, and build a plan around fixing that, not just calming the current flare.
Signs you might be dealing with it
- Pain that's been present, on and off, for months or years
- A pattern of relief followed by the pain returning in the same spot
- Pain that's outlasted the original injury or incident
- A sense that nothing you've tried has made a lasting difference
- Pain that flares predictably under certain activities or stress
Relieve, rehab, strengthen — applied to chronic pain
Assess
A thorough look at your history and current movement to find the pattern that's kept the pain cycling, not just today's symptom.
Relieve
Adjustments and soft tissue work to calm the current flare and create room to address the underlying pattern.
Rebuild
A longer-term rehab and strength plan aimed at the actual pattern keeping the pain alive, so relief holds instead of cycling back.
What relief actually looks like
"Dr. Mae Li is absolutely wonderful. I've been going to her for the better part of two years to manage my back and neck pain and stiffness and she's been a valuable part of my physical therapy and maintenance routine."
Chronic pain, answered
Click a question for the answer — or see the full FAQ for pricing, insurance, and what to expect.
If pain's been there for years, can it actually still improve?
Often, yes — chronic doesn't mean unchangeable. It usually means the underlying pattern hasn't been addressed yet, not that nothing can be done.
Why does my pain keep coming back after treatment elsewhere?
If treatment only addresses the current flare-up and not the movement pattern or weakness that keeps recreating it, the pain tends to return once care stops. That's the gap the rehab and strength phase is meant to close.
Will I need to be a patient forever?
Not necessarily — the goal is to get you to a point where you're managing your own body well and only need periodic check-ins, not ongoing dependency on care.
What if I've already tried physical therapy or chiropractic before?
That history is useful information, not a discouraging sign — it helps us understand what has and hasn't worked so we can build a different plan, not repeat the same one.