Still Dealing with Nagging Pain? Here’s Why it Won’t Go Away

You've probably been here before:

You’ve been working out and dealing with that same stubborn pain for weeks - maybe even months. You’ve tried stretching, band exercises, mobility drills you found on YouTube, and maybe you're even tried to quit all exercise and rest altogether.

But no matter what you do, the pain keeps coming back.

As an orthopedic physical therapist, I see this pain cycle 🔁 often.

The good news? There is a fix - it just may not be what you’ve been trying.

Why Your Pain Keeps Returning

Most chronic pain that flares up with movement stems from one (or both) of the following:

1. Mobility Restriction

When a joint or muscle lacks adequate range of motion, your body will compensate elsewhere - usually overloading a different area.

Example: Poor ankle or hip mobility during a squat can lead to excessive stress at the knee, triggering pain in the knee over time.

2. Capacity Limitation

Sometimes the problem isn’t how you’re moving, but how much load your tissue can handle. If a muscle or tendon isn’t strong enough for the demand, it breaks down under repeated stress - even if your form is great.

Example: Back squatting hurts your knee so you stop doing it for a few weeks. It feels a little better. You go back to squatting again. It hurts again. The pain may not be due to limited mobility, but rather that the knee joint is being stressed beyond its capacity. 

How to Break the Cycle

🔧 Fixing Mobility Issues:

We start by identifying the exact restriction (hip, ankle, etc.), restore motion there, and then re-check the painful movement. If form improves and pain decreases, we know we’re on the right path. From there, we build strength within this improved range of motion.

🏗️ Fixing Capacity Issues:

We regress the movement to find a pain-free starting point and gradually expose it to load - allowing for the tissue to adapt. For example, if barbell back squats hurt, but bodyweight squats don’t - that’s a green light. We found a safe entry point and can rebuild from there. 

Here’s a sample progression:

• Air Squat

• Split Squat

• Single-Leg Squat

• Forward Lunge

• Barbell Back Squat

Each step increases load to the joint — safely and systematically.

✍️ The OffScript Approach

This approach is the foundation of what we do at OffScript. Hopefully this gives you hope and shows you that your nagging pain is fixable! It just takes time, patience, and consistency to create lasting changes.

If you’ve been stuck in this cycle and you’re ready to actually solve it, let’s talk.