About Chronic Pain
Why Chronic Pain Persists and How We Treat It
Chronic pain may continue for months or years even after medications, injections, physical therapy, surgery, and other treatments have failed to provide lasting relief.
In many patients, the structural finding shown on an X-ray or MRI does not fully explain the severity or persistence of the pain. Arthritis, disc changes, narrowing, and other abnormalities may be present, but painful injuries within the muscles and tendons surrounding and controlling those structures often remain undetected and untreated and are typically the cause of most chronic pain.
Dr. Tom Chi (DACM) has performed more than 100,000 treatments and developed unique, repeatable techniques for finding and quickly manually repairing these painful soft-tissue injuries.
Typical this results in an immediate and lasting end to chronic pain, usually following one treatment.
What Causes the Pain?
Muscles and tendons contract to create movement and normally release afterward. Over time, or following an injury, portions of the tissue may remain stuck in a shortened and contracted position.
These injuries may develop from:
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Repetitive movement
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Reduced flexibility and normal aging
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Long periods of sitting or inactivity
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Overuse or physical exertion
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Sports and occupational injuries
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Falls, accidents, or blunt-force trauma
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Surgery and postoperative compensation
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Changes in posture, balance, or gait
Dr. Chi describes the resulting adhesions as areas where cells within the muscles or tendons have become “glued together.” These contracted areas can pull on joints, restrict movement, disturb normal biomechanics, and are usually the actual cause of chronic pain pain, inflammation, stiffness, weakness, or loss of motion.
A Different Approach to Chronic Pain
Through sophisticated clinical hand-sensitization exercises and with decades of experience, Dr. Chi developed the ability to feel subtle changes and injuries within muscles and tendons that are not typically identified during a conventional examination or if found, not adequately addressed within traditional treatment modalities.
Treatment is focused on:
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Locating the specific tissues producing the pain
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Manually repairing and reprocessing injured muscles and tendons
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Releasing contracted, glued-together adhesions
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Restoring normal tissue movement and function
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Ending the pain rather than repeatedly managing its symptoms
The pain is typically then gone with lasting effect. Arthritis will remain unchanged yet again, typically with no pain as Dr Chi has found and widely demonstrated that arthritis is typically not the actual cause of most chronic pain. Ruptured and compressed discs normalize and the pain is gone in most cases.
He typically identifies and quickly repairs the painful soft-tissue injuries that are responsible for most patient’s pain even years of treatments and failed surgeries.
Conditions We Commonly Treat
Arthritis and Osteoarthritis
Arthritis describes structural changes within a joint, though counter-intuitively, those changes are not typically the primary source of a patient’s difficult chronic pain.
Dr. Chi routinely finds that pain attributed to arthritis is instead being produced by injured and contracted muscles and tendons surrounding and controlling the affected joint. When those injuries are manually repaired, pain, stiffness, inflammation, and restricted movement are typically gone immediately, even though the arthritic changes remain visible on imaging.
Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a diagnostic classification associated with widespread pain, tenderness, fatigue, and other symptoms. It identifies a genuine pattern of suffering, but the diagnosis alone does not necessarily identify which tissues are producing each pain problem.
When a patient with fibromyalgia presents with one or more difficult pain areas, Dr. Chi examines and treats each area individually. In his clinical experience, manually repairing the responsible muscle and tendon injuries typically eliminates the treated pain, most often during the initial visit.
This treatment addresses the specific painful tissue injuries found during examination.
Back Pain
Lower-back pain is among the most common conditions treated by Dr. Chi. Pain may be associated with arthritis, disc changes, degeneration, previous surgery, or no clear structural explanation.
In most cases, the primary pain is produced by contracted and injured muscles and tendons that support, move, and stabilize the spine. Once those tissues are located and manually repaired, the pain is typically eliminated with lasting results.
Dr. Chi routinely quickly ends back pain for patients even after failed surgeries as the painful soft-tissue injuries remained and he is able to manually repair those injured tissues.
Sciatica
Sciatica describes pain, numbness, tingling, or other symptoms that travel from the lower back or hip into the leg. The symptoms may originate from the lower lumbar region, including a disc or compression problem, or from injured tissues deep within the hip and pelvic region.
Dr. Chi identifies compromised soft-tissues producing the symptoms and pain and then manually repairs them (typical result) so that the injury no longer exists and the pain is gone with lasting relief.
Knee Pain
Knee pain is frequently attributed to arthritis, cartilage loss, aging, or “bone-on-bone” changes. Those findings may be present, however decades of treatments have proved again and again that most chronic pain is not caused by arthritis, even when "bone-on-bone" is the diagnosis.
The knee is controlled and stabilized by muscles and tendons above, below, and around the joint. Dr. Chi routinely finds painful adhesions and injuries within these tissues. After they are manually repaired, pain, stiffness, inflammation, gait problems, and loss of motion typically improve immediately.
The structural arthritis will remain, but the patient’s pain is typically gone and does not return.
Most patients are able to preclude knee replacement by having Dr. Chi repairs those adhesions which cause most chronic pain.
Hip Pain
Hip pain may be felt in the joint, groin, buttock, lower back, or leg. It is commonly associated with arthritis, bursitis, degeneration, gait changes, or a recommendation for joint replacement.
Dr. Chi manually detects injuries in the deep hip, gluteal, pelvic, and surrounding tissues that move and stabilize the joint. He quickly repairs those injuries, ending the pain with lasting results (typical outcome). Most hip and knee replacements may be precluded when these tissues have been repaired by him.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
The muscles that move the hand are located primarily within the forearm. Their tendons travel through the wrist and carpal tunnel into the hand.
When forearm muscles become injured or impaired, the tendons may become overloaded and irritated as they move through the tendon sheaths and carpal tunnel of the wrist leading into the hand.
This can contribute to hand pain, numbness, tingling, weakness, and loss of function.
Dr. Chi manually repairs injuries and adhesions within the inner and outer forearm muscles and tendons. In his clinical experience, carpal tunnel symptoms typically improve immediately, with lasting results.
He has also successfully treated physicians and carpal tunnel surgeons suffering from the condition.
Dr. Chaudry M.D. describes how Dr. Chi ended his severe carpal tunnel injuries with lasting results.
[Learn more about carpal tunnel syndrome]
Hip and Knee Replacement
Being told that a joint is “bone on bone” or that replacement is necessary does not establish that surgery will end the pain nor that the cause is the arthritic bone changes.
During a demonstration documented by a medical reporter from Johns Hopkins Hospital and observed by a nurse practitioner from a busy joint-replacement practice, Dr. Chi treated three patients with severe pain, substantial gait abnormalities, and scheduled replacement surgeries.
That same day:
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The patients reported that their pain was gone
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They left behind their canes or knee braces
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Their surgeon subsequently cancelled all three operations
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One year later, none of the three patients had required joint-replacement surgery
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No individual outcome can be guaranteed. However, Dr. Chi’s clinical experience indicates that most patients facing hip or knee replacement are able to end the pain, most often precluded replacement surgery.
Dr. Chi quickly and routinely manually repairs muscles and tendons which surround and control the joints and which are the typical cause of the chronic pain.
The answer usually becomes clear very quickly. In the rare case the treatment does not help, the patient is advised promptly rather than being retained for an extended treatment plan.
Pain After Surgery
Surgery may repair or replace a structure without identifying tissues responsible for the original pain. Surgery can also create new scar tissue, compensation patterns, or soft-tissue injuries.
Dr. Chi routinely treats patients whose pain continued after joint replacement, spinal surgery, carpal tunnel surgery, or other procedures. He typically quickly ends the pain by manually repairing injuries within the muscles and tendons, even after surgery has failed to end the pain.
Typical Treatment Experience
Treatment is intensive by design and usually lasts for up to two hours while Dr. Chi manually repairs muscles and tendon adhesions which are typically responsible for persistent and chronic pain despite having had years of therapies and failed surgeries.
Patients commonly experience:
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Immediate elimination of pain
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Improved movement and flexibility
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Reduced stiffness and inflammation
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Improved gait or physical function
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Lasting relief without an extended treatment schedule
Most patients have one treatment per major area of chronic pain such as the low back, hip(s), knee(s), neck or other areas of chronic pain. Most patients do not need to return for treatment as the results are typically lasting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can chronic pain really be eliminated in one treatment?
That is the typical result in Dr. Chi’s practice, including among patients with long histories of severe pain, failed treatments, and previous surgeries. About 5% of patients require follow-up treatment. Even with routinely exceptional outcomes no individual result can be guaranteed.
Does treatment reverse arthritis?
No. Arthritic changes will remain visible on imaging. The goal is to repair the painful injuries within the muscles and tendons surrounding and controlling the affected joint. Those tissues are usually the primary source of pain and that pain is typically quickly eliminated even though the arthritis remains.
If imaging shows arthritis, does that mean arthritis is causing my pain?
In our decades of clinical experience and as many experts concur, imaging shows structural changes, but it does not establish which tissue is producing the pain. Based on many thousands of treatments involving patients diagnosed with arthritis, Dr. Chi’s clinical finding is that arthritis is not the primary cause of most difficult chronic pain.
Every patient is different and should certainly be in communication with their medical doctor regarding diagnosed health conditions.
What does “bone on bone” really mean?
The phrase is commonly used to describe severe cartilage thinning and joint-space narrowing on imaging. Patients may understandably interpret it to mean that absolutely no cartilage remains and that exposed bones are literally grinding together and physicians don't often dispel that understanding.
The structural deterioration may be significant, but the phrase does not prove that it is the source of the patient’s pain. Dr. Chi routinely treats patients whose radiographs were evaluated as “bone on bone” yet repairing injuries in the muscles and tendons which surround and control the joints quickly eliminated their pain with lasting results (typical outcome).
Can treatment help if I have been told I need joint replacement?
Typically, yes. While no result can be guaranteed, Dr. Chi has repeatedly helped patients eliminate hip or knee pain and avoid recommended replacement surgery.
The good news is that the result is usually apparent quickly so that time and resources are conserved.
Can treatment help after joint replacement or another surgery?
Yes. Dr. Chi routinely eliminates chronic pain that continued after replacement procedures and other failed surgeries as most chronic pain is being produced by untreated local muscle or tendon injuries.
Does this treatment cure fibromyalgia?
The treatment does not claim to cure a systemic, autoimmune, or neurological disease. It addresses the individual areas of pain presented by the patient. Many chronic pain issues are from treatable muscle and tendon injuries and the pain typically resolves immediately and remains gone.
Is this physical therapy, massage, or chiropractic treatment?
No. Dr. Chi developed specialized clinical hand-sensitization and manual treatment techniques for locating and repairing painful injuries within muscles and tendons. This allows him eot end most chronic pain typically in one treatment per area of chronic pain.
Are the results permanent?
Once an injury has been successfully repaired, that injury is no longer present. The result is typically lasting unless the patient sustains a new injury.
Can every patient be helped?
No individual outcome can be guaranteed. Dr. Chi is able to help most all patients, including many with the most difficult chronic pain and extensive treatment or surgical histories, but not every patient or condition will respond. Cumulative clinical results show that over 90% of chronic pain patients symptoms have been quickly ended with this treatment and with lasting results.
End Chronic Pain When All Else Has Failed
Dr. Chi’s patients frequently arrive after years of pain, medications, injections, physical therapy, procedures, and surgeries. Many have been told that they must learn to live with their pain.
The purpose of this treatment is not to manage chronic pain. It is to locate and quickly manually repair the injuries causing it.
Typical results are immediate and lasting, usually in one treatment.
If you have persistent pain despite previous surgery/treatment, book a quick visit to end the pain (typical result). Book one treatment per each major area of chronic pain such as the low back, each hip or knee, etc.