Pain-Free and Walking After Years of Pain

As we get older, chronic pain shows up more often in our lives, but it’s a mistake to stop looking for relief, especially when it impacts the quality of our lives. Susan had had hip pain for a very long time. She was sent to several rounds of physical therapy but had ZERO relief and had pretty much resigned herself to living with the pain.

Susan is retired, yet a very active woman in her early 70s. She enjoys Pilates and walking and is the primary caregiver for her husband, who is living with Alzheimer's. Susan’s husband happened to be a client of Sean Kuhn, PT (physical therapist) and owner of Physio on The Go, and decided to get a consultation with Sean.

When she initially came to Sean, she had been diagnosed with bursitis by her primary doctor and underwent MONTHS of PT based on that diagnosis with no relief! And yes, you read that right--after MONTHS of PT in a traditional outpatient system, she was still unable to walk more than a block or two without her hip being painful, fatigued, and keeping her up at night.

She was very discouraged because she was accustomed to running 2-4 miles several times a week. Since we had previously worked with her husband at their home, she reached out to schedule a consultation to see if we could help her. Through our consultation and subsequent assessment, it was discovered that the problem was not with her hip at all; the issue actually originated from her back. Once the root cause was identified and a plan of action determined, she began sleeping much better, resumed doing Pilates, and could finally return to walking 3-4 miles without limitation after 8 weeks of physical therapy.

I was pretty sad before working with Physio on the Go, but now I'm in less pain, sleeping better, more flexible, stronger, and feeling more like myself again!

Susan was feeling better than she had in a long time and described feeling "more fluid" with her mechanics, no longer experiencing fatigue and soreness, and didn't complain. Success for Susan became a reality because she decided not to give up and to seek one more consultation.

Dr. Sean Kuhn, PT, DPT, FAFS, 3DMAPS, MBA is founder of Physio on The Go a San Diego based Functional Medicine Physical Therapist who has been in the physical therapy industry for over 10 years. Find Sean at www.physio-on-the-go.com