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foam roller for upper back pain

December 19, 2023 · In: Mobility and Restoration, Movement

How to Use a Foam Roller for Upper Back Pain

A foam roller is a tool that can be used for soft tissue mobilization and myofascial release. It can also be used with exercises to help improve mobility. Did you…

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tight hip flexors

December 12, 2023 · In: Body Region Support, Hip, Science-Backed Education

Tight Hip Flexors and How to Treat Them

The hip flexors are a group of muscles that are important for movement and mobility, as well as for powerful leg movements like kicking. Tight hip flexors can lead to…

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how to build self care

December 5, 2023 · In: Habits for Healing, Holistic Self-Care and Sustainable Healing

5 Different Ways How to Build Self Care

Building self-care can feel like a daunting task. Where to start? What to do? How much will it cost? This post will look into 7 different areas of self care…

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exercise and mental health

November 28, 2023 · In: Pain Science and Healing, Science-Backed Education

Exercise and Mental Health: Positively Improve All Aspects of Life

Most people are aware of the physical health benefits of exercise. What most people are not aware of is the other benefits that come from physical exercise. It can even…

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weak ankles

November 21, 2023 · In: Movement, Strength for Resilience

How to Fix Weak Ankles: The Ankle Support You Need

Weak ankles are a sign of poor stability in the distal lower leg. On occasion, external support may be necessary for safety and pain management. Strengthening the muscles around the…

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rounded shoulders

November 14, 2023 · In: Pain Science and Healing, Science-Backed Education

How to Fix Rounded Shoulders

Have you ever caught yourself with your shoulders hunching forward in the mirror? Or has someone ever said anything to you about standing up straight? Rounded shoulders occur when certain…

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ql exercises

November 7, 2023 · In: Back, Mobility and Restoration, Movement

Quadratus Lumborum: Stretches and Exercises to Relieve Back Pain

Have you experienced back pain after a day out on the golf course? Or what about a long day of work after repeatedly twisting to one side? Even going for…

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hip internal rotation

October 31, 2023 · In: Body Region Support, Hip, Science-Backed Education

Hip Internal Rotation and Why It Is Important

Hip internal rotation is one of the most commonly limited movements of the hip. Improving range in this direction can help with countless activities. This includes squatting and helping to…

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ankle pain when walking

October 24, 2023 · In: Body Region Support, Foot/Ankle, Science-Backed Education

Ankle Pain When Walking? Why it Hurts and How to Fix It

Have you had times where you have gone our grocery shopping or gotten up for your daily walk only to have your ankle start bothering you just minutes in? Ankle…

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hamstring stiffness

October 17, 2023 · In: Body Region Support, Hip, Science-Backed Education

Chronic Hamstring Stiffness? Here’s What You Need to Know

Hamstring stiffness affects a lot of people. Why are the hamstrings a commonly stiff muscle group? This post will address anatomy of the hamstrings, reasons stiffness may occur, and exercises…

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Meet Tera

Meet Tera
hi, i'm tera!

I'm a licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy and the founder of PT Complete. I built the Regulate and Rebuild Method because most people trying to get back into their body after chronic pain are told to either push through it or rest completely, and neither one actually works. I write from the clinic and from my own body, since I'm working through my own chronic pain story right now, too. When I'm not working, you'll probably find me managing the regular chaos of life or curled up with coffee and a dessert I can't seem to quit.

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Featured Posts

how to start exercising again after a chronic pain flare

How to Start Exercising Again After a Pain Flare or Long Layoff (Without Setting Yourself Back)

woman experiencing pain that moves around the body, chronic pain explained

Pain That Moves Around Your Body: What Your Nervous System Is Trying to Tell You

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What Real Rest Actually Looks Like for Chronic Pain (And Why Sleeping More Isn’t the Whole Answer)

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@teravaughn22

terasandona

Chronic pain coaching for high-achieving women
Licensed DPT • Regulate first, rebuild second, then layer
👇🏻 Free nervous system workbook

You don’t actually want to be pain free. You want You don’t actually want to be pain free.

You want to walk further without thinking about it. Get down on the ground with your kid and back up again. Sit through a full dinner without shifting in your seat. Sleep through the night. Say yes to the spontaneous thing.

Maybe the goal was never zero pain. Maybe it was a body you don’t have to negotiate with.

That’s the shift I want you to make, from tracking pain scores to tracking your actual life, whether you can do the things you want to do, not just how much it hurts while you do them.

The order still matters to get there. Regulate first, rebuild the strength, then the habits hold.

Send this to the friend who needs to hear it’s not just about the pain.
Honeymoon photo dump incoming!! 🏝️☀️🌊👙⛱️🍾💍❤️ Honeymoon photo dump incoming!! 🏝️☀️🌊👙⛱️🍾💍❤️
I stood in front of my fridge for an hour. Couldn’ I stood in front of my fridge for an hour. Couldn’t decide, not even sure I was hungry. Just stuck. And one decision felt like the hardest thing I’d been asked to do all day, even though I’d made decisions all day long without a second thought.

I kept wondering what was wrong with me. Turns out, nothing was.

Fight, flight, and freeze are all protective responses your nervous system reaches for under threat. Fight and flight speed you up. They give you the energy to push back or get away. Freeze does the opposite. It shuts things down because there’s nothing left to fight with or run from.

That fridge moment wasn’t a discipline problem. It was my nervous system running out before dinner could be decided and made.

Freeze doesn’t get talked about as much as fight or flight, but it’s just as real and it shows up in the most ordinary places…a kitchen, a closed laptop, a decision that shouldn’t be hard and somehow is.

If you’ve had a night like this, you already know exactly what I’m talking about.

If this sounds familiar, tell me in the comments, or text someone who’d know exactly what I mean.
I reached for the weights I used to lift before my I reached for the weights I used to lift before my brain caught up.

It took half a second in my garage. The half second was the moment I realized I couldn’t even lift the dumbbell. I registered the gap between the body I used to train and the body I have now.

I dialed back down. Instead of the 30s, I picked up the 10s, and I did the work that fits what my system can absorb right now.

Nobody warns you that the rebuilding work has these moments built into it. The half-seconds when your old identity reaches for a load your current capacity can’t carry, and you mistake the disappointment for evidence that you are failing.

Your current body is not a smaller version of the one you used to have. It is a different body, doing real work, on a different scale.

You can train this one.

Tag the woman who’s still reaching for the weight she used to lift. Remind her she’s not alone.
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