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Blog

Developing healthy habits for life

July 18, 2023 · In: Habits for Healing, Holistic Self-Care and Sustainable Healing

7 Simple Healthy Habits a Physical Therapist Would Recommend

Healthy habits don’t have to cost an exorbitant amount or take out a huge chunk of your time. You could start today with small, easy tasks that can be implemented…

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shoulder strength and stability

July 11, 2023 · In: Movement, Strength for Resilience

Shoulder Strength and Stability: A Beginner’s Guide

Whether you’re having pain reaching for the coffee mug in the overhead cabinet or you have pain when pitching on the mound, shoulder strength and stability is important. The shoulder…

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Low back pain when getting up

July 4, 2023 · In: Back, Body Region Support, Science-Backed Education

Low Back Pain Upon Waking Up? Try These 3 Things!

A common complaint I hear in the clinic revolves around low back pain when first waking up in the morning. This blog post addresses a few common ways to help…

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easy habits

June 20, 2023 · In: Habits for Healing, Holistic Self-Care and Sustainable Healing

Easy Habits for Health & Wellness: A Physical Therapist’s Approach

Do you have any routines or easy habits you follow for your own health and wellness journey? In this post, we’ll take a look at how this blog came to…

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how long does carpal tunnel last

June 13, 2023 · In: Body Region Support, Elbow, Wrist, and Hand, Science-Backed Education

How to Get Rid of the Symptoms of Carpal Tunnel

Carpal tunnel is the most common neuropathy in the hand, affecting females more than males, according to the NIH. With carpal tunnel, simple tasks can become difficult challenges. This condition…

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is walking good for piriformis syndrome

June 6, 2023 · In: Pain Science and Healing, Science-Backed Education

How to Get Rid of the Pain from Piriformis Syndrome

Ever had a nagging pain in your butt, more than just an ordinary ache? You could be dealing from piriformis syndrome. Piriformis syndrome can be a source of that nagging…

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physical therapy exercises for shoulder pain

May 30, 2023 · In: Movement, Strength for Resilience

Physical Therapy Exercises for Shoulder Pain: What You Should Know

Physical therapy exercises for shoulder pain are specific to each individual person. This is typically determined by what is found in their initial evaluation. Each exercise performed targets something that…

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acl reconstruction

May 23, 2023 · In: Injuries and Surgeries, Science-Backed Education

ACL Stability: How to Improve Strength for Return to Sport

One of the most common injuries of the knee involves ACL injuries. Your ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), along with many other ligaments, provides stability to your knee. When the ACL…

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how to strengthen knees

May 16, 2023 · In: Movement, Strength for Resilience

How to Strengthen Knees for Function and Performance

One common question I frequently hear of is how to strengthen knees, whether it is for athletic performance, going on hikes, or going up and down the stairs. This article…

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exercises for plantar fasciitis

May 9, 2023 · In: Mobility and Restoration, Movement

Pain When Walking First Thing in the Morning? Try These 7 Exercises for Plantar Fasciitis

Are you or have you dealt with sharp pain in your heel when walking? Do you notice the pain more first thing in the morning? If so, you may be…

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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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