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why does my knee hurt when walking down stairs

September 9, 2025 · In: Body Region Support, Knee, Science-Backed Education

Knee Pain Walking Down Stairs? This Can Help!

Do you have knee pain walking down stairs? You’re not alone. Many people find that going down stairs feels harder on the knees than going up, and there’s a good…

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prp for knee osteoarthritis

September 2, 2025 · In: Pain Science and Healing, Science-Backed Education

The Truth About PRP for Knee Osteoarthritis: Benefits and Limitations

Knee pain is one of the most common complaints among adults, affecting 25% of people in the US. As we age, the likelihood of experiencing knee pain also increases. For…

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stress muscle tension relief

August 26, 2025 · In: Nervous System Regulation

Stress and Muscle Tension Relief: How to Ease Tightness and Restore Calm

Stress doesn’t just live in your head. It shows up in your body; the tight shoulders, clenched jaw, an achy back. For many women, that tension becomes the quiet background…

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weekend recovery routine

August 19, 2025 · In: Holistic Self-Care and Sustainable Healing, Rest and Recovery

Your Weekend Recovery Routine: Simple Steps to Reduce Soreness and Fatigue

Weekends often bring long hikes, tough training sessions, or packed schedules with the kids that push your body to its limits. For many of us, Monday morning hits with tight…

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weak ankles running

August 12, 2025 · In: Movement, Strength for Resilience

Weak Ankles Running? Stabilization and Strengthening for Pain Free Running

Do you suffer from frequently spraining your ankles? Do you have a sensation like you have weak ankles running? If you’ve ever strained to stabilize your ankles on a run…

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diaphragmatic breathing

August 5, 2025 · In: Nervous System Regulation

Diaphragmatic Breathing: How to Breathe Correctly

When stress, fatigue, and chronic pain play a part in your daily life, something has to change. I’ve been there. I understand the struggle. It’s hard to find our way…

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DOMS vs injury

July 29, 2025 · In: Pain Science and Healing, Science-Backed Education

DOMS vs Injury: What Your Body is Really Telling You

You crushed your workout and now your muscles are letting you know it. Now the question starts rolling around in your head: DOMS vs injury? Is this normal soreness or…

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ankle dorsiflexion

July 22, 2025 · In: Mobility and Restoration, Movement

Limited Ankle Dorsiflexion Might Be Why You Can’t Squat Well

Do you notice your heels pop up off the ground when you squat? Do you feel stuck, almost like you can’t drop down lower in your squat no matter how…

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hip extension

July 15, 2025 · In: Movement, Strength for Resilience

Why Hip Extension Matters (and 3 Easy PT‑Approved Exercises to Improve Yours)

If you’re someone who sits a lot, has dealt with chronic back pain and tension, and you notice you can’t stand or walk for long periods of time, consider looking…

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hip hinge

July 8, 2025 · In: Movement, Strength for Resilience

The Hip Hinge: Why it is Important for Daily Life

We all hear it: “hinge at your hips” whenever you are working out at the gym. Why does everyone harp on this one movement? Here is the thing…it is a…

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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

woman practicing real rest for chronic pain, calming her nervous system

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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