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pinching in the shoulder

July 1, 2025 · In: Body Region Support, Science-Backed Education, Shoulder

Understanding Pinching in the Shoulder When Lifting Your Arm

Have you experienced pinching in the shoulder when lifting your arm? It’s a discomfort that many of us can relate to. Pinching most commonly occurs when reaching overhead and can…

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tissue healing timeline

June 24, 2025 · In: Pain Science and Healing, Science-Backed Education

A Guide to the Tissue Healing Timeline

When you experience an injury, the journey from initial pain to full recovery can seem daunting. What we don’t see or recognize is the process of tissue healing. This is…

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signs of a dysregulated nervous system

June 17, 2025 · In: Nervous System Regulation

How to Identify the Signs of a Dysregulated Nervous System

The signs of a dysregulated nervous system show up as your body staying stuck in one state, wired and unable to settle, or flat and far away, long after the…

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tommy john surgery

May 27, 2025 · In: Injuries and Surgeries, Science-Backed Education

What is the Recovery Time After Tommy John Surgery?

There is no doubt that Tommy John surgery is on the rise, especially within the baseball community. In 2024, nearly 36% of all active MLB pitchers have undergone Tommy John…

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bulging disc

May 20, 2025 · In: Pain Science and Healing, Science-Backed Education

I Have a Bulging Disc. What Do I Do Now?

A bulging disc is when an intervertebral disc extends beyond its usual boundary. There are varying degrees to how severe a bulging disc may be. More severe cases result in…

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hypermobility

May 13, 2025 · In: Movement, Strength for Resilience

How to Improve Stability When You Have Hypermobility

Ever come across someone (maybe yourself) who says, “I’m super flexible.” This person is most likely hypermobile. While some individuals can flaunt their ability to perform impressive feats of flexibility,…

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rotator cuff tear

April 29, 2025 · In: Injuries and Surgeries, Science-Backed Education

How to Heal a Rotator Cuff Tear Naturally

The shoulder is a very mobile joint. Because of that, it requires a lot of strength and stability. If you aren’t making a conscious effort to strengthen your rotator cuff,…

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biceps strain

April 22, 2025 · In: Injuries and Surgeries, Science-Backed Education

A Complete Guide to Understanding a Biceps Strain

A biceps strain often happens unexpectedly. Ever been at the gym or lifting a heavy object, and out of nowhere, you feel this sharp pain through your arm? This type…

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neck pain and tension

April 15, 2025 · In: Nervous System Regulation

How to Relieve Neck Pain and Tension

In the modern age of long work hours and constant screen time, neck pain and tension have become all too common for us. Developing from various sources, such as poor…

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chronic ankle instability

April 8, 2025 · In: Body Region Support, Foot/Ankle, Science-Backed Education

A Comprehensive Guide to Chronic Ankle Instability

Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is a condition that not only hampers your daily activities, but also impacts athletic performance significantly. CAI is exactly what it sounds like—ankle instability which occurs…

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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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