A multidisciplinary approach to persistent pain that goes beyond symptom management — addressing the neurological, physical, and psychological drivers of chronic pain.
Understanding Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is defined as pain persisting beyond 3 months and is one of the most prevalent and debilitating conditions in modern healthcare. Unlike acute pain, which serves as a warning signal, chronic pain often persists due to changes in the central nervous system — a phenomenon known as central sensitization. The brain and spinal cord essentially become hypersensitive, amplifying pain signals even in the absence of ongoing tissue damage. Understanding this distinction is fundamental to effective treatment.
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Chronic Pain Management Through Physiotherapy →How a multidisciplinary physiotherapy approach targets the neurological, structural, and psychological drivers of chronic pain.
At Move to Motion, chronic pain is managed through an integrated, multidisciplinary approach that addresses both the peripheral and central drivers of pain. Our physiotherapists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, and kinesiologists work as a coordinated team — combining manual therapy, acupuncture, IMS/dry needling, Class IV laser, and targeted exercise rehabilitation to break the pain cycle and restore functional movement.
The Evidence
Research published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience established that chronic pain involves maladaptive neuroplastic changes in the dorsal horn and somatosensory cortex. Critically, the same research demonstrated that these changes are reversible — graded movement, manual therapy, and acupuncture all produce measurable normalization of central pain processing, forming the scientific basis of modern multidisciplinary chronic pain treatment.
The largest acupuncture meta-analysis ever conducted, published in Archives of Internal Medicine and covering 20,827 patients across 29 high-quality trials, confirmed acupuncture’s effectiveness for chronic back pain, neck pain, osteoarthritis, and shoulder pain — with effect sizes significantly exceeding sham treatment.
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Acupuncture for Chronic Pain: The Landmark Evidence →The largest acupuncture meta-analysis ever conducted — and what the results mean for chronic pain sufferers.
A 2017 Cochrane review of 75 trials confirmed that graded exercise and supervised active rehabilitation reduce chronic pain intensity and disability across musculoskeletal conditions. The mechanisms include endorphin release, reduced central sensitization, improved tissue load tolerance, and restoration of normal movement patterns that perpetuate pain.
Focused shockwave therapy has demonstrated 60–80% success rates for chronic tendinopathies in multiple systematic reviews, outperforming corticosteroid injections and physiotherapy alone for calcific shoulder tendinitis, Achilles tendinopathy, and plantar fasciitis.
A 2021 meta-analysis in Pain Medicine confirmed dry needling of trigger points significantly reduces chronic myofascial pain intensity and improves pressure pain threshold, with effects lasting 4–12 weeks and additive benefits when combined with manual therapy.
A 2020 systematic review in Lasers in Medical Science confirmed Class IV photobiomodulation therapy reduces chronic pain and inflammation through mitochondrial ATP production, reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines, and accelerated tissue regeneration — making it particularly effective for chronic conditions resistant to manual therapy alone.
Conditions We Treat
Lumbar and thoracic pain persisting beyond 3 months, with or without radiculopathy. Addressed through a combination of manual therapy, IMS, laser, and graded exercise rehabilitation targeting both the mechanical and central sensitization components.
Chronic cervical pain, stiffness, and referred symptoms following injury or postural overload. Treatment combines manual therapy, acupuncture, IMS, and postural rehabilitation for both local and referred pain patterns.
Widespread musculoskeletal pain with fatigue, sleep disruption, and cognitive symptoms. Acupuncture, graded exercise, and pain neuroscience education form the evidence-based core of our fibromyalgia management approach.
Joint pain and stiffness from cartilage degeneration, most commonly in the knee, hip, and shoulder. Acupuncture, Class IV laser, and supervised exercise rehabilitation all have high-quality evidence for OA symptom reduction.
Persistent headache disorders including chronic daily headache, transformed migraine, and cervicogenic headache. Managed through acupuncture, manual cervical therapy, IMS, and lifestyle modification.
Pain that persists beyond normal healing timelines following sprains, fractures, or surgeries. A desensitization-focused approach restores normal movement and addresses the central sensitization maintaining the pain experience.
Our Approach
Effective chronic pain management at Move to Motion begins with a thorough assessment that goes beyond identifying the pain source to understanding the biological, psychological, and social factors maintaining the pain state. Your practitioner will evaluate movement quality, sensitization patterns, contributing lifestyle factors, and previous treatment responses to build an accurate clinical picture before designing your treatment program.
Treatment is progressive and individually tailored. Early phases focus on pain reduction through manual therapy, acupuncture, IMS, and laser to create a therapeutic window for movement. Later phases build on this foundation with supervised active rehabilitation, gradually increasing load and complexity to restore full function and prevent recurrence. Pain neuroscience education is woven throughout — understanding your pain is one of the most powerful tools for changing it.
No referral needed — book directly online.