What it feels like
Pain that's lasted months or years. Pain that comes back no matter what you try. Stiffness and tightness that never fully goes away. Pain that seems to move around your body. Feeling like you've "tried everything".
What’s actually causing it
"Chronic pain" isn't a diagnosis — it's a label that means your pain hasn't gone away. The real question is why. And the answer is different for every person who walks into my office. Some people have chronic low back pain because their hip flexors have been locked tight for years, compressing their spine. Some have chronic neck pain because their scalenes never properly healed after an old injury. Some have pain that moves around because multiple muscle groups are compensating for each other in a chain reaction that started with one inhibited muscle. The common thread is that something in your body stopped working correctly — a muscle shut down, a compensation pattern took over — and nobody found it. So you've been treating the symptom instead of the source. That's what I do differently: I use muscle testing to find the specific dysfunction driving your pain, no matter how long it's been there.
How I treat it
I test the muscles around the affected area individually, find which ones aren’t firing, and reset the connection using gentle techniques. No cracking, no popping.
How long it takes
Most patients feel a difference after one session. Chronic cases typically resolve in 4–6 sessions.
Why Nothing Has Worked So Far
If you've had pain for months or years, you've probably tried a lot of things. Medications that help temporarily. Adjustments that feel good for a day. Stretches, exercises, maybe injections. The reason they haven't worked permanently is that they're all treating the pain, not the cause. Your back hurts, so they treat your back. But your back is hurting because something else isn't working — and until that something else gets found and fixed, the pain keeps coming back.
How I Approach Chronic Pain
I start the same way I start with every patient: muscle testing. I'm looking for which muscles aren't firing, which ones are overworking to compensate, and where the pattern started. Chronic pain usually has layers — the original problem created a compensation, which created another compensation, and now you've got pain in three different places that all connect back to one root cause. Finding that root cause is the detective work. Once I find it, treatment is targeted: deep myofascial release for the tight, overworked muscles, and reactivation of the muscles that shut down.
Common Patterns I See
Chronic low back pain is almost always tight hip flexors and inhibited glutes. Chronic neck pain is usually locked-down scalenes and suboccipitals. Chronic shoulder pain often traces back to a serratus anterior that isn't firing. Chronic hip pain frequently involves a piriformis that's overworking because the psoas is tight. Every case is different, but there's always a pattern. I just have to find it.
What to Expect
Chronic pain took a long time to develop, and it takes time to unwind. But "takes time" doesn't mean "takes forever." Most patients start feeling improvement within the first few visits as we begin addressing the root dysfunction. Full resolution depends on how many layers of compensation have built up and how long the pattern has been running. I'll be honest with you about the timeline once I see what's going on.
“I had been suffering for years and was unsuccessfully treated by others. In one visit, Dr. Ladd was able to find and address the real issue.”
Patient review · Chronic Pain patient
Techniques I use for chronic pain
Common questions
Why hasn't anything else worked?
Because they've been treating where it hurts, not why it hurts. The pain is in your back, but the problem might be in your hip flexors. Until someone finds the actual cause, treatments only provide temporary relief.
Can pain that's lasted years actually get better?
Yes. I've seen patients with years of chronic pain improve significantly once the root dysfunction is identified and treated. The body wants to heal — it just needs the right conditions.
How is this different from pain management?
Pain management assumes the pain is permanent and focuses on coping. I assume there's a cause that hasn't been found yet, and I go looking for it. Very different approach, very different results.
How many visits will I need?
Depends on the complexity. Some chronic pain patterns resolve in 4–6 visits once the root cause is found. Others with multiple layers of compensation take 8–12 weeks. I'll give you an honest timeline after the first visit.
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