Pain has a way of quietly reshaping our expectations.
At first, it’s temporary—something you assume will pass. But when discomfort lingers, it’s easy to adjust your life around it. You move a little less. You avoid certain activities. You stop expecting your body to feel better and instead focus on not making it worse.
What often gets lost in that process is a simple but powerful truth: the human body is designed to heal. And that capacity does not disappear with age.
Healing is not a one-time event reserved for major injuries. It is an ongoing biological process that unfolds every day, influenced by how we move, recover, manage stress, and respond to discomfort.
How Healing Actually Works
Every time you walk, lift, stretch, or even maintain posture, your tissues experience small amounts of stress. This is known as microtrauma, and it is not harmful—in fact, it is necessary. Microtrauma signals the body to repair, adapt, and strengthen muscle, tendon, bone, and connective tissue.
Under healthy conditions, this cycle is seamless: stress, recovery, repair.
Problems arise when recovery is incomplete. Instead of resolving, inflammation lingers. Tissues become sensitized. Pain remains even when no clear injury is present. Over time, the body can get “stuck” in a protective state, prioritizing caution over restoration.
Understanding this distinction—between damage and disrupted healing—is key to reducing chronic pain and restoring function.
Inflammation: Helpful, Until It Isn’t
Inflammation often gets a bad reputation, but it plays a critical role in healing. Acute inflammation delivers nutrients, immune cells, and repair signals to injured tissue. It’s part of how the body rebuilds itself.
The challenge comes with chronic inflammation—when the body never fully exits the repair phase. This can amplify pain signals, slow tissue regeneration, and reduce tolerance for movement. Stress, poor sleep, prolonged inactivity, repeated flare-ups, and inconsistent movement patterns all contribute.
Pain, in this context, is not always a sign of harm. Sometimes it is a sign of an overprotective system that hasn’t been shown it’s safe to heal.
Why Movement Matters—Even When You Hurt
When pain persists, many people respond by either pushing through it or avoiding movement altogether. Both extremes can reinforce the problem.
Research consistently shows that graded movement—progressive, intentional activity that respects current capacity—is one of the most effective tools for healing. Movement increases circulation, delivers nutrients to tissues, stimulates repair, and helps regulate the nervous system’s response to pain.
Importantly, this does not mean intense exercise or “working through” discomfort. It means moving strategically. Small, consistent doses of appropriate movement can rebuild tissue tolerance, confidence, and trust in the body.
Healing is often less about doing more, and more about doing the right amount—consistently.
The Role of Behavior in Recovery
Even the best physical strategies fall short without sustainable habits. This is where behavior change becomes essential.
Two concepts are especially powerful:
• Graded activity, which gradually increases what the body can tolerate without triggering setbacks
• Pacing, which prevents the cycle of doing too much on good days and paying for it later.
Healing doesn’t require perfection or intensity. It requires adherence—showing up repeatedly in small, manageable ways that allow the body to recalibrate.
Healing Has No Expiration Date
One of the most persistent myths about aging is that the body loses its ability to regenerate. While recovery may occur more slowly over time, the biological mechanisms that drive tissue repair remain active throughout life.
Muscles still respond to stimulus. Bones still adapt to load. Connective tissue still remodels. The nervous system still learns.
Pain may change with age—but it is not inevitable, and it is not irreversible.
Living Well Longer in March
If you’re curious about how healing really works—and how to support it more effectively—join us for an upcoming seminar that explores these ideas in depth!
Please join us for our next Living Well Longer series: Healing, Regeneration and Pain Reduction on Thursday, March 19 at 11:30 a.m., we’ll take a practical, science-based look at healing, regeneration, and pain reduction, including:
• How tissue repair actually occurs
• Why chronic pain persists
• How movement and behavior can support recovery at any age
Register on HP’s Club Calendar.
