How much of the time you spend in pain comes from the injury itself, and how much comes from the fear around it?
Dr. Tom Walters is a board-certified orthopedic physical therapist, strength and conditioning specialist, educator, and founder of Rehab Science. He has spent more than two decades helping people understand pain, movement, and injury recovery, and he is the author of Rehab Science: How to Overcome Pain and Heal from Injury.
Tom’s starting point is that pain and injury are not the same thing. Pain is an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience tied to actual or potential tissue damage, which means what you believe about your body can change what you feel in it.
Tom and Mike get into the nocebo effect, how a clinician’s words or reaction to a scan can amplify pain, why the field traded the word chronic for persistent, and how to manage exercise loads as your body adapts.
Mike tells the story of an MRI he had around the age of 23. The doctor looked at the film, his eyes got big, and he asked if Mike was okay. Mike says his pain felt worse instantly.
In this conversation, you’ll learn:
- The difference between pain and injury, and why one does not require the other
- Why the field traded the word chronic for persistent
- Why there is no longer good posture and bad posture, only capacity
- Load management, and how to add strength without loading dysfunction
- What Tom would actually do across seven days to stay out of pain
Tom says many musculoskeletal conditions improve with time and movement. He encourages people to take an active role in recovery: try an appropriate movement, notice how your body responds, and adjust from there.
Enjoy the conversation.
“Anything in life, if you don’t understand it, it creates more fear and worry.” — Dr. Tom Walters
Resources + Links
Dr. Tom Walters’ Website: rehabscience.com
Dr. Tom Walters’ Books: Rehab Science: How to Overcome Pain and Heal from Injury, plus the 2026 Rehab Science body-region series: Knee, Back and Spine, Hip, Shoulder, Elbow, Wrist & Hand, Ankle and Foot, and Head & Neck
Dr. Tom Walters’ YouTube Channel: Rehab Science
The Rehab Science App: Rehab Science on the App Store
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