Understanding Pattern Breaks: When The Source of Your Pain Isn’t Where It Seems

Have you ever felt stuck in a cycle of recurring pain? You visit a practitioner, get some relief, but weeks or months later, you’re right back where you started. Maybe you’ve even tried different approaches – physiotherapy, osteopathy, various styles of chiropractic care – but something still seems to be missing.

If this sounds familiar, you might be dealing with what we call a Pattern Break. It’s a fascinating phenomenon where the real cause of your pain isn’t where you feel it – it’s hiding somewhere else in your body, silently creating problems.

Think of your body like a complex chain of interconnected parts. When one link in this chain isn’t working properly, it doesn’t always cause pain where the problem is. Instead, it creates strain elsewhere – often in completely unexpected places. This silent dysfunction might have started from an old injury that never fully healed, or it could have developed so gradually that you never noticed it happening.

The challenge? Most practitioners tend to focus their attention on the painful area – after all, that’s where it hurts! But when you’re dealing with a Pattern Break, treating only the painful area is like trying to fix a leaking roof by placing buckets to catch the water, rather than finding and repairing the actual leak.

What Is a Pattern Break?

Your body is remarkably adaptable, and it’s normal for it to develop certain compensation patterns over time. For instance, most people’s dominant shoulder sits slightly lower and further forward than their non-dominant side – this is a natural adaptation to how we use our bodies.

But a Pattern Break is different. It’s like driving with the handbrake on – you might not notice it immediately, but over time, it creates unnecessary strain throughout the system. It’s an area of silent dysfunction that might not hurt itself but forces other parts of your body to work harder to compensate.

These Pattern Breaks can develop in several ways:

• An old injury that seemed to heal but never regained proper function
• Gradual changes from repetitive movements or postures
• Compensations that became so ingrained your body accepted them as normal

What makes Pattern Breaks particularly challenging is that they often create unexpected compensation chains. Unlike normal adaptations that follow predictable patterns, Pattern Breaks can cause problems in seemingly unrelated areas of your body. It’s like having a hidden glitch in the system – one that most practitioners might miss because they’re focused on more obvious patterns of dysfunction.

Think of your body as an interconnected system of pulleys and levers. When one part isn’t working correctly, other areas have to pick up the slack. Over time, it’s usually these overworking areas that become painful – not the original Pattern Break itself.

A Real-World Example: The Hidden Cause of 20 Years of Pain

Let’s look at a case that perfectly illustrates how a Pattern Break can hide in plain sight. A patient came to us with severe left neck and shoulder pain that had been troubling him for two decades. As a busy professional who spent long hours at his desk, he naturally assumed his pain was due to his work posture.

The pain had become more than just an inconvenience. With young twin boys at home, he found himself increasingly unable to pick them up or play with them without triggering painful muscle spasms. Even though he’d been receiving regular chiropractic care in London – over 30 sessions focusing on his painful left side – the relief was always temporary. Within days or weeks, the pain and spasms would return.

During his Quadrant Analysis assessment, we noticed something interesting: while everyone was focusing on his painful left shoulder and neck, his right forearm and hand showed signs of significant restriction. No one had thought to check the opposite arm. When we discussed his daily routine, he mentioned spending hours using his computer mouse, rarely using his keyboard.

This constant mouse use had created a Pattern Break in his right arm – his tissues had literally locked into a ‘mouse-holding’ position. While this didn’t cause him any direct pain, when sitting at his desk it forced his body to compensate by overworking his left side, ultimately overloading his neck and shoulder.

After a few targeted treatments to free up his right arm, combined with switching to an ergonomic mouse, his neck and shoulder finally stabilized, and the spasms disappeared. Now he can pick up and carry his boys on his shoulders without pain, and handle the long hours at his desk without worrying about it locking up again. 

This case demonstrates a crucial point: if we’d only focused on where it hurt, we would have missed the true source of his problem entirely.

How We Identify Pattern Breaks

Most practitioners tend to concentrate their assessment in two ways: either focusing on their specialty area (like traditional chiropractors examining primarily the spine), or zeroing in on the painful area itself. But Pattern Breaks require a different approach – one that examines how your entire body works together.

Think about a skilled mechanic diagnosing an engine problem. They don’t just listen to where the noise is coming from; they assess the entire system to find what’s causing that noise in the first place. Similarly, when we assess for Pattern Breaks, we look at:

• How your body moves as a complete unit, not just individual parts
• The quality of movement between joints & muscles, including the tiny “accessory” movements that most practitioners don’t check
• Side-to-side comparisons to spot asymmetries that don’t make sense
• The difference between normal compensation patterns and unusual ones that suggest a Pattern Break

This comprehensive approach is crucial because Pattern Breaks often develop gradually. They might start from something as simple as favouring one side while using a computer mouse, or an old ankle sprain that seemed to heal but left subtle restrictions behind. Most practitioners might miss these issues because they’re only asking about major injuries in your past, or focusing just on tissues adjacent to the painful area.

What makes our approach different is that we’re not just looking for obvious problems – we’re searching for those hidden “handbrakes” in your system. We know that normal compensations exist (like having your dominant shoulder sit slightly lower), but Pattern Breaks create unusual compensation chains that require an expert eye to unravel.

Could You Have a Pattern Break?

Pattern Breaks can be tricky to identify on your own – after all, they’re often hiding in places you wouldn’t think to check. However, there are some signs that might suggest a Pattern Break is contributing to your pain:

• Have you had treatments that help temporarily, but the pain keeps coming back?
• Does your pain persist despite multiple practitioners’ best efforts?
• Have you had an injury in the past that seemed to get better on its own, but now you’re experiencing pain somewhere else?
• Is there an area of your body that isn’t painful but feels weak, stiff, or moves differently from the other side?
• Have you ever felt like practitioners were missing something, but you weren’t sure what?

While answering ‘yes’ to these questions doesn’t necessarily mean you have a Pattern Break, it suggests that looking beyond the painful area might be worthwhile. Many patients experience recurring pain simply because their daily habits or stresses keep putting pressure on the same areas. For instance, if you drive long distances for work, it’s quite normal to have low back pain that returns over time.

The key difference is that Pattern Breaks often create pain patterns that don’t make obvious sense – like our earlier example of a mouse hand causing opposite shoulder pain. They’re like pieces of a puzzle that don’t quite fit the usual picture.

The Next Step: What Can You Do?

Understanding Pattern Breaks is the first step toward breaking free from cycles of recurring pain. While they can be challenging to identify on your own, there are several steps you can take:

Take a moment to reflect on your pain history. Have you had injuries or issues in the past that seemed to resolve on their own? Even minor incidents that you’d forgotten about might be relevant. Sometimes what seems like an unrelated old injury could be creating a hidden Pattern Break that’s affecting you now.

When you visit a practitioner, share your full history – not just about your current pain, but also about old injuries, repetitive movements in your work or hobbies, and any patterns you’ve noticed. This information can be crucial in identifying potential Pattern Breaks.

Remember: breaking free from chronic pain often requires looking beyond where it hurts. If you’ve been stuck in a cycle of temporary relief and recurring pain, it might be time for a different approach.