At some point in midlife, many of us are given a diagnosis that changes how we move — not because of pain, but because of how the words land.

“Bone on bone.”
“You have arthritis.”
“Degenerative.”

In this episode, I share my take on how medical diagnoses are meant to inform — but how they often end up making people feel broken.

We talk about:

• What “bone on bone” actually means on imaging
• Why arthritis does not reliably explain pain
• How common disc bulges and degeneration are with age
• Why imaging findings and pain don’t always match
• How fear and loss of trust — not damage — often change how we move
• Why doctors still recommend movement and exercise, even with arthritis
• How to rebuild confidence in your body without ignoring medical reality

This is not about dismissing medicine.
It’s about understanding context — and learning how to move forward without letting a diagnosis become a verdict.

Research & references mentioned:

• Brinjikji et al., 2015 — American Journal of Neuroradiology: Systematic review showing disc bulges, degeneration, and herniations increase with age and are present in both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals; imaging findings alone do not reliably explain pain.
• Bedson & Croft, 2008 — Arthritis Research & Therapy: Radiographic osteoarthritis findings do not consistently correlate with pain severity.
• Hunter & Bierma-Zeinstra, 2019 — The Lancet: Osteoarthritis pain is multifactorial and poorly explained by imaging alone.

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