Why We Crave a Diagnosis and How it Becomes an Excuse

Why do we crave a diagnosis so badly? Why do we want someone else to tell us what we have, what we are... and then why do we so quickly become the diagnosis?

You hear it all the time:

"I have a disc thing" "I have a torn rotator" "I have a meniscus tear" "I'm bone on bone"

The problem with this language is simple:

None of it came from the person themselves. No one wakes up, looks down at their knee and says, "oh wow... I'm bone on bone today"

They woke up with pain, went to a doctor (maybe asked google), an image was taken, and suddenly a label exists.

Once the label shows up, the conversation changes. Now, it's no longer about how you move, it's about what you are not allowed to do.

When pain gets a label, responsibility disappears.

From there, the options usually sound like this:

*Injections

*surgery

*replacement

*"just don't do that anymore"

What often doesn't happen is, you are not afforded the opportunity - or responsibility- to learn to move better without pain.

So instead of addressing the real issue, people carry the label with them:

"I'm bone on bone" "I have a herniated disc" and that label quietly dictates their life.

" I can't lift heavy "

" I can't play with my kids"

" I can't pick up packages from my porch"

" I can't squat down "

" I can't run"

Not because those things are impossible, but because the diagnosis has been misunderstood as the problem.

Insurance codes are not human problems.

Here is an important distinction. Providers - including physical therapists and chiropractors - often have to speak in diagnosis codes to insurance companies so the insurance company can understand what is happening. Those codes are for billing, not about solving people problems.

The real problem is not sciatica, torn rotator cuff, herniated disc...

The real problem is:

The patient cannot bring in a package, the patient cannot play with their kids, the patient cannot enjoy daily life.

If "inability to enjoy life" were the diagnosis, no one would accept that as an endpoint. But when we wrap those limitations inside a medical label, people accept those limits as permanent - and stop acting.

Let's be honest, the labels give an OUT and people take it. This is the par that is uncomfortable but honest. Labels give people an excuse not to change. Instead of taking responsibility, they say " I can't do that because of ____"

and once that excuse exists, action disappears.

Here is the truth:

Plenty of people have herniated discs. Plenty of people have abnormal imaging (I'm one of them) what does matter is the set of circumstances around it.

*how you sleep

*how you eat

*how you move

*how you recover

*How much capacity you've built - or avoided building

The disc isn't the problem. The problem is you can't hinge, squat, run or load your body to meet the demands of your life.

Capability is the diagnosis that actually matters.

Your injury is not the MRI finding. Your injury is this: You cannot pick up that object

So the solution becomes really clear - we prepare you to pick up that object.

We teach you how to squat better. How to hinge better. We restore strength, control and tolerance. When you understand that your actions can change your experience, the excuse disappears. And once the excuse disappears, responsibility shows up. And here is the final hard truth...

If you know that changing your sleep, nutrition, movement, or training would help you feel and move better - and you choose not to - the people around you will eventually stop tolerating the complaints. That's not cruelty, it's cause and effect.

So stop obsessing over the disc and solve the problem. Yes, the disc should be acknowledged and accounted for, absolutely. But stop letting imaging be the main character and stop turning diagnoses into identities.

Start asking better questions: What can I do right now? What capacity am I missing? What would it take to rebuild?

The herniated disc isn't your problem, the problem is you can't live the way you want to - and that IS solvable.

If you read this and it brought something up for you - frustration, clarity, resistance, relief, or even anger - let's please have a conversation.

No pressure or labeling. Just an honest discussion about what you want to be able to do, and what it would take to get you there.

Sometimes, the first real solution starts with a better conversation,

This post was inspired by insights shared by Dr. Sean Pastuch, Founder of Active Life, on his podcast. Listen to the full monologue here

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2FT6OsOh5ZnxtwkeqyqebQ?si=JcUzgwhsT1unFBSLWmOtwQ