Chronic pain is often invisible, yet it affects nearly 50 million Americans—roughly one in five adults. Too often, it’s met with a quick prescription rather than an exploration of the whole person behind the pain.
That’s the central message of Pain, Misunderstood, Confluent Health’s powerful new documentary, which was recently featured in the Triangle Business Journal. The film challenges the common, oversimplified approaches to chronic pain and showcases a holistic path forward, rooted in empathy, movement, and individualized care.
Among the powerful voices in the documentary is Maddie Sauer, a Raleigh resident living with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a rare and painful connective tissue disorder. For much of her life, Maddie’s pain was dismissed or misunderstood by medical providers. But at BreakThrough Physical Therapy, she found someone who truly listened: Dr. Cheyne Kulessa, PT, DPT.
Cheyne, who has worked with multiple EDS patients over his career, approached Maddie’s care with compassion and curiosity, asking the right questions and helping her better understand her own body. Over their three-year partnership, they worked together not just to manage her pain, but to change her relationship with it.
Watch the full documentary at painmisunderstood.com.
