Inside the Making of "Pain, Misunderstood": Why We Had to Tell This Story

Every day, millions of people are living with pain that no scan can explain. They’re told it’s in their head. They’re handed pills. They’re left to navigate a healthcare system that often misunderstands them or ignores them altogether. 

That’s why we made this film. 

Why "Pain, Misunderstood" Had to Be Made 

Pain, Misunderstood is more than a film, it’s a movement to challenge the way we think about pain. Here’s why Confluent Health partnered with leading voices in science and storytelling to bring it to life. 

At Confluent Health, we believe movement is medicine—and knowledge is power. We’ve seen too many people suffer in silence or get stuck in cycles of ineffective treatments. We knew the science existed. We knew clinicians were out there doing things differently. 

We just needed to tell that story. 

The Spark Behind the Film 

It started with frustration. Our physical therapists and clinicians were seeing it again and again: patients with chronic pain getting bounced around the system, misdiagnosed, overmedicated, and overlooked. We knew that a better approach existed, and it was rooted in modern neuroscience and patient-centered care. But too few people knew about it. 

So, we asked: What if we could tell the pain story in a new way? One that’s not clinical or dry, but emotional, visual, and deeply human with real human experiences.  

A Marriage of Science and Story 

We partnered with expert clinicians – many of which happen to be leading the latest research in PNE at Evidence in Motion, a member of the Confluent Health family, award-winning storytellers, and real patients who were brave enough to share their pain journey. 

Every step of production from scripting to final cut was guided by one rule: honor the science, and focus the human experience. Pain is personal, after all.  

The film includes: 

• Leading researchers like Dr. Adriaan Louw, who have spent decades educating professionals on the neuroscience of pain 
• Patients like Maddie Saur, who went from feeling helpless to hopeful through modern physical therapy and finding a provider they could trust 
• Trusted providers like Cheyne Kulessa and Dr. Stephen Clark, who show what compassionate, evidence-based care looks like in practice, from elite athletes to everyday patients 

What we hope you’ll take away  

Pain is real. And it’s treatable. But we need to change how we talk about it and treat it. This isn’t just a documentary. It’s a movement. 

We want people living with pain to know: 

• You’re not broken. 
• Pain is real—and treatable. 
• You deserve providers who understand the whole picture. 

And we want clinicians, educators, and policymakers to see what’s possible when we shift the narrative—from one of fear and failure to one of function and freedom. 

Share the film with someone who needs hope. 

Let’s stop blaming people for their pain—and start showing them the path forward. Learn more at painmisunderstood.com.