What is the recommended course of action if pain persists beyond the expected therapeutic response?

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When pain persists beyond what you'd expect from the current treatment, the next step is to reassess the diagnosis and consider imaging or referral for further evaluation. This approach recognizes that ongoing symptoms may indicate an incomplete or incorrect initial diagnosis, or the presence of a condition that requires different management. Reassessment allows you to adjust your plan based on new information, and imaging or a specialist referral can help identify issues such as structural pathology, infection, fracture, or nerve involvement that may not be evident from symptoms alone. Continuing the same plan or stopping care entirely without further evaluation risks missing a more serious underlying problem. Assuming the pain is just a placebo effect also undermines the patient’s symptom burden and can delay appropriate care.