A diagnosis gives a condition a name. It doesn’t necessarily explain what that condition has taken away from the person living with it.
For Roger Kasendorf, DO, that makes another question just as important during an exam: What has become difficult that used to be easy?
For one patient, the answer might be climbing a flight of stairs. For another, it could be sitting through a full workday, getting down on the floor to play with their children, or getting out of bed without a long and painful start to the morning. As a board-certified physiatrist practicing in the San Diego area, Dr. Kasendorf looks at those losses as an important part of understanding what treatment needs to accomplish.
The goal isn’t simply to identify the condition. It’s to figure out what the patient needs to be able to do again.
The Question Behind the Diagnosis
Two people can have the same diagnosis and still experience it in completely different ways.
One person’s lower back pain might keep them off the golf course. Another person’s might make it difficult to lift a child. Both may describe their pain in similar terms, but the things they need to get back to doing what they love could be completely different.
That is why Roger Kasendorf, DO, puts so much emphasis on understanding the patient’s actual limitations. Knowing how tendons, ligaments, joints, muscles, bones, nerves, and the brain interact gives him a framework for figuring out what is contributing to the problem and what needs to change.
Sometimes the most useful information comes from a detail that never makes it into a standard pain score.
A patient may accurately explain where it hurts without mentioning that they’ve stopped playing with their kids on the floor. Someone else may not mention that they started taking the elevator because two flights of stairs have become too difficult. Those changes may seem small compared with the diagnosis, but they tell the physician something important: what the patient has actually lost.
That is where the treatment conversation can begin.
The Same Pain Doesn’t Mean the Same Goal
Function looks different from one patient to the next.
Someone recovering from a joint injury may be trying to regain enough mobility to return to a sport. Someone managing a chronic autoimmune condition may be focused on staying independent and keeping up with everyday activities. They may report similar pain levels, but their treatment goals are not interchangeable.
Dr. Kasendorf builds treatment strategies around those individual goals and the way different structures in the body interact. That can mean looking beyond the immediate symptom to understand what is driving the discomfort and what needs to improve for the patient to regain the activity they have lost.
His practice treats a broad range of pain and musculoskeletal conditions, from recent injuries to problems that have persisted for years. The treatment can look very different from one patient to another. One person may benefit from osteopathic manipulation, while another may need injections, regenerative medicine, rehabilitation, or a combination of approaches.
What stays consistent is the starting point: What is this patient having trouble doing, and what will it take to help them do it again?
Bringing Different Parts of Care Together
Getting back to normal rarely happens in a single appointment. It can also involve more than one type of specialist.
Dr. Kasendorf works with physical therapists, occupational therapists, and other physicians as part of a broader approach to care. That coordination is reflected in his approach to pain management, where reducing pain is only part of the goal. The larger question is what the pain has prevented the patient from doing and how to restore those abilities.
A physical therapist might work on rebuilding strength around an injured joint. An occupational therapist might help a patient adapt or regain the everyday activities that have become difficult. Those efforts can complement the diagnostic and treatment decisions Dr. Kasendorf is making.
For the patient, that coordination also means they don’t have to figure out how every piece of the treatment plan fits together on their own. Each part can work toward the same functional goal.
When Pain Improves but the Problem Isn’t Finished
Pain relief can be an important sign that treatment is working, but it isn’t always the finish line.
A patient may feel considerably better and still struggle to climb stairs, return to work, play a sport, or complete a routine task. If the original activity remains out of reach, there may still be work to do.
That’s one reason a function-focused approach can lead to a different definition of progress. Two patients might report similar improvements in pain, yet one may be ready to return to normal activities while the other still has significant limitations.
The timeline doesn’t have to look identical because the goal isn’t identical.
This philosophy runs through Dr. Kasendorf’s clinical approach: success is measured in part by what the patient can do again, not simply by whether the condition has been identified or the pain has become more manageable.
For someone in the San Diego area preparing for a first appointment, that can be a useful question to consider ahead of time: What do you want to be able to do again?
For Roger Kasendorf, DO, the answer can help shape the entire treatment conversation.
Disclaimer: This article is for general informational and editorial purposes only and does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, treatment recommendations, rehabilitation guidance, or healthcare decision-making support. Pain management, musculoskeletal care, osteopathic treatment, injections, regenerative medicine, rehabilitation, and related therapies may not be appropriate for every patient, and individual outcomes can vary based on medical history, diagnosis, symptoms, physical limitations, treatment response, provider evaluation, and other health factors. Anyone experiencing pain, injury, mobility concerns, or functional limitations should consult a licensed physician or qualified healthcare professional before starting, changing, or stopping any treatment plan.
