Amazing how a serendipitous event can cause a "light bulb" moment or clarify something ruminating in our subconscious.
And I do relate to what you say about feeling pain while undergoing therapy/exercise for your injured parts. Two years ago, I felt the pain viscerally when the therapist touched and then used her fingers to massage the inner side of the knee. Agony. And here it is 3 and a half years after that horrid fall (and the tearing of miniscus within left knee, plus other traumas) and I'm STILL feeling nauseating pain if that area is even lightly pressed. Sets off throbbing, pulsating jolts of pain deep within the knee, behind it, on the opposite side, under the patella, and shooting up into the thigh. So I sought out a consultation with a recommended orthopedist, and he validated my pain, saying that meniscus tears do NOT heal. He had tried a cortisone shot about a month ago, but that didn't do much of anything. The arthritis (which was present as light osteoarthritis prior to the fall) has been affected by the injuries. Lucky me....so he told me that he did NOT view total knee replacement as a viable option at this time (and I'm not eager to have it done if not totally indicated), and he offered solutions: he could remove "scraggly" areas of the torn meniscus and "clean up" as indicated; or select a gel injection other than the one my previous orthopedist had been injecting (with little to no relief at all). And accept more PT. Told me to think about the choices b/c the "cleaning up" process would inflict pain (and I have fibromyalgia as well as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome in ankle which has spread up the leg and impacts the knee also), and of course a healing process. No guarantee that the clean-up would bring me any relief. But he was taking into consideration my copious medical issues and my age (76)...he rules out knee replacement, not needed he said. So he ordered an MRI to compare what's transpired within that knee since the 2023 scan (original one was in '21). I'll be having the MRI done soon, then we meet again to compare and see what we should do next...All I can think of as I write this is how the knee woke me up just before midnight and I've been awake ever since....he had given me a script for PT (would be the 5th round of therapy, and at this point I could open up a studio THAT;s how well versed I am with the movements and manipulation of the areas...quite frankly, as good as the therapist is at the center that I've been going to, I'm just plain TIRED of the time driving there, undergoing therapies (can take up to 45 minutes, including laser-heat therapy), and then driving home. LOTS of PT and OT for leg, foot, kneee, whole left arm plus hand and fingers..but I'm following what this orthopedist has planned out, and be making decision next month. I tend to think that I'm just doomed to have the pain for whatever few years God has in store for me.
All of this has and is taking a tremendous toll on my mental and emotional health.
Sure hope you can reach a plateau in your search for relief.🙏🏽