ABOUT DAVID
About David
From experiencing debilitating pain and falling through the cracks of traditional healthcare to developing a comprehensive approach that’s helped hundreds reclaim their lives—my journey has shaped everything about Bigger Than Pain. This isn’t just another program; it’s the complete system I wish I’d had during my decade of searching for answers.
I suffered with ongoing lower back pain, hip pain and neck pain for about 10 years. I was really afraid of how my back would be in the future if I was this sore at 16 years of age.
I sought help, and was given diagnoses like Sciatica, Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction, Pelvic Torsion, Hip Misalignment, Slipped Discs and much more.
None of these diagnoses helped me to make any progress with my symptoms and it never made any sense to me how the treatments I received (manipulations, painful soft tissue massage, some stretches and some exercises) would help my symptoms to go away.
As I visited more and more people to try to get help, I became even more frustrated because nothing was really working for me.
"I kind of fell through the cracks because I had bounced between different therapists and my GP and no one was really able to offer me a clear understanding of what was happening to me or a clear plan to make progress and overcome my symptoms."
"When working with someone in pain, if I am unable to affect how their nervous system is interpreting things, I’m really not being effective for them or helping them to create change."
By this point I had begun studying my Sports Rehabilitation degree and was pretty disappointed that although I learned lots during my studies, not much of it seemed to translate into helping me with my symptoms.
When I began to work with people in pain, I was following the cookbook recipe approach that I was taught in university.
- Person with knee pain = this is what you do.
- Person with back pain = this is the approach for them.
I became more and more confused and disillusioned because I would often get feedback from my clients that the treatments had done any of the following:
Really helped for 24 hours and then it all came back
- Helped a bit but didn’t last too long
- Sorted their problem out entirely and they haven’t looked back
- Didn’t help at all
I truly didn’t know what the difference was in each person and each treatment session. Nothing was predictable or gave me confidence that I was able to help others.
So I began to enrol in many different courses that viewed the body from differing perspectives and had a massive lightbulb moment…
The Turning Point
This realization changed everything: Pain isn’t just a physical problem—it’s a nervous system response influenced by movement patterns, past experiences, beliefs, and lifestyle factors. This explained why traditional approaches fail so many people and why a complete system like Bigger Than Pain is necessary for lasting transformation.
“When working with someone in pain, if I am unable to affect how their nervous system is interpreting things, I’m really not being effective for them or helping them to create change.”
Muscles, joints, symptoms, pain. All of these things are under control of the nervous system.
I began to focus my area of understanding on the nervous system and studied human movement with Gary Ward from Anatomy in Motion.
This work completely transformed my understanding of the human body. Now I was able to see a person in pain in a totally different way, able to get a good sense of how their 360 joints moved in time and space.
I could start to see that person with knee pain that couldn’t shift their weight well into that leg.
I could see the person with a shoulder problem whose spine and ribs couldn’t afford them the necessary movement to get their arm overhead without impinging the joint space.
"Movement offered me a real-time barometer and window to facilitate change in a person's nervous system and I was hooked."
"By understanding the movements that were missing, by being able to figure out why the nervous system had chosen to adapt the muscular function needed in those movements, I was able to create powerful change for people with minimal intervention, exactly where they needed it."
The cases I saw became more and more complex and I began seeing people from all over the country.
Knowing people in many countries due to the courses I had been on, I was invited to work in Belgium, the UK, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece and the USA.
I became more and more interested in the human nervous system and brain and moved to London to study P-DTR®, a treatment technique developed by orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Jose Palomar.
P-DTR® demonstrated the incredible power of the nervous system to create change.
It showed me how sensitisation in the human body caused real time adaptations to movement patterns and it perfectly complemented the understanding that I had from my AiM movement studies.
I started to meet many people whose symptoms were heavily influenced by the psychological side of life.
“I began to see how it was totally possible for a person to become trapped in a complex web of symptoms that were being driven by multiple different influences, most of which were not even considered at all!”
This led me into a world of self study and learning about the human mind, and psychology.
I could see how this all became a melting pot of influences that ended up affecting the person in a massive way.
In essence, I was now starting to see the maze that is chronic or persistent pain and symptoms. The many wrong turns, roadblocks and booby traps that affected the people I was working with.
I saw themes running through my daily experiences in clinic with clients and developed a framework from which I could operate and began focusing on identifying and changing the most important influences for each person I worked with.
This is the challenge that I LOVE to embark on with each person I meet.
"I began to see how it was totally possible for a person to become trapped in a complex web of symptoms that were being driven by multiple different influences, most of which were not even considered at all!"
My Own Transformation
My own symptoms had become a thing of the past. I had assessed and changed my own beliefs and narratives.
I had learned that most of the symptoms I experienced were related to previous injuries and sensitivities that I was moving around.
I received the treatment I needed and became aware of the blindspots that I had in my own movement.
“All of this left me in a place of confidence in my body. I was empowered because I knew that I wasn’t broken. I knew that my body was robust and I knew that pain ≠ damage.”
I had taken the steps towards understanding the influences that affected me and I was confident that I had actionable strategies for change that are effective for my clients.
"All of this left me in a place of confidence in my body. I was empowered because I knew that I wasn't broken. I knew that my body was robust and I knew that pain ≠ damage."
Proven Results
For Real People
This integrated approach has helped my clients achieve what they thought was impossible:
- People who had been told “just live with it” returning to activities they love
- Clients who had tried 5-10 different practitioners finding lasting relief
- Individuals reducing or eliminating their reliance on pain medication
- People who feared they would never improve experiencing significant pain reduction within weeks
Bringing It All Together
In early 2020, I expanded my business to help people who cannot travel to my clinics in Ireland, by building an online membership site where clients who are unable to work with me in person can overcome their symptoms without travelling.
Bigger Than Pain isn’t just a course—it’s the system I wish I’d had during my years of struggle. I’ve distilled everything I’ve learned from treating hundreds of clients, studying with experts worldwide, and overcoming my own pain into a comprehensive approach that addresses all the factors conventional treatments miss.
Unlike one-size-fits-all programs, Bigger Than Pain guides you through understanding YOUR unique pain story and building a personalised recovery roadmap based on the same principles that have transformed the lives of my in-person clients.
Why Start Now?
Every day you continue with approaches that only address part of the puzzle is another day spent unnecessarily limited by pain. The transformation my clients experience isn’t just about reducing pain—it’s about reclaiming confidence, activities, relationships, and joy that pain has stolen.
Whether you work with me directly or through the Bigger Than Pain program, taking this step now could be the difference between another year of limitation or beginning your journey toward a life where pain no longer calls the shots.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope it has given you the HOPE that the symptoms you are experiencing are changeable. It is possible and even enjoyable to go through the necessary change to overcome your symptoms.
I would love to help you, please get in touch and let’s get started.
Ready to begin your transformation?
Choose your path:
Complete online program access for a fraction of the cost of ongoing treatments
Personalised guidance for complex situations
(limited availability)