Star works at a utility company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She's a working mom who spent 15 years living with chronic neck, hip, and back pain after multiple falls and injuries.
Hinge Health is a new kind of digital clinic for joint and muscle pain and pelvic symptoms— one built around members, their lives, and their needs. And it’s backed by life-changing outcomes and real savings.
Benefit leaders can offer the most effective benefits in the world, but if members don't sign up—or worse, sign up and never come back—you’re not moving the needle on health outcomes or cost savings.
That's why we want to share Star’s story.
Learn more here about how Hinge Health can help your organization or to request a demo.
Star's story
A new approach to recovery helped Star stand—and move—again
Star works at a utility company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She's not a marathon runner or a wellness enthusiast. She's a working mom who spent 15 years living with chronic neck, hip, and back pain after multiple falls and injuries.
The first incident happened the week she brought her newborn son home. While taking out the trash in the rain, she slipped and fell down the stairs, landing hard on her back. Unable to move for several minutes, she lay there in pain thinking, "My baby's inside. I don't have a phone." Eventually she got up, and because she could walk, she convinced herself it wasn't so bad. She just dealt with the discomfort.
Years later came a knee injury from another fall—so swollen the doctors put her in a cast for weeks. It never fully healed. Then came the worst fall: she slipped on ice outside her office and hit the back of her head on the ground. That injury led to 18 months of daily physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and vestibular therapy.
Despite all that treatment, Star never fully recovered. She lost her balance. Moving her neck felt like sand crunching inside. She woke up stiff every morning. Standing for any length of time became impossible without support—she trained her teenage son to always find her a chair at events, or she'd lean on his shoulder, "acting like we were just chillin" when in reality she was trying not to fall.
When her employer began promoting a new digital MSK benefit called Hinge Health, Star's reaction was understandable: "I've done physical therapy. I don't know... Fine, I'll give it a try."
Getting started was surprisingly simple
When Star opened the Hinge Health app for the first time, Her initial exercise session was nine minutes.
Easy. Manageable.
Then came what Star describes as Christmas in a box: a welcome kit arrived with a yoga mat, resistance bands, and a tablet. "I had everything I needed to be successful," she said.
Within that first week, something unexpected happened. Her health coach Collette reached out: "I saw you finished your session. How do you feel?"
Star's response? "Are you real?"
No complicated onboarding. No waiting weeks for an appointment. No wondering if she was doing it right. The program met Star exactly where she was—skeptical, busy, and dealing with real pain.
Star didn’t notice — until her son did
About a month and a half into the program, Star's 15-year-old son asked her a question that stopped her in her tracks: "Mom, why aren't you using my shoulder anymore?"
She hadn't even realized. For years, she'd relied on him to stay steady in public. She had refused to use a cane, instead leaning on her son and training him to "stand in the back" and find chairs. But now? Her balance had quietly returned.
"My pain has subsided tremendously since using Hinge Health," Star shared. "I've got more movement, more flexibility, and I can do more things that I love instead of being afraid to make the pain worse."
This approach fit her life—and kept her moving
Nine months after that first nine-minute session, Star has completed over 560 exercise sessions. She's reached level 52 in the app. She's on an 18-19 week streak of not missing more than one day.
What drives that kind of sustained commitment?
The program fits into her real life. Star does her exercises everywhere: at home, at work, in hotels, in the car. Once, when an elevator kept stopping for other passengers on her way to an appointment, she pulled out her resistance bands and started her session right there. "There is an exercise playlist for just about anything—sitting or standing, floor exercises. I tap into all of it," she explained.
The program also adapts to her. When an exercise is too hard or too easy, she can adjust it instantly through modification videos or by reaching out to her physical therapist Andrea, who can "readjust it and give me something that's more on my level."
When Star was intimidated by planks, her physical therapist Andrea broke the exercise down into "small, little incremental steps." The result? Star now proudly shows off arm and quad muscles she never thought she'd have.
Bring Star’s experience to your members
Star's journey from skeptic to champion illustrates exactly what's possible when you choose an MSK solution designed for real-world adoption and sustained engagement:
Easy onboarding removes friction. Star went from "I've done physical therapy, I don't know..." to an active, engaged member in her first week—no complicated processes, just a simple start and immediate support.
Fast results build momentum. Meaningful improvements within 6 weeks kept Star engaged and believing in the program when it mattered most.
Personalized support drives long-term utilization. With a care team that truly knows her and a program that adapts to her life, Star has sustained 560+ sessions in less than a year—the kind of engagement that drives real health outcomes and cost savings.
As Star puts it: "Hinge Health has had a huge impact on my life. I'm back at me again and I don't have to suffer with all the pain and doubt."
Interested in learning how Hinge Health can help your organization achieve similar results? Request a demo to see how our digital MSK program drives industry-leading engagement and outcomes.