Chronic Pain Treatment Bloomsdale, MO

Chronic Pain Treatment in Bloomsdale, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Bloomsdale, MO. If you suffer from chronic pain, you know all too well how limiting it can be. Sometimes, the months or years we’ve dealt with it leads us to lose sight of what it feels like to live a pain-free life. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing basic tasks like carrying in groceries, or the things we love most, whether that be dominating your local pick-up league or working in the garden.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of provider-owned physical therapy and rehabilitation centers devoted to helping our Bloomsdale, MO patients find meaningful relief through customized chronic pain treatment plans, built on techniques that have been proven to work. If you’re finally ready to move on from chronic pain, call the location nearest you or contact us online for effective chronic pain treatment.

What Type of Pain is Considered “Chronic”?

Chronic pain is pain that doesn’t go away after three months, which is how long it typically takes pain to go away after an injury, surgery, or illness. The pain can occur every day or every few days, can stay in one spot or radiate through your body, and can change in severity from stiffness to stinging pain.

Based on research from the CDC, in 2019 20.4% of adults nationwide suffered from chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (over a third of those who experienced chronic pain) suffered from “high-impact” chronic pain, which is persistent pain limits work or life activities. Anyone who suffers from frequent pain symptoms will tell you that it causes far more than just physical discomfort. Chronic pain reduces quality of life and leads to significant economic costs. It can also lead to anxiety, depression, and trouble sleeping.

What Causes Chronic Pain?

Pain, in general, occurs when nerves called nociceptors detect damage somewhere in your body, and send a signal through your spinal cord up to your brain. Often, pain is caused by a specific incident or illness. “Acute pain” occurs suddenly, usually because of a discernible, root cause such as an injury, dental work, or surgery. The pain lasts for anywhere from a moment to several weeks.

By contrast, the causes of chronic pain aren’t always easily identifiable. Sometimes an injury continues to cause pain despite the fact that, structurally, it has healed . Other times, it’s caused by a medical condition, or happens as our bodies weaken with age. Sometimes, there is no perceptible cause for someone’s chronic pain. Common types and causes of chronic pain include:

Arthritis and other diseases that cause joint pain — The cartilage, tendons, and ligaments in our joints can become irritated or wear down from overuse or overexertion, causing chronic pain in the affected joint.
Numerous different conditions that cause low back pain — Up to 84% of adults suffer from back pain eventually. Causes can be poor posture or technique, wear and tear at a physically demanding job, sciatica, or disc injuries that impinge on the nerves in the spinal column.
Cancer pain — Tumors can lead to pain when they grow and touch tissue, nerves, or organs.
Fibromyalgia — While experts are still trying to understand the exact cause of fibromyalgia, this refers to pain you feel in your muscles all over your body.
Neurogenic pain and psychogenic pain — Sometimes, there is no underlying musculoskeletal cause, but because there is dysfunction in the nervous system, or because of depression, anxiety, and/or stress.

You can read our tips for managing chronic pain, and while many are effective, many people we see in Bloomsdale, MO tell us that they have tried everything and still can’t feel better. Often, physical therapy is the strategy that finally gets them relief and returns them to a pain-free daily life.

Chronic Pain Treatment Bloomsdale, MO | Pain Management | Physical Therapist Near Bloomsdale

How Do Physical Therapists in Bloomsdale, MO Help With Chronic Pain Treatment?

Chronic pain can be treated through a variety of modalities in Bloomsdale, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter medications, chiropractic care, massage, and consistent exercise. Studies show that incorporating physical therapy into your treatment plan can lead to significant improvement. You can come to any of our 15 locations for a free screening to learn what might be causing your chronic pain. We’ll ask you questions to better understand how we can help you. Do you experience pain every day? Most days? When does it come on? When does it get better? How is limiting you in your daily life? From there, we’ll form a team with you and your physician to design a personalized treatment plan aimed at returning you to the things you love most.

Physical therapy helps by stretching and strengthening your body. Helping you achieve optimal movement health eases pain and enhances your daily life by making your body function better, and interrupting any signals to your brain that something may be wrong. Depending on you, the causes of your chronic pain, how old you are, and the activity level you wish to get back to, your treatment plan in Bloomsdale, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise boosts your body’s production of endorphins, your body’s natural, feel-good hormone, which not only alleviates pain but helps with any depression, stress, and/or anxiety related to your pain. A licensed Bloomsdale, MO physical therapist will lead you through exercises that will safely and effectively improve your mobility. With guided exercise, we can re-train your brain to accept certain movements and positions without pain, restoring how your brain processes messages. We’ll also show you light exercises you can do outside of our sessions.

Manual Therapy and Soft Tissue Mobilization

Manual therapy incorporates therapeutic touch to promote healing and relaxation of muscles and joints. Your Bloomsdale, MO physical therapist will use their hands to gently manipulate your muscles and joints. Research demonstrates that manual therapy and guided exercise together are more effective than either treatment method used alone.

With instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, physical therapists use specialized tools, like HawkGrips®, instead of their hands, to smooth out tissue and locate degenerative tissue and soft tissue restrictions.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new technique that increasingly more Bloomsdale, MO physical therapists are incorporating into their treatment plans. It involves using thin, filiform needles to gently create small tears or rips in damaged muscles, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. This eases pain as it encourages the body to start to heal itself and stimulates the nutrient-rich blood flow to the affected area.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

TENS works by placing electrodes on the skin near where you are experiencing pain. It sends low-level electrical currents to release endorphins and awakens nerve cells that stop your brain from receiving pain messages.

Patient Education

Understanding why you’re experiencing pain and how to deal with it in your daily life can do wonders for your chronic pain treatment in Bloomsdale, MO. We’ll help you learn the best way to sit, stand, and move, as well as healthy lifestyle tips like how to keep a healthy diet.

Other services we offer in Bloomsdale, MO include:

Chronic Pain Treatment Bloomsdale, MO | Physical Therapy | Pain Management Near Bloomsdale

Call Axes Physical Therapy For Your Chronic Pain Treatment in Bloomsdale, MO

At Axes Physical Therapy in Bloomsdale, MO, our objectives are clear: to deliver positive client experiences and help our patients get back to the things they love doing most. Whether you miss being able to run across the tennis court like you used to, or just want to carry the groceries in without discomfort, speak to a physical therapist in Bloomsdale, MO today or schedule an appointment online for lasting chronic pain treatment.