Chronic Pain Treatment in Champ, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Champ, MO. Anyone who has suffered from chronic pain knows how hard it is to express how much it limits you. For some of us, the months or years we’ve dealt with it causes us to lose sight of how good we’re capable of feeling. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing daily tasks like walking up the stairs, or the activities we love best, whether that be flying down the field or working in the garden.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of provider-owned physical and occupational therapy locations devoted to helping our Champ, MO patients achieve positive outcomes through customized chronic pain treatment plans, built on techniques that have been proven to work. To get back to a pain-free daily life, call the location nearest you or contact us online for safe chronic pain treatment.

What Is Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain is pain that lasts for longer than three months, which is generally considered to be the “normal” healing period. The pain can be constant or can come and go, can be localized or radiate through your body, and can be anything from dull soreness to searing, intense pain.

Based on research from the CDC, in 2019 one out of five American adults suffered from chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (or 36.4% of those who experienced chronic pain) suffered from “high-impact” chronic pain, defined as pain that, on “most days” or “every day,” affects how somebody can work or perform other activities. Chronic pain doesn’t just hurt you physically. Chronic pain impacts quality of life and leads to higher medical expenses. It can also lead to anxiety, depression, and insomnia.

What’s Behind Chronic Pain?

Pain, in general, occurs when nerves called nociceptors detect damage somewhere in your body, and send a signal from that body part to your brain. Often, pain is due to a specific incident or illness. “Acute pain” occurs immediately, usually because of a known, underlying cause such as being hit with something, 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 even after it’s healed . In other cases, it’s caused by a medical condition, or occurs as our bodies wear down as we age. Sometimes, the pain isn’t caused by a specific condition, but rather from things like poor posture, obesity, or overexertion. Common types and causes of chronic pain include:

• Arthritis and other conditions that cause joint pain — The soft tissue in our joints can become irritated or wear down from overuse or overexertion, causing chronic pain in the affected joint.
• A variety of conditions that lead to lower back pain — Up to 84% of adults suffer from back pain at some point in their lives. Causes can be poor posture or technique, wear and tear at a job that requires physical exertion, sciatica, or a variety of disc injuries.
• Cancer pain — Tumors can cause pain when they bother 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 — In some cases, pain does not occur for a physical reason, but rather it’s caused by the nervous system, or because of depression, anxiety, and/or stress.

You can check out our pointers for relieving chronic pain, and while many are effective, many people we see in Champ, MO have felt like they tried everything and still can’t feel better. Often, physical therapy is the treatment that finally gets them relief and returns them to the things that are most important to them.

Why Is Physical Therapy in Champ, MO a Great Option For Chronic Pain Treatment?

Chronic pain can be treated through a variety of modalities in Champ, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter drugs, spinal adjustments by a chiropractor, massage therapy, and regular exercise. Research demonstrates that making physical therapy a part of your treatment plan can lead to significant improvement. You can come to any Axes location in the Champ area for a free screening to learn what might be causing your chronic pain. We’ll get to know you and your pain better. How often do you have pain? Does anything make it better or worse? How does your chronic pain affect you in your daily life? After our evaluation, we’ll form a team with you and your physician to come up with a tailor-made course of treatment aimed at getting you back a comfortable daily life.

Physical therapy helps by stretching and strengthening your body. Collectively improving those aspects of the best possible mobility relieves pain and improves your quality of life by allowing your body to function better, and disrupting 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 Champ, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise releases endorphins, your body’s natural, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only reduces pain but eases any depression, stress, and/or anxiety related to your pain. A professional Champ, MO physical therapist can lead you through exercises aimed at improving your mobility without causing further pain or injury. With guided exercise, we can re-train your brain to accept certain movements and positions without pain, restoring your brain’s trust in the rest of your body. 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 encourage your body’s natural healing process and relaxation of muscles and joints. Your Champ, MO physical therapist will use their hands to gently move soft tissue. Studies have shown that manual therapy combined with guided exercise is better at treating pain than either technique used alone.

With instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, physical therapists use specialized tools, like Graston®, instead of their hands, to improve tissue alignment and identify degenerative tissue and soft tissue restrictions.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new technique that is becoming more popular among Champ, MO physical therapist. It involves using thin, filiform needles to penetrate damaged muscles and connective tissue. This eases pain as it encourages the body to start to heal itself and encourages the flow of blood to the affected body part.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

TENS works by placing electrodes where the pain is located. It sends low-level electrical currents to release endorphins and awakens nerve cells that block the transmission of pain signals.

Patient Education

Understanding the cause of your pain and how to cope with it can have a significant positive effect on your chronic pain treatment in Champ, MO. We’ll teach you the best way to sit, stand, and move, in addition to healthy lifestyle suggestions like diet recommendations.

Other conditions we treat in Champ, MO include:

• Stroke Rehabilitation
• Hip Replacement Physical Therapy
• Workers Comp' Physical Therapy
• Migraine Relief
• Sprain and Strain Treatment
• Geriatric Physical Therapy
• Injury Rehabilitation
• Pain Management Services
• TMJ Treatment
• Herniated Disc Treatment

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Champ, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to deliver positive client experiences and help people get back to their best life. Whether you miss being able to hit a breakaway layup like you used to, or just want to carry the groceries in without discomfort, speak to a physical therapist in Champ, MO today or request an appointment online for meaningful chronic pain treatment.