Chronic Pain Treatment in Crescent, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Crescent, MO. If you suffer from chronic pain, you know all too well the debilitating effect it can have on your life. Sometimes, the months or years we’ve dealt with it causes us to forget what it feels like to live a pain-free life. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing daily tasks like walking up the stairs, or the things we love most, whether that be flying down the field or picking up your kids.

Axes Physical Therapy is a collection of 15 physical and occupational therapy locations committed to helping our Crescent, MO patients find meaningful relief through custom-tailored chronic pain treatment plans, based on techniques that have been demonstrated to work. To get back to the activities you love most, call our location most convenient for you you or request an appointment for safe chronic pain treatment.

What Is Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain is pain that doesn’t go away after three months, which is generally considered to be the “normal” healing period. The pain can be constant or can come and go, can stay in one spot or radiate through your body, and can change in severity from stiffness to searing, intense pain.

Based on research from the CDC, in 2019 one out of five adults nationwide suffered from chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (over a third of those with chronic pain) had “high-impact” chronic pain, defined as pain that, on “most days” or “every day,” limits work or life activities. Chronic pain doesn’t just hurt you physically. Chronic pain affects quality of life and leads to significant economic costs. It can also lead to anxiety, depression, and trouble sleeping.

Why Do I Have Chronic Pain?

Pain, in general, occurs when nerves called nociceptors perceive 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 known, root cause such as falling, dental work, or surgery. It can last for anywhere from a moment to several weeks.

By contrast, people can experience chronic pain for several reasons. Sometimes an injury continues to cause pain even after it’s healed . In other cases, it’s caused by a medical condition, or degenerative disease. 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 diseases that cause joint pain — The soft tissue in our joints can become inflamed or wear down over time or due to an injury, causing chronic pain in the affected joint.
• Numerous different conditions that lead to low back pain — Up to 84% of adults will deal with back pain eventually. Causes can be poor posture or technique, wear and tear at work, sciatica, or disc injuries that affect the nerves in the spinal column.
• Cancer pain — Tumors can lead to pain when they bother bones, your spine, or other tissue.
• Fibromyalgia — While an exact cause isn’t yet known, this refers to pain that affects your muscles and joints throughout your body.
• Neurogenic pain and psychogenic pain — In some cases, pain does not occur for a physical reason, but because there is an issue in the nervous system, or because of mental health issues or your personal history.

There are many pointers for easing chronic pain, and while many can help you be more active in your daily life, many people we see in Crescent, MO have felt like they tried all of them and more and still can’t feel better. Often, physical therapy becomes their path toward meaningful pain relief and getting back to a pain-free daily life.

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

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Crescent, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter drugs, chiropractic adjustments, massage therapy, and consistent exercise. Studies show that making physical therapy a part of your treatment plan is incredibly effective for relieving chronic pain. You are welcome to come to any Axes location in the Crescent area for a free screening to better understand what might be causing your chronic pain. We’ll ask you questions to better understand how we can help you. How often do you have pain? What makes it worse? What makes it better? How is limiting you in your daily life? From there, we’ll work in tandem with you and your doctor to develop a personalized treatment plan aimed at returning you a pain-free daily life.

Physical therapy can relieve pain by increasing your strength, balance, posture, and flexibility. Collectively improving those aspects of the best possible mobility relieves pain and enhances your daily life by making your body function better, and interrupting certain body parts from sending pain messages to your brain. Depending on you, the nature of your chronic pain, your age, and the activity level you wish to get back to, your treatment plan in Crescent, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise increases endorphins, your body’s homegrown, feel-good hormone, which not only reduces pain but eases any depression, stress, and/or anxiety related to your pain. A professional Crescent, MO physical therapist can help you perform exercises that will safely and effectively improve your mobility. With these exercises, your brain will come to understand that certain movements can be achieved without pain, restoring your brain’s trust in the rest of your body. Through guided exercise, we’ll be able to teach you safe exercises you can do on your own.

Manual Therapy and Soft Tissue Mobilization

Manual therapy incorporates therapeutic touch to encourage your body’s natural healing process and relaxation of the surrounding tissues. Your Crescent, MO physical therapist will use their hands to safely put pressure on your muscles and joints. Studies have shown that manual therapy and guided exercise together are more effective than either treatment method used by itself.

Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization is similar to manual therapy, except that instead of their hands, physical therapists use specialized tools like HawkGrips®.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new tool that increasingly more Crescent, MO physical therapists are incorporating into their treatment plans. 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 stimulates the nutrient-rich blood flow to the affected body part.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

TENS works by placing electrodes where the pain is located. It delivers low-voltage currents, which releases endorphins and awakens nerve cells that block the transmission of pain signals.

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 Crescent, MO. We’ll teach you appropriate posture and movement techniques, in addition to healthy lifestyle suggestions like diet recommendations.

Other services we offer in Crescent, MO include:

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment
• Sciatica Treatment
• Sports Medicine
• Hand Pain Physical Therapy
• Foot & Ankle Pain Treatment
• Hip Pain Treatment
• Plantar Fasciitis Treatment
• Stroke Rehabilitation
• Hip Replacement Physical Therapy
• Workers Comp' Physical Therapy

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Crescent, MO, our objectives are simple: to achieve positive client experiences and help people get back to the activities they love. Whether you miss being able to hit a breakaway layup like you used to, or just want to get out of bed in the morning pain-free, speak to a physical therapist in Crescent, MO today or request an appointment online for meaningful chronic pain treatment.