Chronic Pain Treatment in Creve Coeur, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Creve Coeur, 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 how good we’re capable of feeling. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing daily activities like walking up the stairs, or the things we love doing the most, whether that be dominating your local pickleball league or working in the garden.

Axes Physical Therapy is a collection of provider-owned physical therapy and rehabilitation locations dedicated to helping our Creve Coeur, MO patients achieve positive outcomes through custom-tailored and evidence-backed chronic pain treatment. 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 doesn’t go away after 3-6 months, which is how long it takes most people and conditions to heal. 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 searing, intense pain.

According to the CDC, in 2019 20.4% of American adults suffered from chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (over a third of those who experienced chronic pain) had “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 cause significant mental health issues and insomnia.

Why Do People Experience 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. In most cases, pain is due to trauma, an infection, or other medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs suddenly, usually because of a known, root cause such as burns, cuts, broken bones, dental work, or surgery. It can last for anywhere from a few minutes 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 . Other times, it’s caused by a medical condition, or degenerative disease. Sometimes, there is no perceptible cause for someone’s chronic pain. Common types and causes of chronic pain include:

• Arthritis and other conditions that cause joint pain — The cartilage, tendons, and ligaments in our joints can become irritated or wear down over time or due to an injury, causing chronic pain in the affected joint.
• A variety of conditions that cause lower back pain — Up to 84% of adults will deal with 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 disc injuries that affect the nerves in the spinal column.
• Cancer pain — Tumors can lead to pain when they bother tissue, nerves, or organs.
• 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 rather it’s caused by the nervous system, or because of mental health issues or your personal history.

There are many suggestions for easing chronic pain, and while many can lead to greater comfort, many people we see in Creve Coeur, MO have felt like they tried all of them and more and still can’t feel better. Often, physical therapy becomes their path toward lasting pain relief and getting back to a pain-free daily life.

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

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Creve Coeur, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter medications, chiropractic adjustments, massage therapy, and regular exercise. Research demonstrates that incorporating physical therapy into your treatment plan is incredibly effective for relieving chronic pain. You are welcome to 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. How often do you have pain? What makes it worse? What makes it better? How is limiting you in your daily life? After our evaluation, we’ll form a team with you and your physician to design a personalized treatment plan aimed at getting you back to the things you love most.

Physical therapy helps by increasing your strength, balance, posture, and flexibility. Collectively improving those aspects of the best possible mobility relieves pain and improves your quality of life by allowing your body to work better, and interrupting certain nerves 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 Creve Coeur, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise increases endorphins, your body’s homegrown, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only alleviates pain but eases any psychological stress related to your pain. A licensed Creve Coeur, MO physical therapist can lead you through exercises aimed at improving your mobility without causing more pain or injury. With these exercises, your brain will come to understand that certain movements can be performed without pain, restoring how your brain processes messages. We’ll also show you light exercises you can do at home.

Manual Therapy and Soft Tissue Mobilization

Manual therapy involves therapeutic touch to promote healing and relaxation of muscles and joints. Your Creve Coeur, MO physical therapist will use their hands to safely move your muscles and joints. Studies have shown that manual therapy combined with guided exercise is more effective than either treatment method used alone.

Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization is a form of 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 technique that is becoming more popular among Creve Coeur, MO physical therapist. It involves using thin, filiform needles to gently create small tears or rips in irritated muscles, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. In doing so, it encourages the body to start to heal itself and encourages the flow of blood to the region.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

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

Patient Education

Understanding the cause of your pain and how to deal with it in your daily life can do wonders for your chronic pain treatment in Creve Coeur, MO. We’ll help you learn appropriate posture and movement techniques, as well as healthy lifestyle suggestions like diet recommendations.

Other services we offer in Creve Coeur, MO include:

• Soft Tissue Mobilization
• Post Surgical Rehabilitation
• Shin Splint Treatment
• Direct Access Physical Therapy
• Gait Analysis
• Pelvic Floor Therapy
• Dry Needling Near Me
• Tendonitis Treatment
• Manual Physical Therapy
• Orthopedic Rehab Near Me

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Creve Coeur, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to achieve positive client outcomes and help people return to to the things they love doing most. Whether you want to be 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 Creve Coeur, MO today or make an appointment online for lasting chronic pain treatment.