Chronic Pain Treatment in Des Peres, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Des Peres, MO. Anyone who has suffered from chronic pain knows the debilitating effect it can have on your life. For some of us, 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 performing basic activities like walking up the stairs, or the activities we love most, whether that be sprinting down the field or working in the garden.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of 15 physical and occupational therapy centers devoted to helping our Des Peres, MO patients achieve positive outcomes through custom-tailored and evidence-backed chronic pain treatment. If you’re finally ready to move on from chronic pain, reach out to the location most convenient for you you or contact us online for safe chronic pain treatment.

What Type of Pain is Considered “Chronic”?

Chronic pain is pain that lasts for longer than 12 weeks, which is how long it typically takes pain to go away after an injury, surgery, or illness. The pain can be constant or can come and go, can stay in one spot or hit different body parts, and can be anything from stiffness to stinging pain.

Based on research from the CDC, in 2019 20.4% of American adults dealt with chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (or 36.4% of those with 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. 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 higher medical expenses. It can also lead to anxiety, depression, and insomnia.

What’s Behind Chronic Pain?

Pain, in general, is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong. In most cases, pain is caused by a specific incident or illness. “Acute pain” occurs suddenly, usually because of a known, underlying cause such as stubbing your toe, 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 . In other cases, it’s caused by an illness, 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, bursitis, tendinitis, and other conditions that cause joint pain — The soft tissue in our joints can become inflamed or wear down from overuse or overexertion, causing joint pain.
• A variety of conditions that cause low 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 physically demanding job, sciatica, or a variety of disc injuries.
• Cancer pain — Tumors can lead to pain when they bother bones, your spine, or other tissue.
• Fibromyalgia — While experts are still trying to understand the exact cause of fibromyalgia, 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 relieving chronic pain, and while many are effective, many of our Des Peres, MO patients 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 a pain-free daily life.

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

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Des Peres, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter drugs, spinal adjustments by a chiropractor, massage therapy, and consistent exercise. Research demonstrates that including physical therapy into your treatment plan can lead to significant improvement. You can visit any Axes location in the Des Peres 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. Do you experience pain every day? Most days? When does it come on? When does it get better? How does your chronic pain affect you in your daily life? After your screening, we’ll work in tandem with you and your doctor to design a tailor-made treatment plan aimed at returning you to the activities you love most.

Physical therapy helps by increasing your strength, balance, posture, and range of motion. Collectively improving those aspects of the best possible movement health relieves pain and improves your quality of life by allowing your body to work better, and interrupting any signals to your brain that something may be wrong. Depending on you, the nature of your chronic pain, your age, and your desired activity level, your treatment plan in Des Peres, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise increases endorphins, your body’s homegrown, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only reduces pain but helps with related symptoms like stress and depression. A professional Des Peres, MO physical therapist will help you perform exercises aimed at improving your mobility without causing more pain or injury. With guided exercise, your brain will come to understand that certain movements can be carried out without pain, restoring your brain’s trust in the rest of your body. We’ll also show you light exercises you can do at home.

Manual Therapy and Soft Tissue Mobilization

Manual therapy incorporates therapeutic touch to promote healing and relaxation of the surrounding tissues. Your Des Peres, MO physical therapist will use their hands to gently manipulate your muscles and joints. Research demonstrates that manual therapy combined with guided exercise is more effective than either treatment method used alone.

With instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, physical therapists use specially designed tools, like Astym®, instead of their hands, to improve tissue alignment and pinpoint degenerative tissue and soft tissue restrictions.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new tool that is becoming more popular among Des Peres, MO physical therapist. It involves using thin, filiform needles to penetrate 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 affected body part.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

TENS works by placing electrodes on the skin near where you are experiencing pain. It sends low-voltage electrical currents to release endorphins and stimulates nerve cells that block the transmission of pain signals.

Patient Education

Understanding why you’re experiencing pain and how to cope with it can do wonders for your chronic pain treatment in Des Peres, MO. We’ll help you learn appropriate posture and movement practices, as well as healthy lifestyle tips like diet recommendations.

Other conditions we treat in Des Peres, MO include:

• Beginner Running Program
• Spine Specialist Near Me
• MCL Injury
• Shoulder Pain
• Injury Prevention
• Mobility
• Knee Injury
• Joint Pain
• Sciatica

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Des Peres, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to achieve positive client experiences and help our patients get back to their best life. Whether you want to be able to run across the tennis court like you used to, or just want to get out of bed in the morning pain-free, speak to a physical therapist in Des Peres, MO today or request an appointment online for meaningful chronic pain treatment.