Chronic Pain Treatment Doe Run, MO | Physical Therapists Near Doe Run

Chronic Pain Treatment in Doe Run, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Doe Run, MO. Anyone who has had to deal with chronic pain knows how hard it is to express the effects it has on your daily life. For some of us, the months or years we’ve dealt with it leads us to forget how good we used to feel. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing daily activities like doing household chores, or the things we love most, whether that be dominating your local pick-up league or painting bowls of fruit.

Axes Physical Therapy is a collection of provider-owned physical therapy treatment centers committed to helping our Doe Run, 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, call our 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 doesn’t go away after 12 weeks, 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 hit different body parts, and can be anything from dull soreness to stinging pain.

Based on research from the CDC, in 2019 almost a quarter of adults nationwide dealt with chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (over a third of those with chronic pain) suffered from “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 impacts quality of life and leads to higher medical expenses. It can also lead to anxiety, depression, 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, 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. In some cases there may be an injury that hurts after the tissue is repaired . 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 from overuse or overexertion, causing chronic pain in the affected joint.
Numerous different conditions that lead to lower back pain — Almost 9 out of 10 adults will deal with back pain at some point in their lives. Causes can be poor posture or technique, repetitive motions at a physically demanding job, sciatica, or a variety of disc injuries.
Cancer pain — Tumors can lead to pain when they grow and touch bones, your spine, or other tissue.
Fibromyalgia — While experts are still trying to understand the exact cause of fibromyalgia, this refers to widespread muscle pain and tenderness.
Neurogenic pain and psychogenic pain — In some cases, there is no underlying musculoskeletal cause, but because there is dysfunction in the nervous system, or because of psychological stress.

You can check out our suggestions for managing chronic pain, and while many can lead to greater comfort, many of our Doe Run, MO patients have felt like they tried everything and still can’t find relief. Often, physical therapy is the strategy that finally gets them relief and returns them to the activities they love.

Chronic Pain Treatment Doe Run, MO | Pain Management | Physical Therapist Near Doe Run

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

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Doe Run, MO, including medication, spinal adjustments by a chiropractor, massage therapy, and regular exercise. Studies show that incorporating physical therapy into your treatment plan can lead to significant improvement. You can visit any of our 15 locations for a free screening to learn why you might be suffering from chronic pain. We’ll ask you questions to better understand how we can help you. How often do you have pain? When does it come on? When does it get better? How is limiting you in your daily life? After our evaluation, we’ll form a team with you and your physician to develop a customized treatment plan aimed at returning you to the things 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 eases pain and enhances your daily life by allowing your body to function better, and interrupting any signals to your brain that something may be wrong. Depending on you, the causes of your chronic pain, your age, and the activity level you wish to get back to, your treatment plan in Doe Run, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise releases endorphins, your body’s natural, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only eases pain but helps with any psychological stress caused by your pain. A professional Doe Run, MO physical therapist will lead you through exercises aimed at improving your mobility without causing more pain or injury. With these exercises, 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 Doe Run, MO physical therapist will use their hands to safely move your muscles and joints. Research demonstrates that manual therapy and guided exercise together are better at treating pain 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 Graston®.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new tool that more and more Doe Run, MO physical therapists are incorporating into their treatment plans. It involves using thin, filiform needles to gently create small tears or rips in damaged soft tissue. 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 delivers low-voltage currents, which releases endorphins and stimulates nerve cells that block the transmission of pain messages.

Patient Education

Understanding why you’re experiencing pain and how to deal with it in your daily life can have a significant positive effect on your chronic pain treatment in Doe Run, 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 Doe Run, MO include:

Chronic Pain Treatment Doe Run, MO | Physical Therapy | Pain Management Near Doe Run

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Doe Run, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to achieve positive patient 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 walk up the stairs pain-free, speak to a physical therapist in Doe Run, MO today or make an appointment online for meaningful chronic pain treatment.