Chronic Pain Treatment in Dutzow, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Dutzow, MO. If you suffer from chronic pain, you know all too well 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 causes us to forget how good we’re capable of feeling. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing daily activities like carrying in groceries, or the activities we love most, whether that be dominating your local pickleball league or painting bowls of fruit.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of provider-owned physical therapy treatment centers dedicated to helping our Dutzow, MO patients find lasting relief through personalized chronic pain treatment plans, built on techniques that have been demonstrated to work. To get back to a pain-free daily life, reach out to the location most convenient for you you or contact us online for effective chronic pain treatment.

What Type of Pain is Considered “Chronic”?

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 occur every day or every few days, can be localized or hit different muscles or joints, and can change in severity from dull soreness to searing, intense pain.

Based on research from the CDC, in 2019 almost a quarter of 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, which is pain that occurs on more days than not that affects how somebody can work or perform other activities. Anyone who suffers from pain frequently will tell you that it causes far more than just physical discomfort. Chronic pain affects quality of life and leads to significant economic costs. It can also lead to anxiety, depression, and insomnia.

What Causes Chronic Pain?

Pain, generally speaking, 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 caused by a specific incident or medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs at once, usually because of a discernible, underlying cause such as being hit with something, dental work, or surgery. It can last for anywhere from a few minutes to several weeks.

By contrast, the causes of chronic pain aren’t always easily identifiable. Sometimes an injury continues to cause pain despite the fact that, structurally, it has healed . In other cases, it’s caused by a medical condition, or happens as our bodies weaken with age. Sometimes, there is no observable cause for someone’s chronic pain. Common types and causes of chronic pain include:

• Arthritis and other diseases that cause joint pain — The soft tissue in our joints can become irritated 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 suffer from back pain eventually. 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 lead to pain when they push up against bones, your spine, or other tissue.
• Fibromyalgia — While an exact cause isn’t yet known, this refers to widespread muscle pain and tenderness.
• Neurogenic pain and psychogenic pain — In some cases, there is no underlying musculoskeletal cause, but rather it’s caused by the nervous system, or because of psychological stress.

You can read our pointers for managing chronic pain, and while many can lead to greater comfort, many people we see in Dutzow, MO tell us that they have tried everything and still can’t find relief. Often, physical therapy is the treatment that finally gets them relief and returns them to a pain-free daily life.

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

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Dutzow, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter medications, chiropractic care, massage, and consistent exercise. Studies show that incorporating physical therapy into your treatment plan is incredibly effective for relieving chronic pain. You can come to any Axes location in the Dutzow area for a free screening to better understand why you might be experiencing chronic pain. We’ll ask you questions to better understand how we can help you. Do you experience pain every day? Most days? Does anything make it better or worse? How does your chronic pain affect you in your daily life? After your screening, we’ll work in concert with you and your physician to develop a tailor-made treatment plan aimed at returning you a comfortable daily life.

Physical therapy can relieve pain by increasing your strength, balance, posture, and flexibility. Collectively improving those aspects of the best possible movement health relieves pain and enhances your daily life by allowing your body to work better, and interrupting certain body parts from sending pain messages to your brain. Depending on you, the causes of your chronic pain, how old you are, and your desired activity level, your treatment plan in Dutzow, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise boosts your body’s production of endorphins, your body’s natural, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only alleviates pain but helps with related symptoms like stress and depression. A professional Dutzow, MO physical therapist will help you perform exercises that will safely and effectively improve your mobility. With guided exercise, your brain will come to understand that certain movements can be achieved without pain, rebuilding how your brain processes messages. 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 promote healing and relaxation of muscles and joints. Your Dutzow, MO physical therapist will use their hands to safely manipulate soft tissue. Studies have shown that manual therapy and guided exercise together are more effective than either treatment method used by itself.

With instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, physical therapists use specially designed tools, like Graston®, instead of their hands, to smooth out tissue and identify degenerative tissue and soft tissue restrictions.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new tool that increasingly more Dutzow, MO physical therapists are incorporating into their treatment plans. It involves using thin, filiform needles to penetrate damaged muscles, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. This eases pain as it encourages the body to start to heal itself and stimulates the flow of blood to the region.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

TENS works by placing electrodes on the skin near where you are experiencing pain. It sends low-level 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 Dutzow, MO. We’ll help you learn appropriate posture and movement techniques, in addition to healthy lifestyle suggestions like diet recommendations.

Other conditions we treat in Dutzow, MO include:

• Workers Comp' Physical Therapy
• Migraine Relief
• Sprain and Strain Treatment
• Geriatric Physical Therapy
• Injury Rehabilitation
• Pain Management Services
• TMJ Treatment
• Herniated Disc Treatment
• Rotator Cuff Tear Treatment
• Running Injury

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Dutzow, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to achieve positive patient outcomes and help our patients 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 walk up the stairs pain-free, speak to a physical therapist in Dutzow, MO today or request an appointment online for lasting chronic pain treatment.