Chronic Pain Treatment Ethlyn, MO | Physical Therapists Near Ethlyn

Chronic Pain Treatment in Ethlyn, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Ethlyn, 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 forget how good we used to feel. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing basic activities like doing household chores, or the activities we love best, whether that be flying down the court or working in the garden.

Axes Physical Therapy is a collection of 15 physical therapy and rehabilitation centers committed to helping our Ethlyn, MO patients achieve positive outcomes through personalized chronic pain treatment plans, built on techniques that have been demonstrated to work. If you’re finally ready to move on from chronic pain, call our location nearest 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 12 weeks, 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 hit different body parts, and can range from aching to burning pain.

Based on research from the CDC, in 2019 20.4% of American adults had chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (or 36.4% of those with chronic pain) suffered from “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 affects quality of life and leads to significant economic costs. It can also cause significant mental health issues and insomnia.

Why Do I Have Chronic Pain?

Pain, in general, occurs when nerves called nociceptors detect damaged tissue, and send a signal from that body part to your brain. In most cases, pain is caused by trauma, an infection, or other medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs immediately, usually because of a discernible, underlying cause such as falling, dental work, or surgery. The pain lasts for anywhere from a few minutes to months while the injury heals.

By contrast, the causes of chronic pain aren’t always easily identifiable. In some cases there may be an injury that hurts after the tissue is repaired . In other cases, it’s caused by an illness, or happens as our bodies wear down as we age. Sometimes, there is no discernible cause for someone’s chronic pain. Common types and causes of chronic pain include:

Arthritis and other diseases that cause joint pain — The cartilage, tendons, and ligaments in our joints can become irritated or wear down from overuse or overexertion, causing chronic pain in the affected joint.
A variety of conditions that lead to lower back pain — Almost 9 out of 10 adults suffer from back pain eventually. Causes can be poor posture or technique, repetitive motions at a physically demanding job, sciatica, or disc injuries that affect the nerves in the spinal column.
Cancer pain — Tumors can cause pain when they bother other parts inside your body.
Fibromyalgia — While experts are still trying to understand the exact cause of fibromyalgia, this refers to pain you feel in your muscles all over 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 depression, anxiety, and/or stress.

You can read our suggestions for managing chronic pain, and while many are effective, many people we see in Ethlyn, MO 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 the activities they love.

Chronic Pain Treatment Ethlyn, MO | Pain Management | Physical Therapist Near Ethlyn

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

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Ethlyn, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter drugs, chiropractic adjustments, massage, and regular exercise. Studies show that making physical therapy a part of your treatment plan can lead to significant improvement. You are welcome to visit any of our 15 locations for a free screening to learn why you might be experiencing 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? From there, we’ll work in concert with you and your physician to come up with a tailor-made treatment plan aimed at returning you a pain-free daily life.

Physical therapy helps by stretching and strengthening your body. Helping you reach optimal movement health relieves pain and improves your quality of life by making your body work better, and disrupting certain nerves from sending pain messages to your brain. Depending on you, the nature of your chronic pain, how old you are, and the activity level you wish to get back to, your treatment plan in Ethlyn, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise releases endorphins, your body’s natural, feel-good hormone, which not only alleviates pain but eases any psychological stress caused by your pain. A professional Ethlyn, MO physical therapist can help you perform exercises that will safely and effectively improve your mobility. With these exercises, we can re-train your brain to accept certain movements and positions without pain, rebuilding 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 involves therapeutic touch to encourage your body’s natural healing process and relaxation of the surrounding tissues. Your Ethlyn, MO physical therapist will use their hands to gently move your muscles and joints. Studies have shown that manual therapy and guided exercise together are more effective than either technique used by itself.

With instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, physical therapists use specialized tools, like Astym®, instead of their hands, to smooth out tissue and pinpoint degenerative tissue and soft tissue restrictions.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new tool that increasingly more Ethlyn, MO physical therapists are incorporating into their treatment plans. It involves using thin, filiform needles to gently create small tears or rips in irritated soft 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 over the body part that’s causing you pain. It delivers low-voltage currents, which releases endorphins and stimulates nerve cells that block the transmission of pain messages.

Patient Education

Understanding the cause of your pain and how to deal with it in your daily life can have a significant positive effect on your chronic pain treatment in Ethlyn, MO. We’ll teach you appropriate posture and movement techniques, in addition to healthy lifestyle suggestions like diet recommendations.

Other conditions we treat in Ethlyn, MO include:

Chronic Pain Treatment Ethlyn, MO | Physical Therapy | Pain Management Near Ethlyn

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Ethlyn, MO, our goals are clear: to achieve positive patient experiences and help people get back 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 without discomfort, speak to a physical therapist in Ethlyn, MO today or make an appointment online for lasting chronic pain treatment.