Chronic Pain Treatment in Flint Hill, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Flint Hill, MO. If you suffer from chronic pain, you know all too well how limiting it can be. For some of us, it goes on so long that we forget what it feels like to live a pain-free life. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably performing daily activities like walking up the stairs, or the activities we love doing the most, whether that be sprinting down the court or painting bowls of fruit.

Axes Physical Therapy is a collection of 15 physical and occupational therapy locations devoted to helping our Flint Hill, MO patients achieve positive outcomes through custom-tailored 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 most convenient for you you or contact us online for successful 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 occur every day or every few days, can stay in one spot or hit different body parts, and can range from aching to agonizing pain.

According to the CDC, in 2019 20.4% of adults nationwide had 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,” 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 higher medical expenses. It can also cause significant mental health issues and trouble sleeping.

Why Do I Have 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. Often, pain is caused by an injury, an infection, or other medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs immediately, usually because of a known, underlying cause such as being hit with something, dental work, or surgery. It can last for anywhere from a few minutes to months while the injury heals.

By contrast, the causes of chronic pain aren’t always easily known. 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, there is no perceptible 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 damaged or wear down over time or due to an injury, causing joint pain.
• Numerous different conditions that lead to low 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, wear and tear at work, sciatica, or disc injuries that impinge on the nerves in the spinal column.
• Cancer pain — Tumors can lead to pain when they grow and touch tissue, nerves, or organs.
• 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, there is no underlying musculoskeletal cause, but rather it’s caused by the nervous system, or because of depression, anxiety, and/or stress.

You can read our pointers for managing chronic pain, and while many can lead to greater comfort, many people we see in Flint Hill, 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 Flint Hill, MO a Great Option For Chronic Pain Treatment?

Chronic pain can be treated through a variety of methods in Flint Hill, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter medications, spinal adjustments by a chiropractor, yoga, and regular exercise. Studies show that including physical therapy into your treatment plan is incredibly effective for relieving chronic pain. You can 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? What makes it worse? What makes it better? How does your chronic pain affect you in your daily life? From there, we’ll work in tandem with you and your doctor to design a personalized treatment plan aimed at getting you back a pain-free daily life.

Physical therapy can relieve pain by increasing your strength, balance, posture, and range of motion. Helping you achieve optimal movement health relieves pain and improves your quality of life by allowing your body to work better, and breaking up any signals to your brain that something may be wrong. 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 Flint Hill, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise increases endorphins, your body’s homegrown, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only eases pain but helps with any psychological stress related to your pain. A qualified Flint Hill, MO physical therapist will help you perform exercises that will safely and effectively improve your mobility. With guided exercise, we can re-train your brain to accept certain movements and positions without pain, rebuilding 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 involves therapeutic touch to encourage your body’s natural healing process and relaxation of muscles and joints. Your Flint Hill, MO physical therapist will use their hands to safely manipulate 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 tool that is becoming more popular among Flint Hill, MO physical therapist. It involves using thin, filiform needles to gently create small tears or rips in irritated muscles and connective tissue. This eases pain as it stimulates the body’s “healing mode” and encourages the nutrient-rich blood flow 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-voltage electrical currents to release endorphins and awakens nerve cells that block the transmission of pain signals.

Patient Education

Understanding why you’re experiencing pain and how to cope with it can have a significant positive effect on your chronic pain treatment in Flint Hill, MO. We’ll teach you appropriate posture and movement techniques, as well as healthy lifestyle suggestions like diet recommendations.

Other conditions we treat in Flint Hill, MO include:

• Physical Therapy Clinic
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment
• Sciatica Treatment
• Sports Medicine
• Hand Pain Physical Therapy
• Foot & Ankle Pain Treatment
• Hip Pain Treatment
• Plantar Fasciitis Treatment
• Stroke Rehabilitation
• Hip Replacement Physical Therapy

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Flint Hill, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to achieve positive patient experiences and help our patients 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 without discomfort, speak to a physical therapist in Flint Hill, MO today or make an appointment online for lasting chronic pain treatment.