Chronic Pain Treatment in Florissant, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Florissant, MO. If you suffer from chronic pain, you know all too well the debilitating consequences it can have on your life. 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 completing basic tasks like doing household chores, or the things we love best, whether that be dominating your local pickleball league or painting bowls of fruit.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of 15 physical and occupational therapy centers devoted to helping our Florissant, MO patients achieve positive outcomes through customized chronic pain treatment plans, based on techniques that have been proven to work. If you’re finally ready to move on from chronic pain, reach out to our location nearest you or contact us online for safe chronic pain treatment.

What Is Chronic Pain?

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

Based on research from the CDC, in 2019 one out of five American adults dealt with chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (over a third of those with chronic pain) suffered from “high-impact” chronic pain, which is persistent pain affects how somebody can work or enjoy other 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 trouble sleeping.

What Causes Chronic Pain?

Pain, in general, occurs when nerves called nociceptors perceive damaged tissue, and send a signal from that body part to your brain. In most cases, pain is due to a specific incident or medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs at once, usually because of a known, underlying cause such as burns, cuts, broken bones, dental work, or surgery. The pain lasts for anywhere from a few minutes to months while the injury heals.

By contrast, people can experience chronic pain for several reasons. Sometimes an injury continues to cause pain after the tissue is repaired . Other times, 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, bursitis, tendinitis, and other conditions that cause joint pain — The cartilage, tendons, and ligaments in our joints can become inflamed or wear down over time or due to an injury, causing chronic pain in the affected joint.
• Numerous different conditions that cause 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 disc injuries that affect the nerves in the spinal column.
• Cancer pain — Tumors can lead to pain when they push up against 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, pain does not occur for a physical reason, but because there is an issue in the nervous system, or because of mental health issues or your personal history.

There are many suggestions for managing chronic pain, and while many are effective, many of our Florissant, MO patients tell us that they have tried all of them and more and still can’t find relief. Often, physical therapy becomes their path toward meaningful pain relief and getting back to the things that are most important to them.

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

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Florissant, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter medications, chiropractic adjustments, yoga, and consistent exercise. Studies show that making physical therapy a part of your treatment plan is incredibly effective for relieving chronic pain. You can visit any of our 15 locations 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? 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 form a team with you and your physician to develop a customized course of treatment aimed at getting you back to the activities you love most.

Physical therapy helps by stretching and strengthening your body. Helping you reach the best possible mobility eases 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 nature of your chronic pain, how old you are, and the activity level you wish to get back to, your treatment plan in Florissant, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise boosts your body’s production of endorphins, your body’s homegrown, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only alleviates pain but eases related symptoms like stress and depression. A licensed Florissant, MO physical therapist can 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, restoring 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 involves therapeutic touch to promote healing and relaxation of the surrounding tissues. Your Florissant, MO physical therapist will use their hands to safely move soft tissue. Research demonstrates that manual therapy combined with guided exercise is better at treating pain than either technique used by itself.

With instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, physical therapists use specialized tools, like Graston®, instead of their hands, to improve tissue alignment and locate degenerative tissue and soft tissue restrictions.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new treatment method that is becoming more popular among Florissant, MO physical therapist. It involves using thin, filiform needles to penetrate damaged soft tissue. 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 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 why you’re experiencing pain and how to cope with it can have a significant positive effect on your chronic pain treatment in Florissant, MO. We’ll teach you appropriate posture and movement practices, in addition to healthy lifestyle suggestions like diet recommendations.

Other services we offer in Florissant, 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 Florissant, MO

At Axes Physical Therapy in Florissant, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to achieve positive patient outcomes and help people get back to the activities they love. Whether you miss being able to run across the pickleball court like you used to, or just want to get out of bed in the morning pain-free, speak to a physical therapist in Florissant, MO today or schedule an appointment online for lasting chronic pain treatment.