Chronic Pain Treatment in Foley, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Foley, MO. Anyone who has suffered from chronic pain knows how limiting it can be. For some of us, it goes on so long that we lose sight of how good we’re capable of feeling. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing daily tasks like walking up the stairs, or the things we love doing the most, whether that be flying down the field or painting bowls of fruit.

Axes Physical Therapy is a collection of provider-owned physical and occupational therapy locations committed to helping our Foley, MO patients find lasting relief through customized and evidence-backed chronic pain treatment. If you’re finally ready to move on from chronic pain, call our location nearest you or request an appointment for safe chronic pain treatment.

What Is Chronic Pain?

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 be constant or can come and go, can stay in one spot or radiate through your body, and can change in severity from stiffness to searing, intense pain.

According to the CDC, in 2019 20.4% of American adults suffered from chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (over a third of those who experienced 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 significant economic costs. It can also lead to anxiety, depression, and insomnia.

Why Do I Have 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 caused by a specific incident or medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs immediately, usually because of a known, root cause such as an injury, 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 even after it’s healed . 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 soft tissue 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 eventually. 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 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 — Sometimes, 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 pointers for relieving chronic pain, and while many are effective, many people we see in Foley, MO have felt like they tried all of them and more and still can’t feel better. Often, physical therapy is the strategy that finally gets them relief and returns them to the activities they love.

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

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Foley, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter medications, chiropractic adjustments, massage, and regular exercise. Research demonstrates 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 better understand 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? From there, we’ll form a team with you and your physician to develop a customized course of treatment aimed at getting you back a pain-free daily life.

Physical therapy can relieve pain by stretching and strengthening your body. Helping you achieve the best possible movement health relieves pain and enhances your daily life by allowing your body to function better, and interrupting certain nerves from sending pain messages to your brain. Depending on you, the nature of your chronic pain, how old you are, and your desired activity level, your treatment plan in Foley, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise releases endorphins, your body’s natural, feel-good hormone, which not only alleviates pain but helps with related symptoms like stress and depression. A licensed Foley, MO physical therapist can lead you through 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, restoring your brain’s trust in the rest of your body. 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 Foley, MO physical therapist will use their hands to gently manipulate soft tissue. Research demonstrates that manual therapy combined with guided exercise is better at treating pain than either treatment method used by itself.

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

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new technique that is becoming more popular among Foley, MO physical therapist. It involves using thin, filiform needles to gently create small tears or rips in irritated muscles, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. This eases pain as 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 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 considerable positive effect on your chronic pain treatment in Foley, MO. We’ll help you learn appropriate posture and movement techniques, as well as healthy lifestyle suggestions like diet recommendations.

Other conditions we treat in Foley, MO include:

• Neck Pain Treatment
• 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

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Foley, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to achieve positive patient outcomes and help our patients get back to the things they love doing most. Whether you miss being able to run across the tennis court like you used to, or just want to walk up the stairs without discomfort, speak to a physical therapist in Foley, MO today or make an appointment online for meaningful chronic pain treatment.