Chronic Pain Treatment Grantwood Village, MO

Chronic Pain Treatment in Grantwood Village, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Grantwood Village, MO. If you suffer from chronic pain, you know all too well how limiting it can be. Sometimes, the months or years we’ve dealt with it causes us to lose sight of what it feels like to live a pain-free life. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably performing daily tasks like walking up the stairs, or the activities we love doing the most, whether that be dominating your local pickleball league or painting bowls of fruit.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of provider-owned physical and occupational therapy centers dedicated to helping our Grantwood Village, MO patients achieve positive outcomes through customized and evidence-backed chronic pain treatment. To get back to the activities you love most, reach out to the location most convenient for you you or schedule an appointment 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 stay in one spot or hit different body parts, and can range from dull soreness to agonizing pain.

Based on research from the CDC, in 2019 20.4% of adults nationwide suffered from chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (or 36.4% of those who experienced chronic pain) had “high-impact” chronic pain, defined as pain that, on “most days” or “every day,” affects how somebody can work or perform other activities. Anyone who suffers from frequent pain symptoms will tell you that it causes far more than just physical discomfort. Chronic pain affects quality of life and leads to higher medical expenses. It can also lead to anxiety, depression, and insomnia.

What Causes Chronic Pain?

Pain, generally speaking, 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 illness. “Acute pain” occurs at once, usually because of a known, root cause such as falling, dental work, or surgery. The pain lasts for anywhere from a few minutes to several weeks.

By contrast, the causes of chronic pain aren’t always easily known. In some cases there may be an injury that hurts despite the fact that, structurally, it has healed . Other times, it’s caused by a medical condition, or degenerative disease. Sometimes, there is no observable cause for someone’s chronic pain. 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 from overuse or overexertion, causing chronic pain in the affected joint.
A variety of conditions that lead to low back pain — Up to 84% of adults will deal with 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 push up against tissue, nerves, or organs.
Fibromyalgia — While experts are still trying to understand the exact cause of fibromyalgia, this refers to pain that affects your muscles and joints throughout your body.
Neurogenic pain and psychogenic pain — In some cases, pain does not occur for a physical reason, but because there is dysfunction in the nervous system, or because of mental health issues or your personal history.

There are many suggestions for relieving chronic pain, and while many can lead to greater comfort, many people we see in Grantwood Village, 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.

Chronic Pain Treatment Grantwood Village, MO | Pain Management | Physical Therapist Near Grantwood Village

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

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Grantwood Village, MO, including medication, chiropractic adjustments, yoga, and consistent exercise. Studies show that incorporating physical therapy into your treatment plan is incredibly effective for relieving chronic pain. You are welcome to visit any Axes location in the Grantwood Village area 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. Do you experience pain every day? Most days? When does it come on? When does it get better? How is limiting you in your daily life? After your screening, we’ll work in concert with you and your doctor to design a customized treatment plan aimed at getting you back a pain-free daily life.

Physical therapy can relieve pain by stretching and strengthening your body. Helping you achieve optimal mobility relieves pain and improves your quality of life by making your body function better, and disrupting any signals to your brain that something may be wrong. Depending on you, the causes of your chronic pain, how old you are, and your desired activity level, your treatment plan in Grantwood Village, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise increases endorphins, your body’s homegrown, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only reduces pain but helps with related symptoms like stress and depression. A qualified Grantwood Village, MO physical therapist will 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 Grantwood Village, MO physical therapist will use their hands to safely manipulate your muscles and joints. Research demonstrates that manual therapy combined with guided exercise is more effective than either technique used by itself.

With instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, physical therapists use specially designed tools, like Astym®, 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 technique that increasingly more Grantwood Village, MO physical therapists are incorporating into their treatment plans. It involves using thin, filiform needles to penetrate inflamed muscles, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. In doing so, it encourages the body to start to heal itself and encourages the flow of nutrients to the affected body part.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

TENS works by placing electrodes on the skin near where you are experiencing 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 deal with it in your daily life can have a significant positive effect on your chronic pain treatment in Grantwood Village, MO. We’ll teach you appropriate posture and movement practices, as well as healthy lifestyle suggestions like diet recommendations.

Other services we offer in Grantwood Village, MO include:

Chronic Pain Treatment Grantwood Village, MO | Physical Therapy | Pain Management Near Grantwood Village

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Grantwood Village, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to deliver positive client outcomes 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 get out of bed in the morning without discomfort, speak to a physical therapist in Grantwood Village, MO today or request an appointment online for meaningful chronic pain treatment.