Chronic Pain Treatment in Hazelwood, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Hazelwood, MO. Anyone who has lived with chronic pain knows how limiting it can be. Sometimes, the months or years we’ve dealt with it leads 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 completing basic activities like walking up the stairs, or the activities we love best, whether that be flying down the court or working in the garden.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of provider-owned physical therapy and rehabilitation centers dedicated to helping our Hazelwood, MO patients find lasting relief through customized and evidence-backed chronic pain treatment. If you’re finally ready to move on from chronic pain, reach out to our location most convenient for you you or contact us online for safe chronic pain treatment.

What Type of Pain is Considered “Chronic”?

Chronic pain is pain that lasts for longer than three months, 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 radiate through your body, and can range from dull soreness to stinging pain.

Based on research from the CDC, in 2019 one out of five U.S. adults dealt with 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,” limits work or life activities. Anyone who suffers from pain frequently will tell you that it causes far more than just physical discomfort. Chronic pain reduces quality of life and leads to significant economic costs. It can also lead to anxiety, depression, and insomnia.

What Causes Chronic Pain?

Pain, generally speaking, occurs when nerves called nociceptors detect damaged tissue, and send a signal through your spinal cord up to your brain. Often, pain is due to trauma, an infection, or other medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs suddenly, usually because of a discernible, underlying cause such as being hit with something, dental work, or surgery. The pain lasts for anywhere from a few minutes to several weeks.

By contrast, people can experience chronic pain for several reasons. In some cases there may be an injury that hurts even after it’s healed . In other cases, it’s caused by an illness, or happens as our bodies wear down as we age. 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 and other diseases that cause joint pain — The soft tissue in our joints can become irritated or wear down from overuse or overexertion, causing joint pain.
• A variety of conditions that cause lower back pain — Almost 9 out of 10 adults will deal with back pain eventually. Causes can be poor posture or technique, repetitive motions at work, sciatica, or a variety of disc injuries.
• Cancer pain — Tumors can cause pain when they push up against other parts inside your body.
• Fibromyalgia — While an exact cause isn’t yet known, 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 mental health issues or your personal history.

You can check out our tips for easing chronic pain, and while many can help you be more active in your daily life, many people we see in Hazelwood, MO have felt like they tried all of them and more and still can’t find relief. Often, physical therapy is the strategy that finally gets them relief and returns them to a pain-free daily life.

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

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Hazelwood, MO, including medication, chiropractic adjustments, yoga, and consistent exercise. Research demonstrates that including physical therapy into your treatment plan can lead to significant improvement. You can visit any Axes location in the Hazelwood area for a free screening to learn why you might be experiencing chronic pain. We’ll get to know you and your pain better. 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 concert with you and your doctor to come up with a customized course of treatment aimed at returning you to the things you love most.

Physical therapy can relieve pain by stretching and strengthening your body. Collectively improving those aspects of optimal movement health eases pain and improves your quality of life by making your body function better, and disrupting certain body parts from sending pain messages to your brain. Depending on you, the nature of your chronic pain, your age, and your desired activity level, your treatment plan in Hazelwood, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise increases endorphins, your body’s natural, feel-good hormone, which not only alleviates pain but eases any depression, stress, and/or anxiety you feel because of your pain. A professional Hazelwood, 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 incorporates therapeutic touch to promote healing and relaxation of muscles and joints. Your Hazelwood, MO physical therapist will use their hands to gently move soft tissue. Studies have shown that manual therapy combined with guided exercise is more effective than either treatment method used by itself.

With instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, physical therapists use specially designed tools, like Graston®, 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 tool that increasingly more Hazelwood, MO physical therapists are incorporating into their treatment plans. It involves using thin, filiform needles to penetrate damaged soft tissue. In doing so, it stimulates the body’s “healing mode” and encourages the flow of nutrients to the affected body part.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

TENS works by placing electrodes where the pain is located. It delivers low-voltage currents, which releases endorphins and awakens nerve cells that block the transmission of pain messages.

Patient Education

Understanding why you’re experiencing pain and how to cope with it can do wonders for your chronic pain treatment in Hazelwood, MO. We’ll teach you appropriate posture and movement techniques, in addition to healthy lifestyle tips like how to keep a healthy diet.

Other conditions we treat in Hazelwood, MO include:

• Sports Medicine
• Hand Pain Physical Therapy
• Foot & Ankle Pain Treatment
• Hip Pain Treatment
• Plantar Fasciitis Treatment
• Stroke Rehabilitation
• Hip Replacement Physical Therapy
• Workers Comp' Physical Therapy
• Migraine Relief
• Sprain and Strain Treatment

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Hazelwood, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to deliver positive patient outcomes and help people return to to the things they love doing most. Whether you want to be able to run across the pickleball court like you used to, or just want to walk up the stairs pain-free, speak to a physical therapist in Hazelwood, MO today or schedule an appointment online for lasting chronic pain treatment.