Chronic Pain Treatment in Huntleigh, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Huntleigh, MO. Anyone who has lived with chronic pain knows how limiting it can be. Sometimes, the months or years we’ve dealt with it causes us to forget what it feels like to live a pain-free life. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably performing basic activities like walking up the stairs, or the things we love best, whether that be dominating your local softball league or working in the garden.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of 15 physical therapy treatment centers committed to helping our Huntleigh, MO patients achieve positive outcomes through customized chronic pain treatment plans, based on techniques that have been proven to work. To get back to the activities you love most, reach out to our location nearest you or contact us online for successful chronic pain treatment.

What Is Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain is pain that doesn’t go away after 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 be localized or hit different muscles or joints, and can be anything from stiffness to stinging pain.

According to the CDC, in 2019 20.4% of U.S. adults suffered from chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (or 36.4% of those with chronic pain) suffered from “high-impact” chronic pain, which is pain that occurs on more days than not that limits work or life 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 insomnia.

What Causes Chronic Pain?

Pain, generally speaking, occurs when nerves called nociceptors detect damaged tissue, and send a signal from that body part to your brain. Often, pain is caused by trauma, an infection, or other medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs suddenly, usually because of a known, underlying cause such as burns, cuts, broken bones, dental work, or surgery. It can last for anywhere from a moment to several weeks.

By contrast, the causes of chronic pain aren’t always easily identifiable. Sometimes an injury continues to cause pain despite the fact that, structurally, it has healed . In other cases, it’s caused by an illness, or happens as our bodies wear down as we age. Sometimes, there is no observable 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 inflamed or wear down over time or due to an injury, causing joint pain.
• Numerous different conditions that lead to low back pain — Up to 84% of adults suffer from back pain eventually. Causes can be poor posture or technique, wear and tear at work, sciatica, or a variety of disc injuries.
• Cancer pain — Tumors can cause pain when they grow and touch other parts inside your body.
• 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 mental health issues or your personal history.

There are many tips for easing chronic pain, and while many can lead to greater comfort, many people we see in Huntleigh, 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 Huntleigh, MO a Great Option For Chronic Pain Treatment?

Chronic pain can be treated through a variety of methods in Huntleigh, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter medications, chiropractic adjustments, massage, and regular exercise. Research demonstrates that including physical therapy into your treatment plan is incredibly effective for relieving chronic pain. You are welcome to come to any of our 15 locations for a free screening to learn what might be causing your chronic pain. We’ll get to know you and your pain better. How often do you have pain? When does it come on? When does it get better? How is limiting you in your daily life? After your screening, we’ll form a team with you and your doctor to develop a customized treatment plan aimed at getting you back to the things you love most.

Physical therapy helps 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 the activity level you wish to get back to, your treatment plan in Huntleigh, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise boosts your body’s production of endorphins, your body’s natural, feel-good hormone, which not only alleviates pain but eases related symptoms like stress and depression. A qualified Huntleigh, MO physical therapist will guide through exercises that will safely and effectively improve your mobility. With these exercises, your brain will come to understand that certain movements can be carried out without pain, rebuilding 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 involves therapeutic touch to promote healing and relaxation of muscles and joints. Your Huntleigh, MO physical therapist will use their hands to gently put pressure on your muscles and joints. Studies have shown that manual therapy and guided exercise together are more effective than either treatment method used alone.

With instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, physical therapists use specially designed tools, like Astym®, instead of their hands, to smooth out tissue and identify degenerative tissue and soft tissue restrictions.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new technique that more and more Huntleigh, MO physical therapists are incorporating into their treatment plans. It involves using thin, filiform needles to penetrate damaged soft tissue. In doing so, it encourages the body to start to heal itself and stimulates the flow of blood 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 cope with it can do wonders for your chronic pain treatment in Huntleigh, MO. We’ll teach you the best way to sit, stand, and move, in addition to healthy lifestyle tips like how to keep a healthy diet.

Other conditions we treat in Huntleigh, MO include:

• Beginner Running Program
• Spine Specialist Near Me
• MCL Injury
• Shoulder Pain
• Injury Prevention
• Mobility
• Knee Injury
• Joint Pain
• Sciatica

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Huntleigh, MO, our goals are simple: to achieve positive patient experiences and help our patients return to to the things they love doing most. Whether you want to be able to run across the tennis court like you used to, or just want to carry the groceries in pain-free, speak to a physical therapist in Huntleigh, MO today or request an appointment online for meaningful chronic pain treatment.