Chronic Pain Treatment Josephville, MO | Physical Therapists Near Josephville

Chronic Pain Treatment in Josephville, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Josephville, MO. Anyone who has lived with chronic pain knows how hard it is to express how much it limits you. For some of us, it goes on so long that we forget how good we’re capable of feeling. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing basic activities like carrying in groceries, or the activities we love doing the most, whether that be sprinting down the field or being able to properly look after your children.

Axes Physical Therapy is a collection of provider-owned physical therapy treatment locations devoted to helping our Josephville, MO patients find lasting relief through custom-tailored chronic pain treatment plans, based on techniques that have been demonstrated to work. To get back to the activities you love most, call the location most convenient for you you or make an appointment for successful chronic pain treatment.

What Is Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain is pain that lasts for longer than 12 weeks, which is how long it takes most people and conditions to heal. The pain can occur every day or every few days, can stay in one spot or radiate through your body, and can range from aching to burning pain.

According to the CDC, in 2019 20.4% of adults nationwide dealt with chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (over a third of those with chronic pain) suffered from “high-impact” chronic pain, defined as pain that, on “most days” or “every day,” limits work or life activities. Anyone who suffers from frequent pain symptoms will tell you that it causes far more than just physical discomfort. Chronic pain reduces quality of life and leads to higher medical expenses. It can also cause significant mental health issues and insomnia.

What’s Behind Chronic Pain?

Pain, generally speaking, occurs when nerves called nociceptors perceive damaged tissue, and send a signal through your spinal cord up to your brain. Often, pain is caused by a specific incident or illness. “Acute pain” occurs immediately, usually because of a discernible, root cause such as burns, cuts, broken bones, dental work, or surgery. The pain lasts for anywhere from a moment to months while the injury heals.

By contrast, people can experience chronic pain for several reasons. In some cases there may be an injury that hurts after the tissue is repaired . In other cases, it’s caused by an illness, 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 irritated or wear down from overuse or overexertion, causing joint pain.
A variety of conditions that cause low back pain — Up to 84% of adults will deal with back pain eventually. Causes can be poor posture or technique, repetitive motions at work, 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 an exact cause isn’t yet known, this refers to widespread muscle pain and tenderness.
Neurogenic pain and psychogenic pain — In some cases, there is no underlying musculoskeletal cause, but because there is dysfunction 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 can lead to greater comfort, many of our Josephville, MO patients tell us that they have tried all of them and more and still can’t feel better. Often, physical therapy becomes their path toward meaningful pain relief and getting back to a pain-free daily life.

Chronic Pain Treatment Josephville, MO | Pain Management | Physical Therapist Near Josephville

How Do Physical Therapists in Josephville, MO Help With Chronic Pain Treatment?

Chronic pain can be treated through a variety of means in Josephville, MO, including medication, spinal adjustments by a chiropractor, massage, and regular exercise. Research demonstrates that incorporating 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 why you might be experiencing chronic pain. We’ll ask you questions to better understand how we can help you. How often do you have pain? Does anything make it better or worse? How does your chronic pain affect you in your daily life? From there, we’ll form a team with you and your doctor to develop a tailor-made course of treatment aimed at returning you a comfortable daily life.

Physical therapy helps by increasing your strength, balance, posture, and range of motion. Collectively improving those aspects of optimal movement health eases pain and improves your quality of life by allowing your body to work better, and interrupting certain nerves from sending pain messages to your brain. Depending on you, the causes of your chronic pain, your age, and your desired activity level, your treatment plan in Josephville, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise increases endorphins, your body’s natural, feel-good hormone, which not only eases pain but helps with any psychological stress related to your pain. A licensed Josephville, MO physical therapist will 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, 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 encourage your body’s natural healing process and relaxation of muscles and joints. Your Josephville, MO physical therapist will use their hands to safely manipulate soft tissue. Research demonstrates that manual therapy combined with guided exercise is more effective than either treatment method used by itself.

Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization is similar to manual therapy, except that instead of their hands, physical therapists use specialized tools like HawkGrips®.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new technique that is becoming more popular among Josephville, MO physical therapist. It involves using thin, filiform needles to gently create small tears or rips in damaged soft tissue. This eases pain as it stimulates the body’s “healing mode” and stimulates the flow of nutrients to the region.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

TENS works by placing electrodes on the skin near where you are experiencing pain. It sends low-level electrical currents to release endorphins and stimulates nerve cells that prevent your brain from receiving pain messages.

Patient Education

Understanding the cause of your pain and how to cope with it can do wonders for your chronic pain treatment in Josephville, MO. We’ll help you learn the best way to sit, stand, and move, in addition to healthy lifestyle suggestions like how to keep a healthy diet.

Other conditions we treat in Josephville, MO include:

Chronic Pain Treatment Josephville, MO | Physical Therapy | Pain Management Near Josephville

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Josephville, MO, our goals are simple: to deliver positive client outcomes and help our patients return to to the activities they love. Whether you want to be 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 Josephville, MO today or make an appointment online for lasting chronic pain treatment.