Chronic Pain Treatment Leadington, MO | Physical Therapists Near Leadington

Chronic Pain Treatment in Leadington, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Leadington, MO. Anyone who has lived with chronic pain knows the debilitating consequences it can have on your life. For some of us, the months or years we’ve dealt with it causes us to forget how good we used to feel. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing daily tasks like walking up the stairs, or the things we love most, whether that be dominating your local pick-up league or working in the garden.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of provider-owned physical therapy treatment locations dedicated to helping our Leadington, MO patients find meaningful relief through customized chronic pain treatment plans, built on techniques that have been demonstrated to work. To get back to the activities you love most, reach out to our location most convenient for you you or request an appointment for safe chronic pain treatment.

What Is Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain is pain that doesn’t go away after 3-6 months, which is how long it takes most people and conditions to heal. The pain can be constant or can come and go, can be localized or radiate through your body, and can range from dull soreness to searing, intense pain.

Based on research from the CDC, in 2019 almost a quarter of American adults had chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (or 36.4% of those with 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 frequent pain symptoms will tell you that it causes far more than just physical discomfort. Chronic pain impacts quality of life and leads to higher medical expenses. It can also lead to anxiety, depression, and trouble sleeping.

Why Do People Experience Chronic Pain?

Pain, generally speaking, is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong. Often, pain is due to a specific incident or medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs immediately, usually because of a known, root cause such as burns, cuts, broken bones, dental work, or surgery. The pain lasts for anywhere from a few minutes to months while the injury heals.

By contrast, the causes of chronic pain aren’t always easily known. 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 happens as our bodies weaken with 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 conditions that cause joint pain — The soft tissue in our joints can become irritated or wear down over time or due to an injury, causing chronic pain in the affected joint.
Numerous different conditions that lead to lower back pain — Up to 84% of adults suffer from back pain at some point in their lives. Causes can be poor posture or technique, repetitive motions at a job that requires physical exertion, sciatica, or a variety of disc injuries.
Cancer pain — Tumors can lead to pain when they bother other parts inside your body.
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, 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.

You can check out our tips for managing chronic pain, and while many can help you be more active in your daily life, many people we see in Leadington, MO have felt like they tried all of them and more and still can’t find relief. Often, physical therapy becomes their path toward meaningful pain relief and getting back to the things that are most important to them.

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

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

Chronic pain can be treated through a variety of modalities in Leadington, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter drugs, chiropractic care, massage, and regular exercise. Studies show that making physical therapy a part of 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 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 does your chronic pain affect you in your daily life? After your screening, we’ll work in tandem with you and your physician to come up with a customized treatment plan aimed at getting you back a comfortable daily life.

Physical therapy can relieve pain by increasing your strength, balance, posture, and flexibility. Collectively improving those aspects of optimal mobility relieves pain and improves your quality of life by making your body function better, and breaking up any signals to your brain that something may be wrong. 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 Leadington, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise increases endorphins, your body’s natural, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only alleviates pain but helps with any depression, stress, and/or anxiety caused by your pain. A professional Leadington, MO physical therapist will guide through exercises that will safely and effectively improve your mobility. With guided exercise, your brain will come to understand that certain movements can be achieved without pain, rebuilding 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 promote healing and relaxation of the surrounding tissues. Your Leadington, MO physical therapist will use their hands to gently manipulate your muscles and joints. Studies have shown that manual therapy combined with guided exercise is better at treating pain than either treatment method used alone.

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

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new treatment method that increasingly more Leadington, MO physical therapists are incorporating into their treatment plans. It involves using thin, filiform needles to gently create small tears or rips in inflamed muscles and connective tissue. This eases pain as it stimulates the body’s “healing mode” and stimulates the nutrient-rich blood flow to the region.

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 prevent your brain from receiving pain signals.

Patient Education

Understanding the cause of your pain and how to deal with it in your daily life can do wonders for your chronic pain treatment in Leadington, 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 Leadington, MO include:

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

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Leadington, MO, our goals are simple: to achieve positive client outcomes and help our patients return to to their best life. Whether you want to be able to run across the pickleball court like you used to, or just want to carry the groceries in without discomfort, speak to a physical therapist in Leadington, MO today or request an appointment online for meaningful chronic pain treatment.