Chronic Pain Treatment in Marthasville, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Marthasville, MO. Anyone who has lived with chronic pain knows the debilitating effect it can have on your life. Sometimes, it goes on so long that we forget what it feels like to live a pain-free life. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably performing daily activities like doing household chores, or the things we love most, whether that be dominating your local pick-up league or painting bowls of fruit.

Axes Physical Therapy is a collection of provider-owned physical and occupational therapy centers devoted to helping our Marthasville, 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 request an appointment for safe chronic pain treatment.

What Is Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain is pain that doesn’t go away after three months, which is how long it takes most people and conditions to heal. The pain can occur every day or every few days, can be localized or hit different body parts, and can be anything from aching to burning pain.

According to the CDC, in 2019 20.4% of adults nationwide had chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (over a third of those with chronic pain) suffered from “high-impact” chronic pain, which is persistent pain 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 affects quality of life and leads to significant economic costs. It can also lead to anxiety, depression, and insomnia.

Why Do I Have Chronic Pain?

Pain, in general, is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong. Often, pain is due to trauma, an infection, or other medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs immediately, usually because of a known, underlying cause such as an injury, dental work, or surgery. It can last for anywhere from a few minutes to months while the injury heals.

By contrast, people can experience chronic pain for several reasons. 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 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, 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.
• Numerous different conditions that lead to lower back pain — Almost 9 out of 10 adults suffer from back pain eventually. Causes can be poor posture or technique, wear and tear at a physically demanding job, sciatica, or a variety of disc injuries.
• Cancer pain — Tumors can cause pain when they bother bones, your spine, or other tissue.
• 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 because there is an issue in the nervous system, or because of mental health issues or your personal history.

There are many tips for relieving chronic pain, and while many can help you be more active in your daily life, many of our Marthasville, MO patients tell us that they have tried everything and still can’t feel better. Often, physical therapy becomes their path toward lasting pain relief and getting back to the activities they love.

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

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Marthasville, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter medications, chiropractic adjustments, massage, and regular exercise. Studies show that including physical therapy into your treatment plan can lead to significant improvement. You are welcome to come to any of our 15 locations for a free screening to learn why you might be suffering from 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? After our evaluation, we’ll work in concert with you and your physician to design a tailor-made course of treatment aimed at getting you back to the activities you love most.

Physical therapy helps by increasing your strength, balance, posture, and range of motion. Collectively improving those aspects of optimal movement health relieves pain and improves your quality of life by allowing your body to work better, and breaking up any signals to your brain that something may be wrong. Depending on you, the nature of your chronic pain, how old you are, and the activity level you wish to get back to, your treatment plan in Marthasville, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise boosts your body’s production of endorphins, your body’s homegrown, feel-good hormone, which not only reduces pain but eases any depression, stress, and/or anxiety you feel because of your pain. A professional Marthasville, 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, restoring your brain’s trust in the rest of your body. We’ll also show you light exercises you can do outside of our sessions.

Manual Therapy and Soft Tissue Mobilization

Manual therapy incorporates therapeutic touch to encourage your body’s natural healing process and relaxation of muscles and joints. Your Marthasville, MO physical therapist will use their hands to safely 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 by itself.

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

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new tool that is becoming more popular among Marthasville, MO physical therapist. It involves using thin, filiform needles to gently create small tears or rips in irritated muscles, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. This eases pain as it encourages the body to start to heal itself and encourages the nutrient-rich blood flow to the region.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

TENS works by placing electrodes over the body part that’s causing you pain. It sends low-voltage electrical currents to release endorphins and stimulates nerve cells that prevent your brain from receiving 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 Marthasville, MO. We’ll teach you the best way to sit, stand, and move, in addition to healthy lifestyle suggestions like diet recommendations.

Other services we offer in Marthasville, MO include:

• Sciatica Treatment
• 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

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Marthasville, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to deliver positive client outcomes and help our patients return to to the activities they love. Whether you miss being able to run across the tennis court like you used to, or just want to walk up the stairs pain-free, speak to a physical therapist in Marthasville, MO today or schedule an appointment online for meaningful chronic pain treatment.