Chronic Pain Treatment in Maryland Heights, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Maryland Heights, MO. If you suffer from chronic pain, you know all too well how hard it is to express the effects it has on your daily life. For some of us, the months or years we’ve dealt with it causes us to forget how good we’re capable of feeling. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably performing basic activities like doing household chores, or the activities we love best, whether that be dominating your local pickleball league or working in the garden.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of provider-owned physical therapy and rehabilitation centers devoted to helping our Maryland Heights, MO patients find lasting relief through personalized chronic pain treatment plans, based on techniques that have been demonstrated to work. To get back to a pain-free daily life, reach out to our location nearest 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 12 weeks, which is how long it takes most people and conditions to heal. The pain can be constant or can come and go, can stay in one spot or radiate through your body, and can range from dull soreness to searing, intense pain.

According to the CDC, in 2019 20.4% of adults nationwide had chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (or 36.4% of those who experienced chronic pain) had “high-impact” chronic pain, which is pain that occurs on more days than not that affects how somebody can work or enjoy other 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 cause significant mental health issues and insomnia.

What’s Behind Chronic Pain?

Pain, in general, is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong. In most cases, pain is due to a specific incident or illness. “Acute pain” occurs suddenly, usually because of a known, root cause such as stubbing your toe, dental work, or surgery. It can last for anywhere from a few minutes to several weeks.

By contrast, the causes of chronic pain aren’t always easily known. In some cases there may be an injury that hurts despite the fact that, structurally, it has healed . Other times, 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 cartilage, tendons, and ligaments in our joints can become inflamed or wear down over time or due to an injury, causing joint pain.
• A variety of 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 disc injuries that impinge on the nerves in the spinal column.
• Cancer pain — Tumors can lead to pain when they bother other parts inside your body.
• Fibromyalgia — While experts are still trying to understand the exact cause of fibromyalgia, this refers to pain that affects your muscles and joints throughout your body.
• Neurogenic pain and psychogenic pain — In some cases, there is no underlying musculoskeletal cause, but rather it’s caused by the nervous system, or because of depression, anxiety, and/or stress.

You can check out our tips for managing chronic pain, and while many can lead to greater comfort, many people we see in Maryland Heights, MO tell us that they have tried everything and still can’t find relief. Often, physical therapy becomes their path toward lasting pain relief and getting back to the things that are most important to them.

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

Chronic pain can be treated through a variety of means in Maryland Heights, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter medications, spinal adjustments by a chiropractor, massage, and consistent exercise. Studies show that making physical therapy a part of your treatment plan is incredibly effective for relieving chronic pain. You can come to any Axes location in the Maryland Heights area for a free screening to better understand what might be causing your 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 is limiting you in your daily life? After your screening, we’ll form a team with you and your doctor to design a tailor-made course of treatment 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 movement health relieves pain and enhances your daily life by allowing your body to work better, and interrupting 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 Maryland Heights, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise boosts your body’s production of endorphins, your body’s homegrown, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only eases pain but helps with any depression, stress, and/or anxiety caused by your pain. A professional Maryland Heights, MO physical therapist can help you perform exercises aimed at improving your mobility without causing more pain or injury. With these exercises, your brain will come to understand that certain movements can be achieved 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 promote healing and relaxation of the surrounding tissues. Your Maryland Heights, MO physical therapist will use their hands to gently manipulate soft tissue. Research demonstrates that manual therapy and guided exercise together are more effective 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 technique that increasingly more Maryland Heights, MO physical therapists are incorporating into their treatment plans. 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 stimulates the flow of nutrients to the affected body part.

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 block the transmission of 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 Maryland Heights, MO. We’ll teach you appropriate posture and movement practices, as well as healthy lifestyle tips like diet recommendations.

Other services we offer in Maryland Heights, 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 Maryland Heights, MO

At Axes Physical Therapy in Maryland Heights, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to achieve positive client experiences and help people get back to the activities they love. Whether you want to be able to run across the pickleball court like you used to, or just want to get out of bed in the morning pain-free, speak to a physical therapist in Maryland Heights, MO today or make an appointment online for lasting chronic pain treatment.