Chronic Pain Treatment in New Haven, MO

Chronic pain treatment in New Haven, MO. Anyone who has lived with chronic pain knows 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 used to feel. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing basic activities like walking up the stairs, 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 15 physical and occupational therapy locations devoted to helping our New Haven, MO patients find lasting relief through personalized and evidence-backed chronic pain treatment. To get back to the activities you love most, call our location nearest you or contact us online for successful chronic pain treatment.

What Is Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain is pain that lasts for longer than 12 weeks, which is generally considered to be the “normal” healing period. 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 searing, intense pain.

According to the CDC, in 2019 almost a quarter of U.S. adults 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 affects how somebody can work or perform other activities. Chronic pain doesn’t just hurt you physically. Chronic pain impacts quality of life and leads to higher medical expenses. It can also cause significant mental health issues and trouble sleeping.

What Causes Chronic Pain?

Pain, in general, occurs when nerves called nociceptors perceive damaged tissue, and send a signal through your spinal cord up to your brain. Often, pain is due to trauma, an infection, or other medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs suddenly, usually because of a known, root cause such as being hit with something, 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 known. Sometimes an injury continues to cause pain even after it’s healed . In other cases, it’s caused by an illness, or happens as our bodies wear down as we 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 diseases that cause joint pain — The soft tissue in our joints can become damaged or wear down from overuse or overexertion, causing chronic pain in the affected joint.
• A variety of conditions that lead to lower back pain — Up to 84% of adults will deal with 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 an exact cause isn’t yet known, this refers to pain you feel in your muscles all over 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.

There are many pointers for managing chronic pain, and while many can lead to greater comfort, many of our New Haven, MO patients have felt like they tried everything and still can’t find relief. Often, physical therapy is the treatment that finally gets them relief and returns them to the things that are most important to them.

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

Chronic pain can be treated through a variety of modalities in New Haven, MO, including medication, chiropractic adjustments, massage therapy, and consistent exercise. Studies show that making physical therapy a part of your treatment plan is incredibly effective for relieving chronic pain. You can visit any Axes location in the New Haven area 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? Does anything make it better or worse? How is limiting you in your daily life? After our evaluation, we’ll work in concert with you and your doctor to develop a personalized treatment plan aimed at returning you to the things you love most.

Physical therapy helps by increasing your strength, balance, posture, and flexibility. Helping you reach 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, how old you are, and your desired activity level, your treatment plan in New Haven, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise releases endorphins, your body’s homegrown, feel-good hormone, which not only eases pain but eases related symptoms like stress and depression. A professional New Haven, MO physical therapist will help you perform exercises that will safely and effectively improve your mobility. With guided exercise, 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. 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 New Haven, MO physical therapist will use their hands to safely manipulate soft tissue. Research demonstrates that manual therapy and guided exercise together are more effective than either technique 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 HawkGrips®.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new technique that increasingly more New Haven, 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 and connective tissue. 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 where the pain is located. It delivers low-voltage currents, which releases endorphins and stimulates nerve cells that block the transmission of pain messages.

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 New Haven, MO. We’ll teach you appropriate posture and movement techniques, in addition to healthy lifestyle suggestions like how to keep a healthy diet.

Other conditions we treat in New Haven, MO include:

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment
• 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

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in New Haven, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to achieve positive patient outcomes and help people return to to their best life. Whether you miss being able to run across the pickleball court like you used to, or just want to walk up the stairs pain-free, speak to a physical therapist in New Haven, MO today or make an appointment online for lasting chronic pain treatment.