Chronic Pain Treatment in O’Fallon, MO

Chronic pain treatment in O’Fallon, MO. Anyone who has suffered from chronic pain knows how limiting it can be. For some of us, the months or years we’ve dealt with it leads us to forget how good we’re capable of feeling. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing daily activities like doing household chores, or the activities we love best, whether that be flying down the court or picking up your children.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of provider-owned physical and occupational therapy locations dedicated to helping our O’Fallon, MO patients find meaningful relief through personalized chronic pain treatment plans, based on techniques that have been proven to work. If you’re finally ready to move on from chronic pain, reach out to the location most convenient for you you or schedule an appointment for effective 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 muscles or joints, and can be anything from dull soreness to burning pain.

Based on research from 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) had “high-impact” chronic pain, defined as pain that, on “most days” or “every day,” limits work or life activities. Chronic pain doesn’t just hurt you physically. Chronic pain impacts quality of life and leads to higher medical expenses. It can also lead to anxiety, depression, and insomnia.

What’s Behind Chronic Pain?

Pain, generally speaking, occurs when nerves called nociceptors detect damage somewhere in your body, 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 at once, usually because of a known, underlying cause such as being hit with something, dental work, or surgery. The pain lasts for anywhere from a moment to months while the injury heals.

By contrast, the causes of chronic pain aren’t always easily identifiable. Sometimes an injury continues to cause pain after the tissue is repaired . In other cases, it’s caused by a medical condition, or occurs 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, bursitis, tendinitis, and other conditions that cause joint pain — The cartilage, tendons, and ligaments 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 — Up to 84% of adults will deal with back pain at some point in their lives. Causes can be poor posture or technique, repetitive motions at work, 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 because there is dysfunction in the nervous system, or because of depression, anxiety, and/or stress.

There are many suggestions for easing chronic pain, and while many can lead to greater comfort, many people we see in O’Fallon, MO 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 O’Fallon, MO a Great Option For Chronic Pain Treatment?

Chronic pain can be treated through a variety of means in O’Fallon, MO, including medication, chiropractic care, yoga, and regular exercise. Research demonstrates that including physical therapy into your treatment plan is incredibly effective for relieving chronic pain. You can come to any Axes location in the O’Fallon 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? What makes it worse? What makes it better? How is limiting you in your daily life? From there, we’ll work in tandem with you and your doctor to design a personalized treatment plan aimed at returning you to the things you love most.

Physical therapy helps by increasing your strength, balance, posture, and range of motion. Helping you reach the best possible mobility relieves pain and improves your quality of life by allowing your body to function better, and disrupting certain nerves from sending pain messages to your brain. 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 O’Fallon, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise releases endorphins, your body’s homegrown, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only reduces pain but helps with any psychological stress you feel because of your pain. A professional O’Fallon, 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, rebuilding your brain’s trust in the rest of your body. We’ll also show you light exercises you can do at home.

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 O’Fallon, MO physical therapist will use their hands to gently move soft tissue. Studies have shown that manual therapy combined with guided exercise is more effective than either treatment method used by itself.

With instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, physical therapists use specially designed tools, like Graston®, instead of their hands, to smooth out tissue and pinpoint degenerative tissue and soft tissue restrictions.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new treatment method that more and more O’Fallon, MO physical therapists are incorporating into their treatment plans. It involves using thin, filiform needles to penetrate damaged soft 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 sends low-voltage electrical currents to release endorphins and stimulates nerve cells that stop 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 O’Fallon, MO. We’ll teach you 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 O’Fallon, MO include:

• 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
• Sprain and Strain Treatment

Call Axes Physical Therapy For Your Chronic Pain Treatment in O’Fallon, MO

At Axes Physical Therapy in O’Fallon, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to deliver positive client outcomes and help people get back to the things they love doing most. 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 without discomfort, speak to a physical therapist in O’Fallon, MO today or schedule an appointment online for lasting chronic pain treatment.