Chronic Pain Treatment in Otto, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Otto, MO. Anyone who has lived with chronic pain knows how hard it is to express how much it limits you. Sometimes, it goes on so long that we lose sight of how good we used to feel. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing daily activities like carrying in groceries, or the activities we love most, whether that be dominating your local pick-up league or picking up your grandchildren.

Axes Physical Therapy is a collection of 15 physical and occupational therapy centers dedicated to helping our Otto, MO patients find meaningful relief through custom-tailored and evidence-backed chronic pain treatment. If you’re finally ready to move on from chronic pain, call the location nearest you or schedule an appointment for safe chronic pain treatment.

What Type of Pain is Considered “Chronic”?

Chronic pain is pain that doesn’t go away after 3-6 months, which is generally considered to be the “normal” healing period. The pain can occur every day or every few days, can be localized or hit different body parts, and can change in severity from aching to searing, intense pain.

Based on research from the CDC, in 2019 almost a quarter of adults nationwide dealt with chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (or 36.4% of those with chronic pain) had “high-impact” chronic pain, which is persistent pain affects how somebody can work or perform other activities. Anyone who suffers from pain frequently will tell you that it causes far more than just physical discomfort. Chronic pain reduces quality of life and leads to significant economic costs. It can also cause significant mental health issues and insomnia.

What Causes Chronic Pain?

Pain, in general, is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong. In most cases, pain is caused by trauma, an infection, or other medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs suddenly, usually because of a discernible, underlying cause such as being hit with something, 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. Sometimes an injury continues to cause pain even after it’s healed . In other cases, it’s caused by an illness, or occurs 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.
• A variety of conditions that lead to low back pain — Almost 9 out of 10 adults will deal with back pain at some point in their lives. Causes can be poor posture or technique, repetitive motions at a physically demanding job, sciatica, or disc injuries that impinge on the nerves in the spinal column.
• 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 suggestions for managing chronic pain, and while many can lead to greater comfort, many of our Otto, MO patients have felt like they tried all of them and more and still can’t feel better. Often, physical therapy is the strategy that finally gets them relief and returns them to the activities they love.

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

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Otto, MO, including medication, spinal adjustments by a chiropractor, yoga, and regular exercise. Research demonstrates that including physical therapy into your treatment plan can lead to significant improvement. You are welcome to visit any of our 15 locations for a free screening to learn why you might be suffering from chronic pain. We’ll get to know you and your pain better. How often do you have pain? When does it come on? When does it get better? How does your chronic pain affect you in your daily life? After our evaluation, we’ll form a team with you and your physician to come up with a tailor-made treatment plan aimed at returning you a pain-free daily life.

Physical therapy helps by increasing your strength, balance, posture, and flexibility. Collectively improving those aspects of optimal movement health eases pain and improves your quality of life by making your body function better, and disrupting 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 Otto, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise boosts your body’s production of endorphins, your body’s homegrown, feel-good hormone, which not only eases pain but eases related symptoms like stress and depression. A licensed Otto, MO physical therapist will help you perform exercises that will safely and effectively improve your mobility. With these exercises, your brain will come to understand that certain movements can be achieved without pain, rebuilding 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 promote healing and relaxation of the surrounding tissues. Your Otto, MO physical therapist will use their hands to gently move soft tissue. Research demonstrates 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 locate degenerative tissue and soft tissue restrictions.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new technique that more and more Otto, MO physical therapists are incorporating into their treatment plans. It involves using thin, filiform needles to penetrate damaged muscles and connective tissue. 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 on the skin near where you are experiencing pain. It sends low-voltage electrical currents to release endorphins and stimulates nerve cells that block the transmission of pain signals.

Patient Education

Understanding the cause of your pain and how to cope with it can have a considerable positive effect on your chronic pain treatment in Otto, MO. We’ll teach you appropriate posture and movement techniques, in addition to healthy lifestyle suggestions like diet recommendations.

Other conditions we treat in Otto, MO include:

• Beginner Running Program
• Spine Specialist Near Me
• MCL Injury
• Shoulder Pain
• Injury Prevention
• Mobility
• Knee Injury
• Joint Pain
• Sciatica

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Otto, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to achieve positive client experiences and help our patients get back to the activities they love. Whether you miss being able to hit a breakaway layup like you used to, or just want to get out of bed in the morning without discomfort, speak to a physical therapist in Otto, MO today or schedule an appointment online for meaningful chronic pain treatment.