Chronic Pain Treatment in Owensville, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Owensville, MO. Anyone who has suffered from chronic pain knows the debilitating consequences it can have on your life. For some of us, the months or years we’ve dealt with it leads us to forget what it feels like to live a pain-free life. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing basic activities like doing household chores, or the things we love best, whether that be dominating your local softball league or playing with your children.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of 15 physical therapy treatment centers devoted to helping our Owensville, MO patients find meaningful relief through customized and evidence-backed chronic pain treatment. If you’re finally ready to move on from chronic pain, call the location nearest you or contact us online for safe chronic pain treatment.

What Type of Pain is Considered “Chronic”?

Chronic pain is pain that doesn’t go away after three months, which is generally considered to be the “normal” healing period. The pain can occur every day or every few days, can stay in one spot or radiate through your body, and can change in severity from aching to stinging pain.

Based on research from the CDC, in 2019 almost a quarter of American adults suffered from chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (or 36.4% of those who experienced 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 trouble sleeping.

What’s Behind Chronic Pain?

Pain, in general, 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 caused by trauma, an infection, or other medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs suddenly, usually because of a discernible, underlying cause such as an injury, 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 known. 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, there is no discernible cause for someone’s chronic pain. 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 suffer from back pain at some point in their lives. Causes can be poor posture or technique, repetitive motions at a physically demanding job, sciatica, or a variety of disc injuries.
• Cancer pain — Tumors can lead to pain when they push up against other parts inside your body.
• 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 — Sometimes, 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 read our suggestions for relieving chronic pain, and while many can help you be more active in your daily life, many of our Owensville, MO patients have felt like they tried all of them and more and still can’t find relief. Often, physical therapy becomes their path toward meaningful pain relief and getting back to the activities they love.

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

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Owensville, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter drugs, chiropractic adjustments, massage, and regular exercise. Research demonstrates that including physical therapy into your treatment plan is incredibly effective for relieving chronic pain. You are welcome to come to any Axes location in the Owensville area for a free screening to learn what might be causing your chronic pain. We’ll get to know you and your pain better. Do you experience pain every day? Most days? 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 tandem with you and your physician to design a customized course of treatment aimed at getting you back a pain-free daily life.

Physical therapy can relieve pain by increasing your strength, balance, posture, and range of motion. Collectively improving those aspects of the best possible movement health eases pain and enhances your daily life by making your body work better, and breaking up any signals to your brain that something may be wrong. Depending on you, the causes of your chronic pain, your age, and your desired activity level, your treatment plan in Owensville, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise increases endorphins, your body’s homegrown, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only reduces pain but eases any psychological stress related to your pain. A licensed Owensville, MO physical therapist will lead you through 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 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 encourage your body’s natural healing process and relaxation of the surrounding tissues. Your Owensville, 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 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 Graston®.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new technique that is becoming more popular among Owensville, MO physical therapist. It involves using thin, filiform needles to penetrate irritated muscles, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. This eases pain as it stimulates the body’s “healing mode” and stimulates the nutrient-rich blood flow to the region.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

TENS works by placing electrodes on the skin near where you are experiencing pain. It sends low-level electrical currents to release endorphins and awakens 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 have a considerable positive effect on your chronic pain treatment in Owensville, MO. We’ll teach you the best way to sit, stand, and move, as well as healthy lifestyle suggestions like diet recommendations.

Other conditions we treat in Owensville, MO include:

• Workers Comp' Physical Therapy
• Sprain and Strain Treatment
• Geriatric Physical Therapy
• Injury Rehabilitation
• Pain Management Services
• TMJ Treatment
• Herniated Disc Treatment
• Rotator Cuff Tear Treatment
• Running Injury

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Owensville, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to deliver positive patient experiences and help people get back to their best life. Whether you want to be able to run across the pickleball court like you used to, or just want to carry the groceries in without discomfort, speak to a physical therapist in Owensville, MO today or make an appointment online for lasting chronic pain treatment.