Chronic Pain Treatment Park Hills, MO | Physical Therapists Near Park Hills

Chronic Pain Treatment in Park Hills, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Park Hills, MO. Anyone who has had to deal with chronic pain knows how limiting it can be. For some of us, the months or years we’ve dealt with it causes us to lose sight of how good we used to feel. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing basic tasks like carrying in groceries, or the activities we love most, whether that be flying down the field or working in the garden.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of provider-owned physical therapy and rehabilitation locations committed to helping our Park Hills, MO patients achieve positive outcomes 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 successful chronic pain treatment.

What Is Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain is pain that lasts for longer than 3-6 months, which is generally considered to be the “normal” healing period. The pain can be constant or can come and go, can stay in one spot or hit different body parts, and can range from stiffness to agonizing 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) suffered from “high-impact” chronic pain, which is persistent pain 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 trouble sleeping.

Why Do People Experience 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 immediately, usually because of a known, underlying cause such as stubbing your toe, dental work, or surgery. It can last for anywhere from a few minutes to several weeks.

By contrast, people can experience chronic pain for several reasons. Sometimes an injury continues to cause pain even after it’s healed . Other times, 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, bursitis, tendinitis, 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 — Up to 84% of 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 bother bones, your spine, or other tissue.
Fibromyalgia — While an exact cause isn’t yet known, 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 because there is an issue in the nervous system, or because of depression, anxiety, and/or stress.

You can check out our tips for easing chronic pain, and while many are effective, many people we see in Park Hills, MO have felt like they tried all of them and more and still can’t feel better. Often, physical therapy is the treatment that finally gets them relief and returns them to a pain-free daily life.

Chronic Pain Treatment Park Hills, MO | Pain Management | Physical Therapist Near Park Hills

How Do Physical Therapists in Park Hills, MO Help With Chronic Pain Treatment?

Chronic pain can be treated through a variety of means in Park Hills, MO, including medication, chiropractic care, massage, and regular exercise. Research demonstrates that incorporating physical therapy into your treatment plan can lead to considerable improvement. You can come to any of our 15 locations 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? When does it come on? When does it get better? How does your chronic pain affect you in your daily life? After your screening, we’ll form a team with you and your physician to come up with a personalized course of treatment aimed at getting you back a pain-free daily life.

Physical therapy helps by stretching and strengthening your body. Collectively improving those aspects of optimal mobility relieves pain and enhances your daily life by making your body function better, and breaking up any signals to your brain that something may be wrong. Depending on you, the causes of your chronic pain, how old you are, and your desired activity level, your treatment plan in Park Hills, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise releases endorphins, your body’s natural, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only alleviates pain but helps with any psychological stress caused by your pain. A qualified Park Hills, MO physical therapist will help you perform exercises aimed at improving your mobility without causing further pain or injury. With guided exercise, your brain will come to understand that certain movements can be carried out 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 incorporates therapeutic touch to encourage your body’s natural healing process and relaxation of muscles and joints. Your Park Hills, MO physical therapist will use their hands to gently put pressure on 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 Astym®.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new technique that increasingly more Park Hills, MO physical therapists are incorporating into their treatment plans. It involves using thin, filiform needles to penetrate inflamed muscles and connective tissue. In doing so, it encourages the body to start to heal itself and stimulates the flow of blood 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 delivers low-voltage currents, which releases endorphins and awakens nerve cells that prevent your brain from receiving pain messages.

Patient Education

Understanding why you’re experiencing pain and how to deal with it in your daily life can do wonders for your chronic pain treatment in Park Hills, MO. We’ll help you learn the best way to sit, stand, and move, as well as healthy lifestyle suggestions like diet recommendations.

Other conditions we treat in Park Hills, MO include:

Chronic Pain Treatment Park Hills, MO | Physical Therapy | Pain Management Near Park Hills

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Park Hills, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to achieve positive client experiences and help our patients return to to the things they love doing most. Whether you want to be able to hit a breakaway layup like you used to, or just want to walk up the stairs without discomfort, speak to a physical therapist in Park Hills, MO today or make an appointment online for lasting chronic pain treatment.