Chronic Pain Treatment in Parkway, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Parkway, MO. Anyone who has suffered from chronic pain knows how hard it is to express how much it limits you. 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 performing basic tasks like doing household chores, or the activities we love most, whether that be dominating your local flag football league or playing with your kids.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of 15 physical and occupational therapy locations dedicated to helping our Parkway, MO patients achieve positive outcomes through custom-tailored 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 nearest you or contact us online for safe chronic pain treatment.

What Type of Pain is Considered “Chronic”?

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 radiate through your body, and can be anything from stiffness to agonizing pain.

Based on research from the CDC, in 2019 almost a quarter of American adults 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 cause significant mental health issues and insomnia.

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. In most cases, pain is caused by 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. The pain lasts for anywhere from a few minutes to months while the injury heals.

By contrast, the causes of chronic pain aren’t always easily known. In some cases there may be an injury that hurts after the tissue is repaired . Other times, it’s caused by a medical condition, 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 diseases that cause joint pain — The soft tissue in our joints can become damaged or wear down from overuse or overexertion, causing joint pain.
• Numerous different conditions that cause lower 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 disc injuries that affect the nerves in the spinal column.
• Cancer pain — Tumors can lead to pain when they grow and touch tissue, nerves, or organs.
• 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 — Sometimes, pain does not occur for a physical reason, but because there is an issue in the nervous system, or because of psychological stress.

There are many pointers for managing chronic pain, and while many are effective, many of our Parkway, MO patients have felt like they tried all of them and more and still can’t feel better. Often, physical therapy becomes their path toward lasting pain relief and getting back to a pain-free daily life.

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

Chronic pain can be treated through a variety of modalities in Parkway, MO, including medication, chiropractic adjustments, yoga, and regular exercise. Studies show that including physical therapy into your treatment plan can lead to significant improvement. You are welcome to visit any Axes location in the Parkway area for a free screening to learn why you might be experiencing chronic pain. We’ll get to know you and your pain better. 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 doctor to develop a personalized treatment plan aimed at returning you a pain-free daily life.

Physical therapy can relieve pain by stretching and strengthening your body. Collectively improving those aspects of the best possible mobility eases pain and enhances your daily life by making your body function better, and disrupting certain nerves from sending pain messages to your brain. Depending on you, the causes of your chronic pain, your age, and the activity level you wish to get back to, your treatment plan in Parkway, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise boosts your body’s production of endorphins, your body’s homegrown, feel-good hormone, which not only alleviates pain but eases related symptoms like stress and depression. A professional Parkway, MO physical therapist can help you perform exercises aimed at improving your mobility without causing more pain or injury. With these exercises, your brain will come to understand that certain movements can be performed 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 the surrounding tissues. Your Parkway, MO physical therapist will use their hands to gently manipulate your muscles and joints. Research demonstrates that manual therapy and guided exercise together are more effective than either technique used alone.

With instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, physical therapists use specially designed tools, like HawkGrips®, instead of their hands, to improve tissue alignment and locate degenerative tissue and soft tissue restrictions.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new treatment method that is becoming more popular among Parkway, MO physical therapist. It involves using thin, filiform needles to gently create small tears or rips in irritated soft tissue. In doing so, 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 awakens nerve cells that stop your brain from receiving pain messages.

Patient Education

Understanding the cause of your pain and how to cope with it can do wonders for your chronic pain treatment in Parkway, MO. We’ll teach you appropriate posture and movement practices, in addition to healthy lifestyle suggestions like diet recommendations.

Other conditions we treat in Parkway, 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 Parkway, MO

At Axes Physical Therapy in Parkway, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to deliver positive patient outcomes and help people return to to the activities they love. Whether you want to be able to run across the tennis court like you used to, or just want to walk up the stairs without discomfort, speak to a physical therapist in Parkway, MO today or schedule an appointment online for lasting chronic pain treatment.