Chronic Pain Treatment in Portage Des Sioux, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Portage Des Sioux, MO. Anyone who has suffered from chronic pain knows the debilitating consequences it can have on your life. Sometimes, the months or years we’ve dealt with it leads us to forget how good we used to feel. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably performing basic tasks like doing household chores, or the activities we love best, whether that be flying down the court or picking up your grandchildren.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of provider-owned physical and occupational therapy locations committed to helping our Portage Des Sioux, MO patients find lasting relief through personalized chronic pain treatment plans, based on techniques that have been proven to work. To get back to the activities you love most, call our 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 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 agonizing pain.

Based on research from the CDC, in 2019 20.4% of adults nationwide suffered from chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (or 36.4% of those with chronic pain) had “high-impact” chronic pain, which is persistent pain 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.

Why Do I Have Chronic Pain?

Pain, generally speaking, occurs when nerves called nociceptors detect 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 medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs at once, usually because of a discernible, root cause such as burns, cuts, broken bones, 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. Sometimes an injury continues to cause pain even after it’s healed . In other cases, it’s caused by a medical condition, or occurs as our bodies weaken with age. Sometimes, there is no observable cause for someone’s chronic pain. Common types and causes of chronic pain include:

• Arthritis and other diseases that cause joint pain — The soft tissue in our joints can become inflamed or wear down over time or due to an injury, causing chronic pain in the affected joint.
• Numerous different conditions that lead to low back pain — Almost 9 out of 10 adults suffer from back pain eventually. 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 cause pain when they bother tissue, nerves, or organs.
• Fibromyalgia — While experts are still trying to understand the exact cause of fibromyalgia, this refers to pain that affects your muscles and joints throughout your body.
• Neurogenic pain and psychogenic pain — In some cases, pain does not occur for a physical reason, but because there is an issue in the nervous system, or because of psychological stress.

You can read our suggestions for easing chronic pain, and while many can lead to greater comfort, many people we see in Portage Des Sioux, MO have felt like they tried all of them and more and still can’t feel better. Often, physical therapy becomes their path toward meaningful pain relief and getting back to the activities they love.

Why Is Physical Therapy in Portage Des Sioux, MO a Great Option For Chronic Pain Treatment?

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Portage Des Sioux, MO, including medication, spinal adjustments by a chiropractor, massage, and consistent exercise. Research demonstrates that including physical therapy into your treatment plan is incredibly effective for relieving chronic pain. You can come to any of our 15 locations 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 is limiting you in your daily life? After our evaluation, we’ll form a team with you and your doctor to design a customized course of treatment aimed at returning you a pain-free daily life.

Physical therapy helps by increasing your strength, balance, posture, and flexibility. Helping you reach optimal movement health eases pain and enhances your daily life by allowing your body to function better, and interrupting any signals to your brain that something may be wrong. 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 Portage Des Sioux, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise releases endorphins, your body’s homegrown, feel-good hormone, which not only alleviates pain but eases related symptoms like stress and depression. A qualified Portage Des Sioux, MO physical therapist will guide 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 your brain’s trust in the rest of your body. 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 promote healing and relaxation of muscles and joints. Your Portage Des Sioux, MO physical therapist will use their hands to gently 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.

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

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new treatment method that is becoming more popular among Portage Des Sioux, MO physical therapist. It involves using thin, filiform needles to gently create small tears or rips in inflamed muscles and connective tissue. In doing so, it encourages the body to start to heal itself and stimulates the nutrient-rich blood flow to the affected area.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

TENS works by placing electrodes on the skin near where you are experiencing pain. It delivers low-voltage currents, which releases endorphins and stimulates nerve cells that block the transmission of pain messages.

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 Portage Des Sioux, MO. We’ll help you learn the best way to sit, stand, and move, as well as healthy lifestyle tips like diet recommendations.

Other conditions we treat in Portage Des Sioux, 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 Portage Des Sioux, MO

At Axes Physical Therapy in Portage Des Sioux, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to deliver positive patient outcomes 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 walk up the stairs without discomfort, speak to a physical therapist in Portage Des Sioux, MO today or schedule an appointment online for lasting chronic pain treatment.