Chronic Pain Treatment in Sherman, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Sherman, MO. If you suffer from chronic pain, you know all too well the debilitating effect it can have on your life. For some of us, 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 performing daily activities like walking up the stairs, or the activities we love best, whether that be flying down the field or painting bowls of fruit.

Axes Physical Therapy is a collection of 15 physical and occupational therapy centers devoted to helping our Sherman, MO patients find meaningful relief through personalized chronic pain treatment plans, based on techniques that have been proven to work. To get back to a pain-free daily life, reach out to our location most convenient for you you or contact us online for safe chronic pain treatment.

What Is Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain is pain that lasts for longer than three months, which is how long it typically takes pain to go away after an injury, surgery, or illness. The pain can occur every day or every few days, can stay in one spot or radiate through your body, and can be anything from dull soreness to agonizing pain.

According to the CDC, in 2019 one out of five American adults dealt with chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (over a third of those who experienced chronic pain) suffered from “high-impact” chronic pain, which is pain that occurs on more days than not that limits work or life activities. Chronic pain doesn’t just hurt you physically. Chronic pain affects quality of life and leads to significant economic costs. It can also lead to anxiety, depression, and trouble sleeping.

What Causes Chronic Pain?

Pain, in general, occurs when nerves called nociceptors perceive damage somewhere in your body, and send a signal through your spinal cord up to your brain. Often, pain is caused by a specific incident or medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs at once, usually because of a discernible, root cause such as stubbing your toe, dental work, or surgery. It can last for anywhere from a moment to months while the injury heals.

By contrast, people can experience chronic pain for several reasons. 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 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, bursitis, tendinitis, and other conditions that cause joint pain — The cartilage, tendons, and ligaments in our joints can become irritated 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 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 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 widespread muscle pain and tenderness.
• 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 depression, anxiety, and/or stress.

You can check out our suggestions for relieving chronic pain, and while many can lead to greater comfort, many of our Sherman, 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.

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

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Sherman, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter medications, chiropractic care, massage, and regular exercise. Research demonstrates that making physical therapy a part of your treatment plan can lead to significant improvement. You can come to any of our 15 locations for a free screening to better understand why you might be suffering from chronic pain. We’ll ask you questions to better understand how we can help you. 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 work in tandem with you and your doctor to develop a personalized treatment plan aimed at getting you back a comfortable daily life.

Physical therapy can relieve pain by increasing your strength, balance, posture, and flexibility. Collectively improving those aspects of optimal movement health relieves pain and improves your quality of life by making your body work better, and breaking up any signals to your brain that something may be wrong. Depending on you, the nature of your chronic pain, how old you are, and your desired activity level, your treatment plan in Sherman, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise boosts your body’s production of endorphins, your body’s homegrown, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only eases pain but helps with any depression, stress, and/or anxiety caused by your pain. A licensed Sherman, MO physical therapist will lead you through exercises that will safely and effectively improve your mobility. With guided exercise, your brain will come to understand that certain movements can be performed without pain, rebuilding 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 muscles and joints. Your Sherman, MO physical therapist will use their hands to safely manipulate your muscles and joints. Research demonstrates that manual therapy combined with guided exercise is better at treating pain than either treatment method used alone.

With instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, physical therapists use specialized tools, like Graston®, instead of their hands, to improve tissue alignment 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 Sherman, MO physical therapist. It involves using thin, filiform needles to penetrate inflamed muscles, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. This eases pain as it encourages the body to start to heal itself and encourages the nutrient-rich blood flow 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 delivers low-voltage currents, which releases 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 Sherman, MO. We’ll teach you the best way to sit, stand, and move, in addition to healthy lifestyle suggestions like how to keep a healthy diet.

Other conditions we treat in Sherman, MO include:

• Sports Medicine
• Hand Pain Physical Therapy
• Foot & Ankle Pain Treatment
• Hip Pain Treatment
• Plantar Fasciitis Treatment
• Stroke Rehabilitation
• Hip Replacement Physical Therapy
• Workers Comp' Physical Therapy
• Migraine Relief
• Sprain and Strain Treatment

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Sherman, MO, our goals are clear: to deliver positive client outcomes and help our patients return to to the activities they love. Whether you want to be able to run across the pickleball court like you used to, or just want to get out of bed in the morning pain-free, speak to a physical therapist in Sherman, MO today or make an appointment online for meaningful chronic pain treatment.