Chronic Pain Treatment in St. Charles, MO

Chronic pain treatment in St. Charles, MO. Anyone who has suffered from chronic pain knows how limiting it can be. Sometimes, the months or years we’ve dealt with it causes us to lose sight of what it feels like to live a pain-free life. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing daily tasks like carrying in groceries, or the activities we love most, whether that be dominating your local pickleball league or painting bowls of fruit.

Axes Physical Therapy is a collection of provider-owned physical therapy and rehabilitation centers committed to helping our St. Charles, MO patients find meaningful relief through customized and evidence-backed chronic pain treatment. To get back to a pain-free daily life, reach out to the location most convenient for you you or make an appointment for safe chronic pain treatment.

What Type of Pain is Considered “Chronic”?

Chronic pain is pain that doesn’t go away after 12 weeks, which is generally considered to be the “normal” healing period. The pain can occur every day or every few days, can be localized or hit different muscles or joints, and can range from stiffness to burning pain.

According to the CDC, in 2019 20.4% of U.S. adults suffered from chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (over a third of those with chronic pain) had “high-impact” chronic pain, which is pain that occurs on more days than not that limits work or life activities. Anyone who suffers from pain frequently will tell you that it causes far more than just physical discomfort. Chronic pain affects quality of life and leads to significant economic costs. It can also cause significant mental health issues and insomnia.

Why Do People Experience Chronic Pain?

Pain, generally speaking, is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong. In most cases, pain is caused by trauma, an infection, or other medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs suddenly, usually because of a discernible, root cause such as stubbing your toe, dental work, or surgery. The pain lasts for anywhere from a moment to several weeks.

By contrast, the causes of chronic pain aren’t always easily identifiable. 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 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, 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 joint pain.
• Numerous different conditions that lead to lower back pain — Up to 84% of adults will deal with back pain eventually. Causes can be poor posture or technique, repetitive motions at work, sciatica, or disc injuries that impinge on the nerves in the spinal column.
• Cancer pain — Tumors can lead to pain when they push up against other parts inside your body.
• Fibromyalgia — While experts are still trying to understand the exact cause of fibromyalgia, this refers to widespread muscle pain and tenderness.
• Neurogenic pain and psychogenic pain — Sometimes, there is no underlying musculoskeletal cause, but because there is dysfunction in the nervous system, or because of depression, anxiety, and/or stress.

You can read our suggestions for easing chronic pain, and while many can lead to greater comfort, many of our St. Charles, 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 the things that are most important to them.

Why Is Physical Therapy in St. Charles, MO a Great Option For Chronic Pain Treatment?

Chronic pain can be treated through a variety of means in St. Charles, MO, including medication, chiropractic adjustments, yoga, and regular exercise. Studies show that incorporating physical therapy into your treatment plan can lead to considerable improvement. You can come to any Axes location in the St. Charles area for a free screening to better understand 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? What makes it worse? What makes it better? How does your chronic pain affect you in your daily life? After our evaluation, we’ll work in concert with you and your physician to come up with a customized course of treatment aimed at getting you back to the things you love most.

Physical therapy helps by increasing your strength, balance, posture, and range of motion. 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 body parts from sending pain messages to your brain. Depending on you, the nature of your chronic pain, how old you are, and your desired activity level, your treatment plan in St. Charles, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise boosts your body’s production of endorphins, your body’s natural, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only reduces pain but helps with any psychological stress caused by your pain. A licensed St. Charles, MO physical therapist can 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 muscles and joints. Your St. Charles, MO physical therapist will use their hands to safely manipulate soft tissue. Research demonstrates that manual therapy and guided exercise together are better at treating pain than either treatment method used alone.

Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization is similar to 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 is becoming more popular among St. Charles, MO physical therapist. It involves using thin, filiform needles to gently create small tears or rips in inflamed soft tissue. In doing so, it encourages the body to start to heal itself and encourages the flow of blood to the region.

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 prevent your brain from receiving pain signals.

Patient Education

Understanding the cause of your pain and how to cope with it can do wonders for your chronic pain treatment in St. Charles, MO. We’ll teach you the best way to sit, stand, and move, as well as healthy lifestyle suggestions like how to keep a healthy diet.

Other conditions we treat in St. Charles, MO include:

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment
• Sciatica Treatment
• 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

Call Axes Physical Therapy For Your Chronic Pain Treatment in St. Charles, MO

At Axes Physical Therapy in St. Charles, MO, our goals are simple: to deliver positive patient outcomes 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 get out of bed in the morning pain-free, speak to a physical therapist in St. Charles, MO today or schedule an appointment online for meaningful chronic pain treatment.