Chronic Pain Treatment in St. Clair, MO

Chronic pain treatment in St. Clair, MO. If you suffer from chronic pain, you know all too well how limiting it can be. Sometimes, it goes on so long that we forget 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 walking up the stairs, or the activities we love most, whether that be flying down the field or being able to properly look after your grandchildren.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of provider-owned physical therapy and rehabilitation centers devoted to helping our St. Clair, MO patients achieve positive outcomes through custom-tailored chronic pain treatment plans, built on techniques that have been proven to work. To get back to the activities you love most, reach out to our location nearest you or contact us online for successful chronic pain treatment.

What Is Chronic Pain?

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 body parts, and can range from dull soreness to stinging pain.

Based on research from the CDC, in 2019 one out of five U.S. adults suffered from chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (over a third of those who experienced chronic pain) had “high-impact” chronic pain, defined as pain that, on “most days” or “every day,” affects how somebody can work or perform other 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, generally speaking, is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong. Often, pain is caused by a specific incident or medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs suddenly, usually because of a discernible, underlying cause such as an injury, 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 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 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 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 work, sciatica, or disc injuries that impinge on the nerves in the spinal column.
• Cancer pain — Tumors can cause 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 — In some cases, pain does not occur for a physical reason, but rather it’s caused by the nervous system, or because of psychological stress.

You can check out our pointers for easing chronic pain, and while many can help you be more active in your daily life, many of our St. Clair, MO patients tell us that they have tried all of them and more and still can’t feel better. Often, physical therapy is the strategy that finally gets them relief and returns them to the activities they love.

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

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in St. Clair, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter drugs, spinal adjustments by a chiropractor, yoga, and regular exercise. Research demonstrates that making physical therapy a part of your treatment plan can lead to significant improvement. You can visit 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 your screening, we’ll work in tandem with you and your doctor to develop a customized course of treatment aimed at returning you to the activities you love most.

Physical therapy helps by increasing your strength, balance, posture, and range of motion. Helping you achieve the best possible movement health eases pain and improves your quality of life by allowing your body to work better, and interrupting any signals to your brain that something may be wrong. Depending on you, the causes of your chronic pain, how old you are, and the activity level you wish to get back to, your treatment plan in St. Clair, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise increases endorphins, your body’s homegrown, feel-good hormone, which not only eases pain but eases any depression, stress, and/or anxiety caused by your pain. A licensed St. Clair, MO physical therapist will help you perform exercises that will safely and effectively improve your mobility. With guided exercise, your brain will come to understand that certain movements can be achieved 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 promote healing and relaxation of muscles and joints. Your St. Clair, 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.

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

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new tool that is becoming more popular among St. Clair, MO physical therapist. It involves using thin, filiform needles to penetrate damaged muscles, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. In doing so, it stimulates the body’s “healing mode” 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 sends low-level electrical currents to release endorphins and awakens nerve cells that block the transmission of pain messages.

Patient Education

Understanding why you’re experiencing pain and how to cope with it can have a considerable positive effect on your chronic pain treatment in St. Clair, MO. We’ll help you learn appropriate posture and movement techniques, as well as healthy lifestyle tips like how to keep a healthy diet.

Other services we offer in St. Clair, 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 St. Clair, MO

At Axes Physical Therapy in St. Clair, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to deliver positive patient outcomes and help our patients get back to their best life. Whether you want to be able to run across the tennis court like you used to, or just want to walk up the stairs pain-free, speak to a physical therapist in St. Clair, MO today or schedule an appointment online for meaningful chronic pain treatment.