Chronic Pain Treatment in Truesdale, MO
Chronic pain treatment in Truesdale, MO. If you suffer from chronic pain, you know all too well how hard it is to express the effects it has on your daily life. For some of us, it goes on so long that we forget how good we’re capable of feeling. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing daily activities like walking up the stairs, or the activities we love best, whether that be dominating your local softball league or being able to properly look after your grandchildren.
Axes Physical Therapy is a group of 15 physical therapy and rehabilitation centers devoted to helping our Truesdale, MO patients find lasting relief through personalized and evidence-backed chronic pain treatment. If you’re finally ready to move on from chronic pain, reach out to the location most convenient for you you or make an appointment for effective chronic pain treatment.
What Type of Pain is Considered “Chronic”?
Chronic pain is pain that doesn’t go away after 12 weeks, which is how long it takes most people and conditions to heal. The pain can occur every day or every few days, can stay in one spot or hit different body parts, and can change in severity from stiffness to burning pain.
According to the CDC, in 2019 20.4% of adults nationwide suffered from chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (or 36.4% of those who experienced chronic pain) had “high-impact” chronic pain, which is pain that occurs on more days than not that affects how somebody can work or enjoy other activities. Chronic pain doesn’t just hurt you physically. Chronic pain reduces quality of life and leads to significant economic costs. It can also lead to anxiety, depression, and insomnia.
What Causes Chronic Pain?
Pain, generally speaking, is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong. In most cases, pain is due to a specific incident or illness. “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 several weeks.
By contrast, the causes of chronic pain aren’t always easily known. In some cases there may be an injury that hurts despite the fact that, structurally, it has healed . In other cases, it’s caused by an illness, or degenerative disease. 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 conditions that cause joint pain — The cartilage, tendons, and ligaments in our joints can become damaged or wear down from overuse or overexertion, causing chronic pain in the affected joint.
- Numerous different conditions that cause lower back pain — Up to 84% of adults will deal with back pain at some point in their lives. Causes can be poor posture or technique, wear and tear at a physically demanding job, sciatica, or disc injuries that impinge on the nerves in the spinal column.
- Cancer pain — Tumors can cause pain when they grow and touch 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 — In some cases, there is no underlying musculoskeletal cause, but rather it’s caused by the nervous system, or because of depression, anxiety, and/or stress.
There are many suggestions for easing chronic pain, and while many can help you be more active in your daily life, many of our Truesdale, MO patients have felt like they tried everything and still can’t find relief. 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 Truesdale, MO a Great Option For Chronic Pain Treatment?
Chronic pain can be treated through a variety of methods in Truesdale, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter medications, spinal adjustments by a chiropractor, massage, and regular exercise. Research demonstrates that including physical therapy into your treatment plan can lead to considerable improvement. You can visit any Axes location in the Truesdale area for a free screening to learn why you might be experiencing chronic pain. We’ll ask you questions to better understand how we can help you. How often do you have pain? Does anything make it better or worse? How does your chronic pain affect you in your daily life? After our evaluation, we’ll work in tandem with you and your doctor to develop a tailor-made course of treatment aimed at getting you back to the things you love most.
Physical therapy helps by increasing your strength, balance, posture, and flexibility. Helping you reach the best possible movement health relieves pain and enhances your daily life by allowing your body to work better, and disrupting 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 Truesdale, MO may include:
Guided Exercise
Exercise boosts your body’s production of endorphins, your body’s natural, feel-good hormone, which not only alleviates pain but eases any depression, stress, and/or anxiety you feel because of your pain. A licensed Truesdale, 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 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 encourage your body’s natural healing process and relaxation of muscles and joints. Your Truesdale, MO physical therapist will use their hands to gently move your muscles and joints. Research demonstrates that manual therapy combined with guided exercise is better at treating pain than either treatment method used by itself.
Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization is similar to manual therapy, except that instead of their hands, physical therapists use specialized tools like HawkGrips®.
Dry Needling
Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new treatment method that more and more Truesdale, MO physical therapists are incorporating into their treatment plans. It involves using thin, filiform needles to gently create small tears or rips in damaged muscles, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. In doing so, it stimulates the body’s “healing mode” and encourages the flow of blood 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 stimulates nerve cells that prevent your brain from receiving pain messages.
Patient Education
Understanding the cause of your pain and how to cope with it can have a considerable positive effect on your chronic pain treatment in Truesdale, MO. We’ll teach you the best way to sit, stand, and move, as well as healthy lifestyle tips like diet recommendations.
Other conditions we treat in Truesdale, 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 Truesdale, MO
At Axes Physical Therapy in Truesdale, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to achieve positive patient experiences and help people get back to the things they love doing most. Whether you miss being able to hit a breakaway layup like you used to, or just want to walk up the stairs pain-free, speak to a physical therapist in Truesdale, MO today or request an appointment online for lasting chronic pain treatment.