Chronic Pain Treatment Webster Groves, MO | Physical Therapists Near Webster Groves

Chronic Pain Treatment in Webster Groves, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Webster Groves, MO. Anyone who has lived with chronic pain knows how hard it is to express the effects it has on your daily life. Sometimes, the months or years we’ve dealt with it causes us to lose sight of how good we used to feel. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing daily activities like doing household chores, or the activities we love doing the most, whether that be flying down the field or working in the garden.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of provider-owned physical therapy and rehabilitation locations dedicated to helping our Webster Groves, MO patients achieve positive outcomes through customized and evidence-backed chronic pain treatment. To get back to the activities you love most, call our location most convenient for you you or contact us online for effective chronic pain treatment.

What Is Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain is pain that lasts for longer than 12 weeks, 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 hit different muscles or joints, and can change in severity from stiffness to searing, intense pain.

According to the CDC, in 2019 almost a quarter of adults nationwide suffered from chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (over a third of those who experienced chronic pain) suffered from “high-impact” chronic pain, which is persistent pain limits work or life activities. Anyone who suffers from frequent pain symptoms 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 trouble sleeping.

Why Do I Have Chronic Pain?

Pain, generally speaking, occurs when nerves called nociceptors perceive damaged tissue, and send a signal from that body part to your brain. Often, pain is due to trauma, an infection, or other medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs at once, usually because of a known, root cause such as falling, dental work, or surgery. It can last 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 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, bursitis, tendinitis, and other conditions that cause joint pain — The soft tissue in our joints can become irritated or wear down from overuse or overexertion, causing chronic pain in the affected joint.
Numerous different conditions that lead to 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 work, sciatica, or disc injuries that affect the nerves in the spinal column.
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 widespread muscle pain and tenderness.
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.

There are many tips for managing chronic pain, and while many can help you be more active in your daily life, many people we see in Webster Groves, MO tell us that they have tried everything and still can’t feel better. Often, physical therapy becomes their path toward meaningful pain relief and getting back to a pain-free daily life.

Chronic Pain Treatment Webster Groves, MO | Pain Management | Physical Therapist Near Webster Groves

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

Chronic pain can be treated through a variety of modalities in Webster Groves, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter drugs, chiropractic care, massage, and consistent exercise. Studies show that incorporating physical therapy into your treatment plan can lead to considerable improvement. You can come to any of our 15 locations for a free screening to better understand what might be causing your chronic pain. We’ll ask you questions to better understand how we can help you. Do you experience pain every day? Most days? When does it come on? When does it get better? How is limiting you in your daily life? After your screening, we’ll work in tandem with you and your doctor to come up with a tailor-made treatment plan aimed at returning you a pain-free daily life.

Physical therapy helps by stretching and strengthening your body. Helping you achieve optimal movement health eases pain and enhances your daily life by making your body function better, and disrupting certain nerves from sending pain messages to your brain. Depending on you, the nature of your chronic pain, your age, and the activity level you wish to get back to, your treatment plan in Webster Groves, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise releases endorphins, your body’s natural, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only reduces pain but eases any depression, stress, and/or anxiety you feel because of your pain. A licensed Webster Groves, MO physical therapist can 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 carried out without pain, rebuilding 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 incorporates therapeutic touch to promote healing and relaxation of muscles and joints. Your Webster Groves, MO physical therapist will use their hands to gently put pressure on your muscles and joints. Research demonstrates that manual therapy combined with guided exercise is more effective than either treatment method used alone.

Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization is a form of 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 technique that is becoming more popular among Webster Groves, MO physical therapist. It involves using thin, filiform needles to penetrate inflamed muscles, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. In doing so, 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 over the body part that’s causing you pain. It sends low-level electrical currents to release endorphins and awakens nerve cells that prevent your brain from receiving 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 Webster Groves, MO. We’ll help you learn appropriate posture and movement practices, as well as healthy lifestyle tips like diet recommendations.

Other conditions we treat in Webster Groves, MO include:

Chronic Pain Treatment Webster Groves, MO | Physical Therapy | Pain Management Near Webster Groves

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Webster Groves, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to achieve positive patient outcomes and help our patients 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 get out of bed in the morning pain-free, speak to a physical therapist in Webster Groves, MO today or request an appointment online for lasting chronic pain treatment.