Chronic Pain Treatment in Wildwood, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Wildwood, 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 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 activities like walking up the stairs, or the activities we love doing the most, whether that be dominating your local pickleball league or working in the garden.

Axes Physical Therapy is a collection of provider-owned physical therapy treatment centers dedicated to helping our Wildwood, MO patients achieve positive outcomes through personalized and evidence-backed chronic pain treatment. To get back to a pain-free daily life, call our location nearest you or contact us online for safe 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 be constant or can come and go, can be localized or radiate through your body, and can range from dull soreness to stinging pain.

According to the CDC, in 2019 one out of five adults nationwide suffered from chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (or 36.4% of those with chronic pain) suffered from “high-impact” chronic pain, which is persistent pain affects how somebody can work or enjoy other activities. Chronic pain doesn’t just hurt you physically. Chronic pain affects quality of life and leads to higher medical expenses. It can also cause significant mental health issues and trouble sleeping.

What’s Behind 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 immediately, usually because of a discernible, underlying cause such as being hit with something, 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. 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 occurs as our bodies wear down as we age. Sometimes, there is no observable 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 from overuse or overexertion, causing joint pain.
• A variety of conditions that cause lower back pain — Up to 84% of adults suffer from back pain at some point in their lives. Causes can be poor posture or technique, wear and tear at a job that requires physical exertion, sciatica, or disc injuries that affect 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 pain that affects your muscles and joints throughout your body.
• Neurogenic pain and psychogenic pain — Sometimes, there is no underlying musculoskeletal cause, but because there is dysfunction in the nervous system, or because of mental health issues or your personal history.

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 Wildwood, MO have felt like they tried everything 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.

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

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Wildwood, MO, including medication, chiropractic care, massage therapy, and consistent exercise. Research demonstrates that incorporating physical therapy into your treatment plan can lead to considerable improvement. You can come to any Axes location in the Wildwood area for a free screening to learn why you might be suffering from chronic pain. We’ll ask you questions to better understand how we can help you. How often do you have pain? What makes it worse? What makes it better? How is limiting you in your daily life? After your screening, we’ll form a team with you and your physician to come up with a personalized treatment plan aimed at getting you back a pain-free daily life.

Physical therapy helps by stretching and strengthening your body. Collectively improving those aspects of optimal mobility relieves pain and enhances your daily life by allowing your body to work better, and interrupting certain nerves from sending pain messages to your brain. Depending on you, the causes of your chronic pain, how old you are, and your desired activity level, your treatment plan in Wildwood, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise increases endorphins, your body’s homegrown, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only reduces pain but helps with related symptoms like stress and depression. A licensed Wildwood, MO physical therapist can guide through exercises aimed at improving your mobility without causing further pain or injury. With guided exercise, your brain will come to understand that certain movements can be carried out 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 incorporates therapeutic touch to encourage your body’s natural healing process and relaxation of the surrounding tissues. Your Wildwood, MO physical therapist will use their hands to gently move your muscles and joints. Research demonstrates that manual therapy and guided exercise together are more effective than either technique 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 Astym®.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new technique that more and more Wildwood, 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. This eases pain as it stimulates the body’s “healing mode” and stimulates the flow of nutrients 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 awakens nerve cells that stop your brain from receiving pain messages.

Patient Education

Understanding why you’re experiencing pain and how to deal with it in your daily life can have a considerable positive effect on your chronic pain treatment in Wildwood, MO. We’ll help you learn the best way to sit, stand, and move, as well as healthy lifestyle suggestions like diet recommendations.

Other conditions we treat in Wildwood, MO include:

• Hip Replacement Physical Therapy
• Workers Comp' Physical Therapy
• Migraine Relief
• Sprain and Strain Treatment
• Geriatric Physical Therapy
• Injury Rehabilitation
• Pain Management Services
• TMJ Treatment
• Herniated Disc Treatment
• Rotator Cuff Tear Treatment

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Wildwood, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to achieve positive client outcomes and help people get back to the things they love doing most. Whether you want to be able to run across the tennis court like you used to, or just want to get out of bed in the morning without discomfort, speak to a physical therapist in Wildwood, MO today or make an appointment online for meaningful chronic pain treatment.