Chronic Pain Treatment Womack, MO

Chronic Pain Treatment in Womack, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Womack, MO. Anyone who has lived with chronic pain knows the debilitating consequences it can have on your life. For some of us, it goes on so long that we lose sight of how good we used to feel. At it’s worse, the pain can keep us from comfortably completing basic activities like carrying in groceries, or the activities we love doing the most, whether that be dominating your local softball league or playing with your children.

Axes Physical Therapy is a group of 15 physical therapy treatment locations devoted to helping our Womack, MO patients find lasting relief through custom-tailored and evidence-backed chronic pain treatment. If you’re finally ready to move on from chronic pain, call the location most convenient for you you or contact us online for safe chronic pain treatment.

What Type of Pain is Considered “Chronic”?

Chronic pain is pain that doesn’t go away after three months, which is how long it takes most people and conditions to heal. The pain can be constant or can come and go, can be localized or radiate through your body, and can change in severity from stiffness to agonizing pain.

According to the CDC, in 2019 almost a quarter of American adults 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 pain that occurs on more days than not that affects how somebody can work or enjoy other activities. Anyone who suffers from pain frequently will tell you that it causes far more than just physical discomfort. Chronic pain reduces quality of life and leads to higher medical expenses. It can also cause significant mental health issues and trouble sleeping.

What Causes Chronic Pain?

Pain, in general, occurs when nerves called nociceptors detect damaged tissue, and send a signal from that body part to your brain. Often, pain is caused by trauma, an infection, or other medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs immediately, usually because of a discernible, root cause such as stubbing your toe, 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 despite the fact that, structurally, it has healed . In other cases, it’s caused by a medical condition, 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.
A variety of conditions that cause low 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 job that requires physical exertion, sciatica, or a variety of disc injuries.
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 pain you feel in your muscles all over 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 psychological stress.

There are many tips for relieving chronic pain, and while many are effective, many people we see in Womack, MO have felt like they tried all of them and more and still can’t feel better. Often, physical therapy is the treatment that finally gets them relief and returns them to a pain-free daily life.

Chronic Pain Treatment Womack, MO | Pain Management | Physical Therapist Near Womack

Why Is Physical Therapy in Womack, MO a Great Option For Chronic Pain Treatment?

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Womack, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter medications, spinal adjustments by a chiropractor, massage therapy, and consistent exercise. Studies show that making physical therapy a part of your treatment plan can lead to considerable improvement. You are welcome to come to any Axes location in the Womack area 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. How often do you have pain? When does it come on? When does it get better? How is limiting you in your daily life? From there, we’ll form a team with you and your doctor to design a tailor-made course of treatment aimed at getting you back to the things you love most.

Physical therapy helps by stretching and strengthening your body. Helping you achieve the best possible mobility relieves pain and improves your quality of life by making your body function better, and breaking up certain body parts from sending pain messages to your brain. 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 Womack, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise increases endorphins, your body’s natural, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only eases pain but helps with any psychological stress caused by your pain. A qualified Womack, MO physical therapist can guide 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, 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 promote healing and relaxation of muscles and joints. Your Womack, MO physical therapist will use their hands to safely manipulate your muscles and joints. Research demonstrates that manual therapy and guided exercise together are better at treating pain than either treatment method used by itself.

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

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new treatment method that is becoming more popular among Womack, MO physical therapist. It involves using thin, filiform needles to gently create small tears or rips in inflamed soft tissue. In doing so, it stimulates the body’s “healing mode” and encourages the nutrient-rich blood flow to the affected body part.

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 block the transmission of pain messages.

Patient Education

Understanding why you’re experiencing pain and how to cope with it can do wonders for your chronic pain treatment in Womack, MO. We’ll help you learn appropriate posture and movement techniques, as well as healthy lifestyle suggestions like diet recommendations.

Other services we offer in Womack, MO include:

Chronic Pain Treatment Womack, MO | Physical Therapy | Pain Management Near Womack

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Womack, MO, we do what we do for simple reasons: to achieve positive patient outcomes and help people return to 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 walk up the stairs pain-free, speak to a physical therapist in Womack, MO today or schedule an appointment online for meaningful chronic pain treatment.