Chronic Pain Treatment Woodhine Heights, MO

Chronic Pain Treatment in Woodhine Heights, MO

Chronic pain treatment in Woodhine Heights, MO. If you suffer from chronic pain, you know all too well how hard it is to express how much it limits you. 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 performing basic activities like walking up the stairs, or the activities we love doing the most, whether that be sprinting down the field or working in the garden.

Axes Physical Therapy is a collection of 15 physical therapy and rehabilitation centers committed to helping our Woodhine Heights, MO patients find lasting relief through custom-tailored chronic pain treatment plans, built on techniques that have been proven to work. If you’re finally ready to move on from chronic pain, reach out to the location most convenient for you you or contact us online 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 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 body parts, and can change in severity from dull soreness to stinging pain.

According to the CDC, in 2019 20.4% of adults nationwide dealt with chronic pain. 7.4% of adults (over a third of those with chronic pain) suffered from “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 lead to anxiety, depression, and trouble sleeping.

Why Do I Have Chronic Pain?

Pain, in general, is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong. In most cases, pain is caused by an injury, an infection, or other medical condition. “Acute pain” occurs at once, usually because of a known, root cause such as an injury, dental work, or surgery. It can last for anywhere from a few minutes to months while the injury heals.

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 a medical condition, or degenerative disease. Sometimes, there is no discernible cause for someone’s chronic pain. 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 irritated or wear down over time or due to an injury, causing joint pain.
Numerous different conditions that lead to low back pain — Up to 84% of adults suffer from back pain eventually. Causes can be poor posture or technique, wear and tear at a physically demanding job, sciatica, or a variety of disc injuries.
Cancer pain — Tumors can cause pain when they grow and touch 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.

There are many pointers for easing chronic pain, and while many can help you be more active in your daily life, many people we see in Woodhine Heights, MO have felt like they tried everything and still can’t find relief. Often, physical therapy becomes their path toward meaningful pain relief and getting back to the things that are most important to them.

Chronic Pain Treatment Woodhine Heights, MO | Pain Management | Physical Therapist Near Woodhine Heights

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

There are many possible options for chronic pain treatment in Woodhine Heights, MO, including prescription or over-the-counter drugs, spinal adjustments by a chiropractor, yoga, and consistent exercise. Research demonstrates that including physical therapy into your treatment plan can lead to significant improvement. You can visit any of our 15 locations for a free screening to better understand what might be causing your chronic pain. We’ll get to know you and your pain better. How often do you have pain? Does anything make it better or worse? How is limiting you in your daily life? After our evaluation, we’ll work in concert with you and your doctor to design a customized treatment plan aimed at getting you back a pain-free daily life.

Physical therapy can relieve pain by stretching and strengthening your body. Helping you achieve the best possible movement health relieves pain and enhances your daily life by allowing your body to function better, and breaking up any signals to your brain that something may be wrong. Depending on you, the nature of your chronic pain, how old you are, and the activity level you wish to get back to, your treatment plan in Woodhine Heights, MO may include:

Guided Exercise

Exercise releases endorphins, your body’s natural, feel-good chemical messengers, which not only alleviates pain but eases any depression, stress, and/or anxiety caused by your pain. A licensed Woodhine Heights, MO physical therapist will help you perform exercises aimed at improving your mobility without causing more pain or injury. With these exercises, we can re-train your brain to accept certain movements and positions without pain, restoring how your brain processes messages. We’ll also show you light exercises you can do at home.

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 Woodhine Heights, MO physical therapist will use their hands to safely move soft tissue. Studies have shown that manual therapy combined with guided exercise is better at treating pain than either technique used by itself.

With instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, physical therapists use specially designed tools, like Graston®, instead of their hands, to improve tissue alignment and locate degenerative tissue and soft tissue restrictions.

Dry Needling

Trigger point dry needling is a relatively new treatment method that is becoming more popular among Woodhine Heights, MO physical therapist. It involves using thin, filiform needles to penetrate inflamed muscles, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. This eases pain as it encourages the body to start to heal itself and stimulates the flow of blood 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 delivers low-voltage currents, which releases endorphins and stimulates nerve cells that prevent your brain from receiving pain signals.

Patient Education

Understanding why you’re experiencing pain and how to cope with it can do wonders for your chronic pain treatment in Woodhine Heights, MO. We’ll help you learn appropriate posture and movement practices, in addition to healthy lifestyle tips like how to keep a healthy diet.

Other conditions we treat in Woodhine Heights, MO include:

Chronic Pain Treatment Woodhine Heights, MO | Physical Therapy | Pain Management Near Woodhine Heights

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

At Axes Physical Therapy in Woodhine Heights, 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 Woodhine Heights, MO today or schedule an appointment online for meaningful chronic pain treatment.