How Physical Therapy Can Help With Chronic Pain?
Today, approximately 100 million Americans are suffering from chronic pain. It is quite difficult to understand the depth of the pain because it can practically intervene with all your day to day routine. You can’t perform essential activities properly when chronic pain is gripping your body.
There are plenty of different types of medications and treatments used to improve chronic pain conditions, such as massages, acupuncture, exercises, etc. It is advocated by numerous physicians that chronic pain physical therapy is the best way to treat the adverse pain condition. Physical therapy brings a level of normalcy in your life by making your body mobile. Chronic pain physical therapy can improve the flexibility and stretchability in your body so that you can easily perform your day to day activities.
If you are suffering from chronic pain, you can consider physical therapy to heal your sore muscles. However, if you have a doubt whether chronic pain physical therapy is effective and safe or not? Then, you can understand the real impact of physical therapy by reading the article carefully.
What is Chronic Pain?
Usually, it is considered that the pain which stays for more than 12 weeks is called chronic pain. But, in reality, the concept of chronic pain is more complicated. To properly understand the concept, you have to study about acute pain. It is a pain that occurs suddenly and can last for a few weeks – the main cause of acute pain is injuries in the muscles or any other traumatic experience.
For example, you’re to hang a photo frame in your living room, but while hammering the nail, you get your thumb hurt pretty badly. However, after a few days, your thumb is healed, it will be called acute pain. But, unfortunately, if you hurt your same thumb again and you expect your pain to go away after a few days and it doesn’t, it means it has converted into chronic pain.
Chronic pain can confuse you and your physician for a long time because tissue injury isn’t always the main cause of chronic pain. Sometimes, chronic pain can occur without any sort of tissue injury. Thus, predicting a cause of chronic pain is very hard without the full body examination.
Types of Chronic Pain Physical Therapy
Chronic pain physical therapy can be conducted in multiple ways as per your medical conditions. Some of the common physical therapy treatment for chronic pain are –
Exercise – One of the vital elements of PT is physical exercise – when you move your body to different directions, it will bring flexibility and mobility into your rigid body muscles. Furthermore, to move your muscles, your brain will send instructions to your body, and you will get positive confidence that you can move your body muscles without any pain.
Ultrasound – It is a deep heating modality that you might encounter while exercising. Ultrasound is subjected to your skin because your body heats up during the therapy sessions.
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation – It is a PT in which electric signals are used to diffuse pain from the body. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation is also referred to as TENS.
Massage – Massage is a traditional physical therapy form which is helpful in improving the blood circulation level and relieve tightness from the muscles. Furthermore, different types of medicated oils can be used to massage the tense muscles. Massage is considered as one of the most natural and effective ways to heal muscles.
Heat and Ice Pack – This treatment isn’t considered as the most effective chronic pain treatment. But, the pain and inflammation surged by the other PT activities can be reduced with heat and cold packs. It is advocated by some physicians to give heat or cold compression to tight muscles to release some pressure.
If you are planning to take chronic pain physical therapy treatment, you need the best and compassionate therapist who can understand your pain and provide adequate treatment. At ReVerve Physical Therapy, they follow your healing journey very closely and won’t rest until they vanish pain from your life. For a personal and professional PT treatment, you can contact their physicians immediately.