How Physiotherapy Is Highly Effective for Chronic Pain

Table of Contents

• What Is Meant by Chronic Pain?
• Physiotherapy for the Treatment of Chronic Pain
• Physiotherapy Modalities
• How Physiotherapy Gets Results

What Is Meant by Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain is defined as “discomfort that lasts longer than 3 months”. The discomfort can be constant or intermittent and may occur in any part of the body.

Chronic pain can impair your ability to do everyday tasks such as work, maintaining a social life, and caring for yourself or others. It may result in sadness, worry and difficulty sleeping, exacerbating your discomfort. This reaction establishes a difficult-to-break cycle.

Physiotherapy for the Treatment of Chronic Pain

Physiotherapists are movement experts who seek to keep individuals active. They advise and train using joint mobilization exercises, support muscle-strengthening activities, regaining and maintaining fitness and other pain management strategies.

Chronic pain is a multifaceted condition which manifests itself in various ways. Many pain clinics use a multidisciplinary team approach to pain management including doctors, psychologists and physical therapists. This multi-tiered therapy approach provides a holistic solution that addresses several facets of your pain.

Physical therapy is one of the most important of these treatment options. It employs several strategies to alleviate pain sensations and restore any functioning the health problem may have damaged. Physical therapy provides one-on-one time with an experienced health expert who gives critical insight into your medical condition, the best course of treatment, and preventative measures to take in the future.

Physiotherapy Modalities

Although treating the underlying cause of chronic pain is important, it does not always alleviate it. In fact, physicians now propose treating persistent pain as a distinct illness. As a result, chronic pain therapy focuses on both the physical and psychological wellness of the patient.

A chronic pain treatment strategy can involve a variety of manual therapies such as massage or acupuncture in order to alleviate pain and help with the mobilization of the afflicted region. Gentle workouts such as swimming or walking are appropriate, since they assist in maintaining muscular suppleness and help avoid stiffness. Additionally, a physiotherapist may provide advice on mobility and posture (and equipment or shoes to assist with daily tasks like walking).

How Physiotherapy Gets Results

• Patient Education: Education and raising the patient’s comprehension of chronic pain are critical components of pain treatment.
• Program Progression: When chronic pain becomes more severe, participation in exercise is reduced to prevent exacerbating symptoms. Physiotherapists will advise and prescribe pain-free (or pain-reducing) activities to help patients regain mobility. The physiotherapist will design a graded exercise program that focuses on strength and flexibility improvement.
• Occupational Therapy: Joints can become stiff and irritated due to restricted motions or activity at work due to chronic pain. Your physiotherapist will assist by manipulating or mobilizing joints to facilitate mobility restoration.
• Treatments for Soft Tissues: To enhance mobility and alleviate discomfort, your physiotherapist may choose to use massage, trigger point treatment, myofascial release and stretching. Soft tissue treatments help to desensitize the painful location.
• Pilates Exercises or Postural Exercises: Physiotherapy-lead Pilates is a wonderful therapeutic choice, particularly for persistent neck and back pain – it is low-intensity and promotes strength and control. Additionally, physiotherapists provide patients with a home exercise regimen including postural exercises.
• Acupuncture: The National Institutes of Health discovered research studies indicating that acupuncture is useful for chronic pain in the neck and back, headaches and knee osteoarthritis. Acupuncturists often have further training and may provide this as a therapy alternative.
• Treatment with Heat and Cold: This can be an effective method of pain desensitization. Heat relaxes muscles, stimulates circulation, and improves blood flow to the region which can help alleviate pain. Cold treatment decreases blood flow to the region, numbing it and decreasing the transmission of pain signals from your nerves to your brain.

Patients suffering from chronic pain can regain control of their lives and resume normal daily activities by using a variety of therapeutic options. Physiotherapy’s main objective is to allow and empower individuals to reclaim control of their lives and alleviate anxiety and limitations associated with chronic pain.

For more information, visit fraserlifephysio.ca online or call our friendly experts in Langley at (778) 278-4755 today.

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