Physical Therapy Can Get You Back to the Activities You Love!
Chronic pain can be a huge burden, affecting nearly every aspect of your life to the point where it seems impossible to believe that things will ever be “normal” again.
Chronic pain can become increasingly difficult to manage over time, whether as a result of normal wear and tear or as a result of a traumatic experience such as an injury or a car accident.
It is not always possible to learn to cope with discomfort. As a result, rather than living in discomfort, many people seek ways to mask pain, often through the use of pain medications.
However, this is not always the healthiest option, and finding more appropriate pain management methods can actually help reduce the severity of your chronic pain. Furthermore, holistic pain relief methods can have a significant impact on your overall happiness and quality of life.
Instead of relying on drugs to manage long-term pain, consult with your physical therapist about natural pain-relief strategies.
What should I know about the dangers of opioids?
Did you know that pain relievers have no healing effects on chronic pain? While pain medications are frequently marketed as an ideal solution to chronic pain relief, all they can do is provide temporary pain relief.
When the medication wears off, the pain returns, and you may need to take larger and larger doses of pain medication to achieve the same level of relief.
Furthermore, many pain prescription drugs come with a laundry list of side effects. Many pain relievers are opioid-based, which means they are highly addictive and can harm the body if used for an extended period of time.
For many people, the withdrawal symptoms that occur when they try to stop taking opioids are actually more severe than the initial pain, and in some cases, using pain medications for an extended period of time can lead to a number of additional health problems, including intestinal, liver, and even heart damage.
Pain medications should not be considered the sole means of treatment for overcoming chronic pain and returning to a more normal way of life.
While pain medications may be recommended for short-term use to help you overcome the initial pain of an injury or procedure, there are other treatment options available that are much safer and more effective in easing your pain and improving your quality of life.
What can a physical therapist do to help relieve pain?
Working with a physical therapist to experience relief from chronic pain is one of the most effective strategies that you can try.
Regardless of whether the pain stems from an injury or from wear and tear over time, physical therapy can identify the problem areas, target the source of the pain, and then provide you with strategies to help improve your range of motion and reduce the experience of pain.
The biggest difference between physical therapy and pain medication for addressing chronic pain is that pain medication will never actually fix the source of the pain, it will only cover it up.
Physical therapy may not help you to feel that immediate relief in the same way pain medication would, but it will help you to feel gradual improvements in your experience of the pain so that you can eventually start to live your life free of discomfort.
Here are a few of the ways that your physical therapist can help you find relief from chronic pain:
- Targeted massage: Your physical therapist can identify the area that may be causing the pain and utilize massage techniques to reduce tension in that particular area, thereby helping to alleviate pressure in your joints and reduce pain.
- Hot and cold therapy: The combination of hot and cold therapy can help to reduce swelling and alleviate pain, and when used in combination with other natural strategies can be a great source of relief from chronic pain.
- Deep stretching: Your physical therapist can guide you through specialized stretching techniques that will target the source of your pain, thereby helping to improve your range of motion and support the development of muscle mass in the area of your pain.
- Weight lifting: As you begin to experience tension relief and decreased swelling in the targeted area, your physical therapist can then guide you through the process of building muscle mass to support a full and healthy recovery.
Get started on a holistic treatment plan today
Physical therapy is frequently used to assist people in overcoming chronic pain. In some cases, such as a torn tendon or a damaged muscle, surgery may be required to help repair the damage before using physical therapy to restore range of motion.
Working with your physical therapist to implement these natural strategies can help you avoid long-term medication use and experience more relief sooner. Furthermore, PT can help you improve your quality of life in the process.
To begin experiencing relief from chronic pain, contact a physical therapist today for a consultation.
