Chronic pain can impact every single aspect of your daily life. Not only is it a constant distraction, but it can put your life on hold. Managing this pain is imperative to getting on with your life, and no one wants to be slowed down by chronic pain, no matter where it impacts you. Denver physical therapy is crucial to managing this type of pain, particularly with the busy lifestyle that many Coloradans choose to lead.
Chronic pain is described as pain that persists for more than three months – often despite treatment. It can come from a number of things – including injury, surgery, or even underlying health conditions like arthritis. Physical therapy is a very effective, non-invasive way to manage chronic pain, and many benefits that come with it. From reducing discomfort to improving function, physical therapy can enhance the overall quality of life for those individuals in constant pain. By taking aim on improving mobility and strengthening muscles, physical therapy can enhance your overall physical function – allowing you to enjoy all of those wonderful things around you.
What to Expect
Working with the right professionals is an important part of working through chronic pain with physical therapy. You should work with licensed physical therapists that have experience working with a wide variety of orthopedic conditions. Rarely will your condition be exactly the same as someone else’s, but experienced physical therapists have worked with a large number of patients, meaning they can see similarities and suggest the right treatment. That makes educating patients crucial, the right physical therapist will be able to tell you the importance of things like posture, exercise, and other lifestyle modifications.
The right physical therapist will also be able to suggest other pain management techniques – like meditation, deep breathing, or other mindfulness activities to help manage pain and reduce stress. A holistic approach is vital, and that involves treating the whole person instead of just a particular condition. Taking a look at all of the aspects of your physical and emotional health can give the physical therapist a better understanding of where to steer treatment. By being centered on the patient, expert physical therapists should take their treatment suggestions and align them with your goals and feedback to provide the best possible outcome.
Managing Back Pain
Your back is one of the most common areas that can be impacted by chronic pain. It can stem from an almost endless list of sources, from herniated discs to previous injuries to muscle strains or even issues with your spine. By understanding your posture and how you move, your physical therapist can come up with a customized treatment plan. One of the most important things when dealing with the back is strengthening the muscles. The focus is on the core muscles – and not just in the back. This treatment generally focuses on exercises that strengthen the entire core, including your back, abdominals, and pelvic floor. Exercises like bridges and planks are examples of exercises that can be especially helpful.
Your physical therapist may also implement some manual therapy like soft tissue massage or spinal manipulation. This can help reduce the pain in your back and improve mobility. Combining that manual therapy with stretching exercises will help improve your flexibility, as well. While your back may be the focus, hamstring stretches and hip flexor stretches can improve range of motion and take some of the pressure off the back. Proper posture is imperative throughout these exercises, as that will also help keep your spine neutral and your core strong.
Help with Neck Pain
There are also a number of factors that can contribute to neck pain. Your neck is constantly working. Whether you’re moving it from side to side to simply look around, or if it is just propping your head up while you read something on your phone, your neck is under stress. That stress can turn into injury or discomfort through things like muscle strains, age-related wear and tear, or even something as simple as poor posture. Physical therapy can help build those muscles back up by strengthening the neck and the areas surrounding the neck.
By focusing on the neck muscles, your upper back, and shoulders, you can mitigate some of that neck pain and increase your overall range of motion. Stretch exercises like chin tucks, rolling your shoulders, and stretching your neck muscles can help improve strength and flexibility. Other types of manual therapy can also be helpful, as soft tissue massage and other joint mobilizations can boost mobility and reduce pain. It’s also important to be cognizant of your posture, as simply sitting and standing properly can significantly reduce pain. Because there is a lot of support for your neck in your back and shoulders, working on exercises that promote a neutral spine and strength in those areas can be crucial.
Knee Pain Management
When pain and discomfort show up in the knee, it can have an impact on everything you do. It’s hard to move without bending or moving your knees, and that repetitive motion can sometimes cause issues over time. Conditions like arthritis, tendinitis, and other ligament injuries can become very painful, but physical therapy can help. Focus on strengthening the major muscles in the legs – your quadriceps, hamstrings, and calf muscles. Squats and leg presses are two examples of exercises that can strengthen those muscles and take some of the pressure off the knee.
Along with a variety of strengthening exercises, physical therapy can help improve your knee’s mobility. Combining hands-on techniques like massage and manipulation with ice, heat, ultrasounds, and electrical stimulation can help manage pain and keep inflammation down. Physical therapy will also introduce regular stretching of the muscles around the knee to help keep that flexibility and reduce pain. Knees have to take on a pretty intense workload, so restoring that regular function can go a long way in alleviating pain and getting you back to the mobility you were used to before the issues.
Working Through Shoulder Pain
Wear and tear can also create a lot of issues with your shoulder, and injuries to areas like your rotator cuff can also be difficult to manage. Physical therapy works to make sure you maintain that strength and range of motion in your shoulder. Because the shoulder is another joint that faces a lot of action on a day-to-day basis, keeping that area strong is imperative. That starts with strengthening the area by focusing on the muscles around the shoulder blade, deltoids, and rotator cuff. Basic exercises like shoulder rotations and shoulder presses are a great place to start, and can go a long way in promoting proper range of motion.
Your physical therapist will also use techniques like joint mobilization – which applies pressure to a joint from a number of specific directions or with different levels of intensity. This is known to improve mobility and reduce pain. Proper posture can also help tremendously. Incorrect posture can put pressure or strain on the wrong part of the joint, leading to discomfort and undue strain on the joint. Physical therapy will also work on the back and core muscles to relieve some of that strain as your posture improves.
Taking Care of Ankle Pain
The ankle is another popular area for physical therapy. Countless people encounter ankle injuries every day. If you have an active lifestyle, you’ve likely experienced a rolled ankle or a sprained ankle. From simple ankle sprains to Achilles tendinitis or serious bouts with plantar fasciitis, there are a multitude of problems that your ankles can endure. Physical therapy focuses on building strength in the muscles around the ankle – including your calves and all the intrinsic muscles within your foot. Exercises like toe curls, calf raises, and using a resistance band can help develop those muscles.
Along with the strength exercises, physical therapy also works on building your balance through that process. Exercises like standing on one leg or using a balance board are popular for building strength while also promoting more stability in your ankle. Joint mobilizations and soft tissue massage are also popular techniques to reduce pain in the area. Chronic ankle pain can have a drastic impact on your daily life, so regular stretching of the Achilles and plantar fascia can help tremendously to reduce pain and increase that important stability in the joint.
Taking the Right Approach to Physical Therapy
Your physical therapist should work on more than just the physical aspect of your chronic pain. These injuries can also take a psychological or emotional toll on the patient. Educating patients about the importance of exercise, correct posture, and other lifestyle modifications can help the patient understand the treatment and allow them to take control of their pain management. That understanding gives insight into the overall goals of the process to make dealing with treatment that much easier.
Physical therapy is about more than just exercises. It’s about putting in those exercises and techniques along with lifestyle modifications and collaboration with your physical therapist. By maintaining a healthy weight and engaging in regular activity, working together can develop a comprehensive result to treatment. For more information on how physical therapy can help with your chronic pain, reach out to the experts at the Orthopedic Centers of Colorado today.