Dealing with pain is never fun.
Some people’s first instinct may be to reach for painkillers, however as evidenced by the Opioid Epidemic, this can be a slippery slope which can lead down the road to addiction and worse.
Because of this, many people are opting for natural solutions to help manage their pain, and this is where physical therapy can help.
Keep reading to learn about physical therapy as a natural way to manage and relieve pain.
Physical Therapy For Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is pain lasting for three months or longer, and it can occur in any area of the body.
Possible causes of chronic pain can include injuries which haven’t fully healed, an unmanaged physical condition, or fibromyalgia.
Physical therapy for chronic pain involves your practitioner gaining an understanding of the underlying source of your pain and applying appropriate strategies to help manage it.
For example, if your pain is due to an underlying condition, then there may be strategies specific to your condition a physical therapist can help you with.
Physical Therapy For Back Pain
If you suffer from back pain, physical therapy is often a first treatment option attempted prior to more invasive and aggressive solutions such as undergoing surgery.
Physical therapy for back pain aims to reduce pain, improve function, and help provide maintain back health and avoid further issues.
Active physical therapy involves exercises and stretching, while passive therapy includes the use of devices such as ice packs and heating pads.
Your physical therapist from Capitol Physical Therapy will work with you to uncover the root cause of your back pain – whether due to an injury, lifestyle, congenital condition, or something else – and put together a treatment plan to address it.
Physical Therapy For Foot Pain
Your feet take a lot of abuse.
They literally support your entire body as you go through your day, and foot pain can make doing day to day tasks much more difficult.
Sometimes foot pain can be due to a traumatic injury such as a fracture, or develops over time seemingly without a cause, such as plantar fasciitis.
No matter the cause of the foot pain, the sooner you have it evaluated by a physical therapist, the sooner you can start receiving treatment, and the less likely you are to develop complications which could affect your knees and hips.
Depending on the underlying cause of your foot pain, your physical therapist may pick from an arsenal of solutions to help relieve it, including exercises, dry needling, hands-on therapy, ultrasound treatments, or application of heat or cold.
Physical Therapy For Lower Leg Pain
Next to our feet, our legs are important for holding our weight, carrying our bodies and helping us move around.
The lower leg extends from the ankle to the knee, and consists of the tibia and fibula bones as well as soft tissue, muscles, and nerves – there is a lot of potential for issues which result in leg pain.
Some causes of leg pain include:
- Muscle sprains, strains, and tears
- Swelling of the soleus muscle in the calf
- Atherosclerotic disease
- Compartment syndrome
- Bone fractures/stress fractures
- Deep vein thrombosis
Your physical therapist will do an assessment to determine the cause of the pain, and offer solutions accordingly.
Physical Therapy For Temporomantibular (TMJ) Jaw Pain
It should come as no surprise to anyone that life is stressful. But while stress can be a mental health issue, it also affects your physical health.
In particular, many of us hold that stress in our jaws, which can lead to chronic TMJ pain. However, there are other causes of TMJ pain as well, including:
- Physical injury
- Arthritis
- A misaligned disk
- Connective tissue diseases
Your physical therapist will work with you to uncover the underlying condition causing your TMJ pain. From there, they will provide exercises and other treatments to help release tight muscles, reduce scar tissue, and regain normal jaw movement.
If you’re dealing with chronic TMJ pain, Capitol Physical Therapy can help.
Physical Therapy For Pelvic Pain
If you’re dealing with chronic pelvic pain, you’re not alone. In fact, some estimates suggest that pelvic pain will affect up to 20% of the US population at any given time. There are many different possible sources of pelvic pain, including:
- Postpartum pelvic pain
- Digestive disorders
- Endometriosis
- Pinched pelvic nerves
- Uterine fibroids
- A hernia
- Chronic urinary tract infections
The cause of your pelvic pain will depend on your sex as well as many other factors.
Whatever it is that’s causing your pelvic pain, however, Capitol Physical Therapy can help.
Trigger Point Dry Needling For Pain Management
One technique which your physical therapist may use to help manage your pain is trigger point dry needling.
A trigger point is an area of increased sensitivity on your muscles. They often come up from overuse, and feel like a deep ache. They’re fairly common, and can contribute to many of the chronic pain issues we face on an ongoing basis.
Dry needling involves your physical therapist inserting short, fine needles into your skin. In this way, it might sound similar to acupuncture, but it’s practiced quite differently. With acupuncture, the focus is on opening up your energy flow. With dry needling, conversely, the goal is to stimulate your body’s trigger points to ease your muscular pain.
Dry needling has been shown to be effective to ease trigger point pain, but it can also be effective as a treatment for:
- Whiplash
- Tendonitis
- Joint pain
- Migraines
- Tension headaches
- Jaw pain
- Night cramps
- Spinal pain
To find out more about trigger point dry needling, contact Capitol Physical Therapy today.
Physical Therapy For Post-Surgical Pain
For some injuries and concerns, the best option will be to have a surgical intervention.
However, it is rare to have surgery and then walk out without needing a period to recover.
Often times the recovery period following surgery will require physical therapy to help aid recovery.
Although pain-relief medications can play a role in reducing post-surgery pain, they often are only masking the pain rather than helping to get to the underlying cause.
Physical therapy can help restore strength and mobility following surgery allowing you to make a full recovery.
Book An Appointment With Capitol Physical Therapy
Are you suffering from pain which just doesn’t seem to go away?
Maybe you’ve had an injury which isn’t healing properly?
Or you’ve all of a sudden developed foot pain which makes walking difficult.
Perhaps you have a surgery scheduled and want to ensure you will have a physical therapy plan for when you come out.
Capitol Physical Therapy can help.
Contact us today to set up an appointment, and one of our qualified physical therapists will meet with you, learn about your specific concerns, and help to setup a treatment plan to help get you back on your feet – literally.