Do you experience pain that comes and goes? One of the most common things I hear from patients is "I wish I would have come to your a year ago." This is usually because pain comes and goes. On the days the pain is bad, you convince yourself that you need help. On the days the pain has lessened or gone away you convince yourself that you don't need treatment and that it might go away on its own. However, this is usually not a good idea. In fact, many people find that the pain gets worse over time if they don't address it early on. Usually, the bad days become worse over time, and the good days also become slightly worse. The good days make the bad days more tolerable yet the bad days can be debilitating. If you have pain that acts like this, physical therapy can help. We can introduce exercises for strengthening and stability that reduce the irritation of the injury. We can also perform manual therapy to help reduce the acute pain during a bad day and break the cycle of pain.
Pain is a complex beast, but physical therapy can help you understand your pain and take back control. A common course of action that people take is to rest when the pain is bad and then overdo activity when the pain lessens. This sends you back into a downward spiral of pain and limitation. After an injury the goal is to gently progress exercises to help you get back to 100% without the constant set backs. A physical therapist can help you to create a plan that will maximize your recovery and avoid the downfalls that plague so many people. Through our experience we have gained valuable insight into helping people through this process. After-all, it is our job and what we have dedicated our life to doing.
Here are the steps we take to help people reduce pain.
Perform manual therapy and modalities to help reduce acute pain
Restore range of motion to improve mobility
Strengthen muscles to help provide support and stability for the injured area
Retrain motor patterns to restore function and avoid long term compensations
If you, a family member, or friend are suffering from a recurring pain reach out for help. We would love to help guide you back to the activities you love and used to be able to do.