Pain can be stressful and sometimes even life-shattering, especially if it causes you to stop doing what you usually do. It has a way of taking over one’s lifestyle and can even lead to more trauma and emotional strain. Fortunately, one does not have to live with excruciating pain when there are different ways to manage and lessen the discomfort eventually. Some of the most common pain-relieving and management solutions are ingestible in the form of medications and supplements. However, they are not the only way to deal with pain.
Consider alternative pain management solutions such as physiotherapy, more so if the pain is localized and concentrated on muscles and nerves. But what is physiotherapy, and why is it something you should consider? Keep reading to learn more.
Defining Physiotherapy
You don’t have to be a sports medicine specialist to learn or understand what physiotherapy is. Often referred to as physical therapy, this is a process involving health experts known as physical therapists. Their primary role is to help patients promote, maintain, and even restore health through different means. They emphasize physical examination, disease diagnosis, and prognosis, as well as patient education. Once they are sure of what they are dealing with, they develop a practical physical intervention, rehabilitation, and general disease prevention, and promotion of overall health.
Physiotherapy and Pain – All You Need to Know
Physiotherapy has been used to treat and cure chronic pain even when other techniques have failed. While chronic pain can leave you wanting nothing to do with physical exercise and movement, it may be the only or the best solution at such times. Physical therapy happens to be effective on many chronic conditions, including neuropathic and chronic musculoskeletal.
Some joint pains easily cured or handled by physiotherapy include chronic headaches, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and pains to the nerves and tissues. It works because this kind of therapy aims to help patients suffering from these chronic pains become stronger since the pain causes them to be weak.
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So How Does it Work? – Options To Consider
Now that physiotherapy is an alternative that helps, patients and potential patients need to understand their options. There are different types of physical therapies that work for different kinds of problems. The most common ones include:
- Massage therapy
- Joint and bones manipulation
- Soft tissue manual therapy using hands and tools
- Cold laser therapy involves the elimination of pain and inflammation as well as the release of endorphins
- Exercise and movement therapy
- Microcurrent stimulation. This is where alpha waves are emitted into the brain to increase the production of both dopamine and serotonin, which in turn help to alleviate pain naturally.
It is important to work with a physical therapist because the level and intensity of treatment are unique to each person. For instance, when talking of exercise, one person may be put on treadmill walks while another is swimming. What the therapist chooses to work with depends on the pain and the patient’s physical inabilities.
The expert should explain and make you understand the physical treatment plan you are on. Consequently, it would help if you had much more attention during such therapy sessions, something that a general/regular doctor may not be in a position to offer.
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How it Works – Actual Pain Management
Once you are put on a pain management plan by your therapist, you then get into a routine. Most people start with a daily 30 minutes exercise routine and progress to doing it at least 3 to 4 times a week. The aim is to reduce pain by doing the following:
- Strengthening the muscles
- Stabilizing the joints
- Creating endurance
- Woking on muscle and joint flexibility
It is essential to keep a consistent exercise routine as a way of controlling the pain. The essence of this regular therapeutic workout is to maintain your ability to move and physically function instead of being disabled due to chronic pain. Besides this, the therapy helps with inflammation, soreness, and stiffness and encourages the body to release natural pain-relieving chemicals that promote healing. This explains why it is an effective and long-term treatment of most chronic pains since it is naturally occurring.
Does the Combination of Physcia Workouts Matter?
Yes, it does. You need to understand that moving less only contributes to more excruciating pain when suffering from chronic pain. Forget about the pain you feel when you move since this is less than what would be if you didn’t move completely. It is advisable to get used to the physical exercises and teach your body to accommodate the pain since it has to learn to start healing. This is the only way you will get back to normal activities.
However, as much as physical therapy is excellent for treating chronic pain, combining the different exercises matters. Depending on the type of pain being tackled, it may be reasonable to combine several pain-relieving techniques.
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A good example would be combining cold and hot therapies with nutritional supplementation and physical therapy. However, consult a physical therapist to assess the pain and recommend the right strategies before attempting any solutions. These strategies should be implemented by an expert that is well versed in physical therapy.
Final Thoughts
Chronic pain can be one of the enormous monsters one has to deal with. It is even more disturbing if it is something you cannot control because of its source. Regardless of its source, when dealing with pain that never goes away, one’s quality of life is affected negatively. It is possible to get stuck and fail to address some of the things you would easily do because pain does not let you get out of bed. However, it is now possible to deal with pain, especially if you are open to trying physical therapy as a solution that will offer long-term remedies.
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