When you suffer from trauma, maybe from a fall or even a car accident, you usually experience pain. This pain persists on your way to the hospital. It is with you through the period of your treatment. You may even feel the pain a few days or weeks after the traumatic event itself. Over time, however, this pain may begin to fade. It fades as your body heals itself and deals with the nerve damage. That is the normal healing process. In some instances, however, you may feel pain from a past injury months and in rare cases even years after the injury occurred. In such cases, the type of pain you are feeling is called chronic pain.
Causes of Chronic Pain
Most people confuse severe pain with chronic pain. Before you know the cause of each of these pains, it is important to know the difference. Severe pain is pain that is intense. This type of pain can be short- or long-lived. Chronic pain, on the other hand, is mild or severe pain that a person suffers for a long time.
You might suffer chronic pain for any of the following reasons:
- Your body undergoes trauma from an accident or fall
- You undergo surgery, and the process interferes with your nerves
- You have conditions like arthritis, fibromyalgia or cancer
- You suffer nerve damage from infections
- You develop migraines or back problems
You should go and see one of the physical therapists in Palm Desert, CAif you notice that you have been feeling pain for over three months.
Treating Chronic Pain with Physical Therapy at New Beginning Physical Therapy
Effective treatment of chronic pain requires a combination of medication and physical therapy. Most of those who have chronic pain conditions are prescribed opiates to deal with the pain. Also, they go through physical therapy to deal with the aches.
During the first appointment physical therapist in Palm Desert, CA will pinpoint the source of your pain by questioning you about your medical history and doing some pokes and prods.He or she will then use a three-step process that will ensure the successful treatment of your condition.
In the first phase of chronic pain treatment the physical therapists in Palm Desert, CAwill use massage to relieve the tension in your muscles. The massage will also help you build endurance for the next two stages.
Stage two of chronic pain treatment will involve the use of alternate methods of physical therapy. In this stage, you physical therapist will use heat, aquatic and therapies to dampen the pain. The physical therapists at New Beginning Physical Therapy will also use TENS (electrical stimulation) to reduce pain levels in your body.
Once your physical therapist determines that you can endure it, he or she will take you through the final step, which is exercising. Exercises will ensure that you do not re-injure yourself, offer you pain relief and make you flexible and strong.
Booking a consultation with physical therapists at New Beginning Physical Therapy could be the first step to getting rid of any niggling long-term pain.