When most people think about physical therapy, they think about recovery from an injury or surgery like a broken leg or knee replacement. However, physical therapy can be effective in treating a condition more than three million Americans live with every day: chronic pain.
“Physical therapy is such an important part of treating chronic pain,” says Tamara Dangerfield, MPT, a physical therapist at University of Utah Health. “The more we learn about it, the more we realize that movement is a critical part of retraining pain pathways.”
With practice, movement-based therapies become more and more effective for pain control. The side effects of exercise include improved mood, blood pressure, weight control, bone density, endurance, strength, and sleep.
The mind and the body
Pain relief through physical therapy is based on the knowledge that pain is the brain’s interpretation of the signals it receives from all structures in the body. Those signals can be altered by the body’s own protective mechanisms.
“Many people do not realize that the nerves and blood vessels travel through muscle and fascia tissue,” Dangerfield explains. “Poor movement of these tissues can influence pain and nerve signals anywhere in the body.”
Physical therapists like Dangerfield work to restore the balance of coordination, flexibility, and strength so that movement, blood, and nerve flow are not hindered.
Unlike other methods of reducing pain, physical therapy aims to improve pain control for the long run. This is why it’s perfect for patients who want to avoid taking opioid painkillers, which are often thought of as a long-term solution.
“Opioids are only effective at treating pain for short periods of time,” Dangerfield says. “But with chronic pain, they become less and less effective and have large risks and side effects."
"Taking a pill may seem like a great option for people when they hurt and just want the pain to go away. But they can cause a lot of problems and actually make people more sensitive to pain over time.”
Receiving Help Through Physical Therapy
Physical therapy encompasses a variety of treatments, which means patients who do not respond to one method may find relief in another.
In addition to restorative exercises and education, interventions may include:
- Myofascial release: The use of hands-on pressure to restore normal movement to muscle and fascia.
- Joint mobilization: The use of hands-on pressure to restore normal movement to joints.
- Dry needling: The insertion of a very small, flexible needle into myofascial tissue to restore normal movement.
- Electrical stimulation: The use of an electrical impulse to interrupt pain signals.
“Just because something doesn't work the first time—or even if it worsens pain—that doesn’t mean that a person has failed physical therapy,” Dangerfield says. “There are infinite possibilities to modify a person’s program to keep it comfortable and allow them to keep making progress.”