Opioid addiction killed 67000 people in 2018, according to the CDC, making it one of the most dangerous prescription drugs to rely on, especially for someone who is seeking pain relief. The other perhaps less intense adverse effect associated with opioids is the inability to go about your daily life without popping a few pills. After all, prescription opioids are powerful medications, but after a while, they wear off, and you need to retake them.
Physical therapy has proven to ensure both short and long-term pain relief without relying on prescription opioids. Even if you are currently on opioids, it can help you break away from it.
Physical Therapy for Long-term Pain Relief
One of the things we always tell people who are suffering from any pain is that they shouldn’t empty their pockets on prescription opioids. The only way to get long-term pain relief is to remedy the source of the pain, and that’s where physical therapy helps in many instances.
Many experienced physical therapists have years of experience dealing with patients suffering from all types of physical pain. A therapist can determine what is causing the pain and then devise a workable pain management strategy. If you happen to be suffering from any one of the types of pain below, then physical therapy can be beneficial:
- People who suffer from intense arthritis pain, a couple of physical therapy exercise sessions coupled with massage therapy can help control stiffness and chronic pain.
- Chronic headaches can be reduced by using a combination of cervical spinal adjustment, and a few minor changes to your lifestyle or maybe a few diet changes.
- Nerve pain can, over time, be controlled by using a method called transcutaneous electrical muscle stimulation abbreviated as TENS. The therapy uses electrical impulses which then intercept the electrical pain messages to the brain. Furthermore, the use of cold laser therapy can also help to ease symptoms of neuropathy and heal the damaged nerves.
- Intense back and neck pain can be managed by using a combination of stretching exercises, chiropractic adjustment and strength training.
Physical Therapy Ensures Long-term Pain Relief
Researchers working at Stanford University found that physical therapy worked exceptionally well for people who were diagnosed with musculoskeletal pain. Physical therapy reduced people’s dependence on opioid pain relief prescriptions by as much as 16%.
Physical therapy works because it helps cure the source of the pain instead of trying to bypass it altogether with the way opioids do. A physical therapist can help teach people how to manage chronic pain stemming from conditions like arthritis so that the pain does not get any worse. While physical therapy does not promise a quick solution, it does offer a long-term solution with measurable results.
If you are suffering from pain due to a personal injury, and want to know more about how physical therapy can help you manage it, then call us today to schedule an appointment.