Peak Physical Therapy

Living with chronic pain can severely affect your life, keeping you from enjoying or even completing daily activities. Chronic pain can cause your body to continue sending pain signals to your brain, sometimes even after the injury has healed. It can last from several weeks to several years. A physical therapist can evaluate your personal situation and create a treatment plan to reduce or eliminate your pain. Here are some tips on how to live with chronic pain:

Deep Breathing/Meditation

Deep breathing and meditation can help your body relax, which can assist in easing pain. Repetition is very important in some forms of meditation. Focusing on your breath, ignoring your thoughts, and repeating a word or phrase causes your body to relax. You can also relax by deep breathing. Find a quiet location, a comfortable body position, and block out any distracting thoughts. Inhale and let the air fill you from the abdomen up, then let it out and repeat.

Reduce Stress

Negative feelings such as depression, anxiety, stress, and anger can increase your body’s sensitivity to pain. By taking control of these feelings, you may be able to find some relief from chronic pain. Reduce stress by listening to calming, uplifting music or practicing mental imagery relaxation. This is a form of mental escape that involves creating calming, peaceful images in your mind. Progressive muscle relaxation is another stress-reducing technique.

Exercise

Talk to your physical therapist about a safe exercise program that is right for you. Exercise will help you maintain your mobility when living with chronic pain. Endorphins released by exercising help to improve your mood, while exercising, in general, strengthens muscles, reduces heart disease risk, and controls blood sugar levels. It can also help to prevent disuse syndrome, a condition in which muscles become weak from inactivity.

Track Pain Level & Activities

Keeping a log of your “pain score” can help effectively track your pain to let your doctor or physical therapist know how you’ve been feeling between visits. Note your pain level on a scale of 1 to 10 at the end of each day, noting what activities you did that day.

How Can Physical Therapy Help?

Your Physical Therapist will look for areas of weakness or stiffness that may be adding stress to the places that are causing you pain. They will then treat those areas with certain exercises to ease the pain and help you move more easily.

At Peak Physical Therapy & Sports Performance, our four convenient locations give you greater access to the South Shore's best physical therapy services. The locations include Norwell, MA, Scituate, MA, Quincy, MA, and Hanover, MA. Our state-of-the-art facilities include access to the best treatments and equipment to ensure a fast recovery. We've even expanded our facilities to include access to therapy pools as well as indoor sports fields. If you're unsure whether physical therapy can help you, we offer a no-obligation FREE injury screening. Click here for more information.