Pain Treatment Tempe

How do you find pain relief if you’ve been experiencing ongoing muscle or joint pain that isn’t the result of an injury or surgery?

Physical therapy is an obvious step in recovery from an injury or surgery, but we can also help eliminate ongoing tension and soft tissue pain. Many people feel muscle and joint pain and treat the symptoms by self-medicating, seeking massage therapy or chiropractic realignment. Treating the symptoms can cause temporary relief, but if the problem keeps returning, chances are you need comprehensive treatment.

Treating the cause of recurring pain isn’t as easy as masking the pain, readjusting the bones or loosening the soft tissues, because the cause can be something small that your body naturally tries to compensate for. In many cases, the problem is a weak muscle or an inflamed tendon that is having trouble doing the job it was made for. When that happens, the muscles around it try to compensate, working together to help the weaker muscle get its job done. Teamwork isn’t a bad thing, muscle groups all help each other manipulate our skeletal system and make us move, but when it goes on too long, the muscles become overworked and tense. Tense muscles are uncomfortable, but as they contract on themselves, they also pull the bones they’re connected to out of their proper alignment. Merely realigning the bones or loosening the muscles won’t be enough to solve the problem and keep it from happening again, the source of the problem is still there.

Our team at Moore Physical Therapy can set up a plan to help you isolate the source of your pain and build the muscle strength you need to solve the problem in the long term. In order to help you find long-term pain relief we will use:

Passive Therapy

Passive physical therapy techniques are noninvasive and promote relaxation by reducing pain and inflammation. Some of these techniques are:

• Ice packs
• Heat packs
• Ultrasound

Active Therapy

Active therapy is more hands-on, but isn’t strenuous. Active therapy is used to work with the problem of soft tissues to promote strength and endurance. Some examples of these techniques are:

• Pain relief exercises
• Low –impact aerobic conditioning
• Stretching
• Strengthening exercises

Manual Therapy

Manual therapy is a hands-on treatment by clinicians to treat muscle aches, joint pain, and limited range of motion. It encompasses a variety of techniques including soft tissue mobilization of muscles, specific joint mobilization, and joint manipulation.

The three most notable forms of manual therapy are:

Manipulation is the application of a rapid force into a joint(s). Manipulation is often associated with an audible popping sound called cavitation.
Mobilization is a slower, more controlled process of articular and soft-tissue stretching intended to improve joint mobility.
Massage is typically the repetitive rubbing, stripping or kneading of muscle and fascia tissues to facilitate healing.

Manual therapy has been proven to be an important part of an overall conservative treatment plan for a variety of conditions including:

• Adhesive Capsulitis
• Shoulder Impingement
• Shoulder Stiffness/Limited Range of Motion
• Tennis Elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis)
• Golfers Elbow (Medial Epicondylitis)
• Pinched Nerves
• Limited Joint Range of Motion
• Capsule Tightness
• Postsurgical Stiffness
• Much More

Get Help in Mesa, Tempe or Gold Canyon

We provide a complete treatment plan that is customized for your specific needs. In addition to this and in order to ensure that your health continues to improve, our therapists may teach you a variety of stretches and exercises you can do at home on your own to keep your recovery on track. Give us a call to learn how we can incorporate our therapy program into your rehabilitation program.