{"id":67194,"date":"2022-12-15T10:50:43","date_gmt":"2022-12-15T17:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=67194"},"modified":"2023-06-23T09:12:03","modified_gmt":"2023-06-23T15:12:03","slug":"physical-therapy-for-persistent-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/physical-therapy-for-persistent-pain\/","title":{"rendered":"Physical therapy for persistent pain"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
\"Physical
You should talk to your primary care provider about any long-term pain and if physical therapy can help improve your quality of life. Source: iStock.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re dealing with pain that won\u2019t go away, the path to healing may involve some learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch has found that the more people understand how pain works, the more they can improve their pain and improve their function,\u201d said Devra Reiman<\/a>, a physical therapist and therapeutic pain specialist at UCHealth SportsMed Clinic in Steamboat Springs<\/a> and Hayden<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Below, Reiman outlines the role of physical therapy in understanding and treating pain.<\/p>\n

Why do we have pain?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Pain has a purpose: put your hand on a hot stove, and the burning sensation picked up by your nerves, relayed through your spinal cord and interpreted by your brain signals you to pull your hand away.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the pain felt after an injury or surgery signals you to use the injured area less. Eventually, that pain should go away.<\/p>\n

\u201cTypically, when the body starts to heal, the nervous system should calm down,\u201d Reiman said. \u201cBut that doesn\u2019t always happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The brain creates pain based on the perception of a threat, so sometimes, the nervous system continues to experience or communicate pain even after the tissue has healed. The condition is more common than you may think, with about one in four people experiencing continued pain.<\/p>\n

Context of the pain matters<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The pain you experience can be affected by when and how an injury takes place. For instance, if you tear your ACL while skiing during a frigid snowstorm, cold weather can later contribute to increased pain.<\/p>\n

If you sprain your ankle playing basketball and your team goes on to win, that injury may not be as painful as if the team loses.<\/p>\n

Or if you\u2019re injured in a car accident and find yourself dealing with the stress of insurance, legal matters and a new fear of driving \u2013 all while you\u2019re, say, in the middle of a divorce \u2013 your nervous system may be more likely to continue sensing and communicating pain after the injury heals.<\/p>\n

When pain doesn\u2019t stop<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Your medical provider can help determine whether your nervous system is creating pain unnecessarily. One marker may be how long the pain has lasted.<\/p>\n

\u201cTissues heal within three to six months,\u201d Reiman said. \u201cIf you have ongoing pain after that, that\u2019s not normal. It\u2019s not normal to live in pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chronic pain is important to address as it can wreak havoc on your body<\/a>, resulting in memory problems, fatigue, mood changes, low activity tolerance, digestive issues and delayed pain response.<\/p>\n

Your health provider can determine the best treatments, one of which may be physical therapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s helpful to use a multidisciplinary approach to come at it with various things, including medication and counseling,\u201d Reiman said. \u201cPhysical therapy is good to try because it\u2019s not invasive. The negative side effects are very minimal to none.\u201d<\/p>\n

Physical therapy for pain<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Education is key. If a patient learns that their injury has healed, but their nervous system has gotten in the habit of creating pain, they may respond better to further treatments.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people think, \u2018If I\u2019m hurting, something\u2019s not healed,\u2019 but that isn\u2019t always the case,\u201d Reiman said. \u201cOnce you think there\u2019s something wrong, it can be scary and make it worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to talking with patients about pain, Reiman may use pain-free techniques to modify the nervous system\u2019s response, including muscle control exercises, nerve glides or mobilizations to improve blood flow to the area, and brain exercises such as mirror therapy, in which a mirror is used to trick the brain into thinking a limb has moved without pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur nervous system loves movement and blood flow,\u201d Reiman said. \u201cYou should do whatever movement you can tolerate, even if it\u2019s only walking two to three minutes at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through physical therapy, people can expect to see gradual improvement every few weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to have hope, and you need to have a game plan \u2013 that helps keep people motivated,\u201d Reiman said.<\/p>\n

This story first appeared in the Steamboat Pilot.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re dealing with pain that won\u2019t go away, the path to healing may involve some learning. \u201cResearch has found that the more people understand how pain works, the more they can improve their pain and improve their function,\u201d said Devra Reiman, a physical therapist and therapeutic pain specialist at UCHealth SportsMed Clinic in Steamboat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2163,"featured_media":67399,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[110,9187,130],"class_list":["post-67194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-living","tag-physical-therapy","tag-readysetco","tag-rehabilitation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPhysical therapy for persistent pain - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you\u2019re dealing with pain that won\u2019t go away, the path to healing just may involve some learning from a physical therapist.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/physical-therapy-for-persistent-pain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Physical therapy for persistent pain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you\u2019re dealing with pain that won\u2019t go away, the path to healing just may involve some learning from a physical therapist.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/physical-therapy-for-persistent-pain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UCHealth Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-15T17:50:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-23T15:12:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2022\/12\/15101429\/istock-482699418-PT-web.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"534\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/physical-therapy-for-persistent-pain\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/physical-therapy-for-persistent-pain\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f2737182b44781de4109fdd5dd464270\"},\"headline\":\"Physical therapy for persistent pain\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-15T17:50:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-23T15:12:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/physical-therapy-for-persistent-pain\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":708,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/physical-therapy-for-persistent-pain\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2022\\\/12\\\/15101429\\\/istock-482699418-PT-web.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Physical therapy\",\"Ready. 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