The basic physical therapy treatment approach at the Pain Management Program utilizes
education, manual therapies and exercise.
Education
Education is designed to inform the patient why previous treatments were not successful.
The education may also include explanations of how the nervous system changes as
a result of persistent pain and what aspects of the patient's medical status, environmental
status or problem-solving abilities have contributed to the persistence of pain.
You will be informed as to what your therapist has determined to be the “starting
point” for your treatment, why he or she has come to this conclusion and how
the situation is expected to change. Communication will also include an explanation
of your treatment plan, changes to your treatment plan based on your specific responses
to the provided treatments as well as information regarding the medical and practical
differences between acute (new) pain, sub acute (unsuccessfully treated acute pain)
and chronic/ persistent (long term) pain.
Manual therapies
Manual therapies are not the same for everyone and are provided after the patient
has been evaluated considering the patient's age, body type and current medical
status. Manual therapy part of a complete treatment plan that includes: manual therapy,
education and exercise. Many times, persons have unique pain difficulties that must
be worked through various aspects of medical understanding of pathoanatomy or pathophysiology.
We understand that by this point, many individuals have seen a variety of medical
professionals and tried various forms of therapy that have not worked. We will evaluate
these treatments and help you understand why they may have failed. It is in
these cases that the amount of one-on-one time with the pain management physical
therapy staff is invaluable and even necessary. One-on-one time for all patients
is a distinguishing factor and an important treatment philosophy at the Pain Management
Program. Even though a massage is a manual therapy, the manual therapy utilized
at the Pain Management Program involves the use of the hands with the intention
of inducing a positive physical, mechanical or physiologic change in a person’s
body, regardless of the bodily tissues being treated. There are varied and numerous
types of manual therapies utilized for specific purposes at the Pain Management
Program.
When patients consult the physical therapists at the Pain Management Program, exercise
therapies have typically been tried previously and have not been effective. The
lack of normal or adaptable anatomy (abnormal biomechanics) may have prevented a
previously prescribed exercise therapy from being effective. Once the mechanical
issues interfering with normal or near normal biomechanics are addressed, exercise
therapy may be more effectively utilized.
In addition, exercise is used to assist a person to literally re-train the nervous
system to become less sensitive to the pain and the things that historically have
triggered the pain in that particular patient. This is the case in reference to
the mechanical nervous system, physiologic nervous system and the emotional nervous
system.
At the Pain Management Program, manual therapy does not include massage therapy.
The therapist’s hands are used to specifically alter the mechanics and physiology
of the specific tissues treated. The tissues treated are not limited to muscles,
fascia or joints. These manual therapies differ specifically from massage in that
repetitive or rhythmic movements or techniques are not typically used. The only
exception would be for techniques designed to improve lymphatic circulation.
Exercise
The exercises provided by our physical therapy specialists are designed to improve:
- neuromuscular control
- range of motion
- peripheral nervous system adaptability
- central nervous system adaptability
All therapeutic and functional benefits stem from the above parameters.
Acute care physical therapy treatments and exercise programs are not provided by
our physical therapy program. However, if these services are needed, the patient
will be referred to an appropriate facility so these needs may be met.