Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is pain that lasts three months or longer, often after the original injury has healed. Physical therapy offers a non-drug, non-surgical way to work on it with movement, education and gradual progress. Western Slope Rehab and Performance helps people with persistent pain in Grand Junction, Fruita, Palisade, Orchard Mesa, Appleton, Clifton and the Redlands.
Why pain can stay after the tissue heals
Pain is normal after an injury or surgery, and it should settle as you recover. For some people it does not. Over time the nervous system can become more sensitive, a pattern often called central sensitization, so it keeps sending pain signals after the tissues have healed. The pain is real. It does not mean you are imagining it, and it does not always mean something is still damaged.
That is why long-term pain so often responds better to a mix of gentle, graded movement and understanding what is going on than to rest alone.
Where persistent pain often starts
Chronic pain has many starting points. Some we see most often:
- Car accident injuries
- Recovery after surgery
- Workplace injuries
- Poor posture over many years
- Compensating for another injured area
- Arthritis
- Fibromyalgia
- Diabetic neuropathy
- Shingles
- Multiple sclerosis
Why movement helps more than rest
Rest alone can add stiffness
Long periods of rest tend to bring weakness and tight joints, which can make pain easier to trigger.
Graded activity builds trust
Starting with what you can do and adding a little at a time teaches the nervous system that movement is safe again.
Compensation shows up in other places
When one area hurts, other muscles and joints take on extra strain. Your therapist looks for those patterns and helps correct them.
Body mechanics last longer than a visit
You learn how to move, lift and sit in ways that can help protect you from the next flare-up.
How we treat long-term pain at WSRP
Your plan starts with a full assessment of your posture, weak areas, range of motion, gait and balance, then combines in-clinic work with a home exercise program.
Understanding pain
Plain-language pain education so you know why symptoms flare and what helps.
Movement
- Graded activity and exposure
- Therapeutic Exercise
- Activity pacing to prevent boom-and-bust days
Hands-on care
- Manual Therapy
- Dry Needling when it fits
- Massage Therapy with our massage therapists
Progress means function first, pain second
We measure success by what you can do again: walking farther, sleeping better, lifting your grandchild, getting through a workday. Pain often eases along with that, but it usually lags behind function. Flare-ups still happen, and your plan includes what to do when they do.
Pain in one specific area also has its own page, such as Back Pain, Neck Pain or Arthritis & Joint Pain. Fibromyalgia is a separate condition, and we are happy to talk about how we can help you.
Working with your doctor or pain specialist
Physical therapy works alongside the rest of your care, not in place of it. If you take pain medication, keep taking it as prescribed and talk to your prescriber before changing anything. We can use what your doctor already knows about your pain to shape your plan. If you want a non-drug, non-surgical option, ask your doctor whether physical therapy makes sense for you.
Related care
Ready for a plan for pain that will not go away?
We see people from across Grand Junction, Fruita, Palisade, Orchard Mesa, Appleton, Clifton and the Redlands. You can start physical therapy without a referral from a doctor in most cases. Some insurance plans, including Medicare, still need a doctor's sign-off on the plan of care (Direct Access). Call (970) 314-9822 and we will check your plan.
We see patients from Grand Junction and the surrounding Grand Valley: Fruita, Palisade, Orchard Mesa, Appleton, Clifton and the Redlands.