How On-Demand Physical Therapy Benefits Patients With Chronic Conditions
This article about on-demand physical therapy benefits was written by Luna
Chronic pain affects more people than cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes combined.
About 20% of adults in the United States experience chronic pain, and high-impact chronic pain affects around 8%. Everyone feels pain from time-to-time, so what exactly is chronic pain, and what are chronic conditions
Chronic pain is defined as pain that lasts for a period of 6 months or longer. This may include back pain, headaches, and lower back pain, and more.
According to the CDC, chronic pain is one of the most common reasons adults receive medical care. Chronic pain often disrupts your daily routine. This keeps you from doing even the simplest tasks. Additionally, it can have real effects on your overall emotional health.
Luckily for patients like you, there are options for management and prevention of chronic pain and chronic conditions.
Preventing and Healing from Chronic Pain
Are you sitting more often nowadays? Are you stuck in front of a computer at a makeshift desk with a chair that isn’t ergonomic? If so, you may be experiencing more back and neck pain than usual. And when you’re dealing with this pain, it can be difficult to focus on much else.
That’s why it’s important to take the time to stretch daily to prevent any pain or a more serious issue from developing. Chronic pain is prevented a few minutes at a time with small – but significant – changes to your routine.
If you’re experiencing chronic pain in the back or neck, or you’re at risk of developing chronic conditions, physical therapy is often recommended. If the pain just started or you’re looking to take preventative measures, stretching can certainly help.
The Best Back and Neck Stretches for Pain Relief
Here are five stretches to help you decrease any pain or tension you’re experiencing in your upper and lower back, neck, and shoulders.
1. Cat-Cow Stretch
Stretching both the torso and the neck, this position is ideal for increasing spinal flexibility over time. It encourages slow, deep breathing.
2. Bird Dog
Encouraging a neutral spine, the bird dog helps relieve lower back pain and discomfort. Promoting proper posture, this exercise is recommended for many with chronic conditions and pain.
3. Back Extension
Known in the physical therapy community as an exercise that promotes strength and endurance, back extension also improves posture.
4. Knee to Chest Stretch
This stretch focuses on hip and lumbar spine pain. It helps relieve pain in the area by decreasing pressure on the spinal nerves. Over time, this exercise helps alleviate stiffness.
5. Neck Rotation
Increasing head and neck mobility is key for patients with chronic conditions and lasting pain. These stretches help do just that. These simple movements can be performed anywhere, at any time.
Easing Your Chronic Pain with Physical Therapy
While chronic pain can be frustrating, there are ways physical therapy can help.
Physical therapists train to create a program or a plan to restore or improve movement that lessens your pain. Physical therapists have four main goals with each patient they see.
- Evaluate and assess your lifestyle
- Help to uncover the source or cause for your pain
- To confront the pain
- Lessen the effects of chronic pain
After eliminating serious conditions that could require immediate medical care, your physical therapist works to put together a treatment program that:
- Improves “structural impairments” in your spine and pelvis
- Provides pain relief
- Gets you back to normal activity as quickly as possible
Chronic pain doesn’t need to be a scenario you simply “learn to live with.” Instead, consider seeking physical therapy to help manage – and even in some cases prevent – the condition.
One option for this goes beyond traditional physical therapy. It’s called on-demand physical therapy, and it’s growing in popularity with patients and practitioners alike.
On-Demand Physical Therapy Helps Alleviate Chronic Pain And Stress
On-demand physical therapy makes your physical therapy sessions as accessible and easy to work with as possible.
You’re already in a place where it’s a struggle to manage everyday tasks, and getting to a physical therapy session is just one more thing to tackle. On-demand physical therapy alleviates your stress by coming to you.
Physical therapists understand that there are limitations when you are experiencing chronic pain, or have been diagnosed with these conditions. On-demand physical therapy removes the barriers that may be keeping you from getting treatment. Since the goal is to use physical therapy to improve your health, steps must be taken in order to make that possible.
Some of those benefits to on-demand physical therapy for chronic pain include:
- No more worrying about experiencing pain when driving to your appointment.
- An end to deciding not to go to sessions because the pain is too great and you can’t find a way to get there.
- One-on-one time with your PT in a quiet, familiar environment where they can assess your surroundings and provide recommendations for ways to make your everyday tasks as pain-free as possible.
- Building a more personal relationship with your physical therapist. This includes having someone there who cares about your well-being and is there to listen and have compassion for all that you’re dealing with on a day-to-day basis. (This often takes some of the stress off your family or caregiver, as well, so it’s a win-win.)
- Help you to regain your independence, confidence, and life with each on-demand physical therapy session completed.
It can be physically and psychologically difficult for your family and caregivers to watch you suffer from chronic pain without knowing how to help. This doesn’t mean that they don’t want to help – but that they don’t have the tools to do so.
The impact on your family may result in any number of physical, social, and emotional changes. Don’t exhaust yourself worrying about how it impacts your loved ones when there is a viable option for compassionate care.
What does this mean for patients with chronic conditions?
More convenience via on-demand physical therapy means patients with chronic pain are more likely to complete their care plan and heal faster. Examples of the benefits?
1:1 personalized treatments: 45-55 minutes of dedicated care means faster recovery in fewer treatments.
Necessary equipment comes to you: Your physical therapist will bring a treatment table and a mobile kit. 90% of cases don’t need heavy machines.
Safe and convenient: Skip the clinic with no added fees! Luna On-Demand physical therapy is covered by insurance and is safely delivered to you on your schedule.
Ready to schedule an on-demand physical therapy session today?
Having a trusted physical therapist takes away some of the stress and provides you with a solid plan for improving your pain and returning to the activities you enjoy.
Check out Luna’s on-demand physical therapy services or use the BetterPT clinic location tool to find a physical therapist near you. Another option for checking to see if your local physical therapy provider offers on-demand physical therapy is downloading the mobile app.
Giving yourself the tools to succeed when it comes to a chronic condition or lingering pain is only the first step toward managing it.
Don’t wait any longer – contact a physical therapist today!
Luna Physical Therapy is the leader in on-demand physical therapy. They offer at-home physical therapy appointments, delivered in-person to the home, easily scheduled online or via app, and covered by nearly all major insurance providers. Luna’s mission is to re-imagine the physical therapy experience. Luna makes receiving and practicing outpatient physical therapy more convenient, modern, and impactful — through the use of technology. Now patients have greater access to care, and therapists have the autonomy and flexibility they need to manage their careers and thrive in their own practice.
