Pain Relief

You need to be able to bend over to work in your garden, pick up your grandchild, or do yoga.

You need to be able to squat to give a child a hug at their level, to do home renovation projects, or tie your shoelace on the side of the trail while you are out running.

You need to have foot flexibility to walk so you can go hiking with your friends, take the dog out for a potty walk, or keep up with the kids while they are riding their bikes.

You need to have shoulder motion to play basketball, do Pilates, or paint a wall in your house.

You need to have neck motion so you can check your blind spot while you are driving, lay on your stomach while you are sun bathing, or use your “third eye” to watch the children.

Movement is required for life.  Movement is required to be able to do the things we want to do every day.  They may not feel like amazing things but they are the things that you want to do.  The activities that make up your life.

Perhaps you are a stay at home mom who spends your day reaching down for little ones, picking up their toys, standing while preparing meals, or hauling all of their stuff everywhere.  Those are all movements and they are required for your life.

You may work in an office which requires you to drive to work where you are walking between meetings, standing for discussions, typing to communicate with your team.  Those are all movements and they are required for your life.

Retirement brings a whole new set of movements depending on what that looks like for you.  It may be renovating your forever home, outfitting a boat for sailing around the world, or loading up the fifth wheeler to travel the US.  Those are all movements and they are required for your life.

The tissues in our body need movement to get stronger, to become more flexible, and also to heal.  Muscles need heavy weight applied in order to grow and become stronger.  Bones need the muscles pulling on them to regenerate and avoid osteoporosis.  Spinal discs require rotation to bring in fresh nutrients to remain healthy.

Just as you need motion to live your life, your body needs motion to maintain your life.  If you stop moving then you stop living.  Your body has a harder time healing itself as it becomes more difficult to get the proper nutrition to the proper locations.

Movement is life.  Movement allows you to live the life you love.  Movement teaches your body to adapt thereby allowing you to do the things you love.

If you are not moving, you are not living your life to the fullest.  If you are not moving, you are not helping your body to heal itself.

When a muscle is tight it holds on to all the extra stuff that is meant to be pumped out on a regular basis.  This makes it harder to bring in fresh nutrition for the muscle to feed on.  As you challenge that muscle with your daily activities, it starts to hold on for dear life.  No amount of ice or heat will cause it to release.  It simply can’t because it has gotten into this holding pattern.

That muscle may be compressing a joint.  The joint needs movement in order for the cartilage to get its nutrition.  When cartilage becomes dry it leads to arthritis.  Arthritis leads to pain and decreased movement.

Or that muscle may be compressing a disc.  Spinal discs are like sponges that absorb nutrition when the pressure is released.  If they are constantly compressed they cannot receive the needed nutrition.  This causes degenerative disc disease.  It comes down to a lack of movement.

Movement is life.  Movement allows the tissues in our body to heal. Movement allows us to do all the things we value doing in life.

How is your movement?  How is your life?

If you are having difficulty with movement please reach out to us.  We are movement experts that love seeing you achieve the movement you need for your best life.

There are few things in life as painful as a herniated disc.  But it’s not just the pain that is difficult to deal with – it’s also the fear.  What is going on in my spine and am I going to live?  That may sound extreme but herniated discs are extreme.  They can cause extreme fear, extreme panic, extreme frustration, and extreme pain.

The first time I herniated my disc was in college.  I was in Air Force ROTC (don’t ask, long story) and we were doing physical training.  All of a sudden, I felt a ball of glass explode in my lower right spine.  Okay, I know that a ball of glass didn’t explode in my spine but that is absolutely what it felt like.

Of course, training must go on so I got up and went for a 3 mile run.  Each step caused a mini explosion of the glass shards in my right spine.  And I was one of the lucky ones.  My pain never touched my sciatic nerve and went down into my leg.

For many people, the disc herniates and then it irritates the nerves in the area.  The nerves are located close to the spine and right next to the disc.  When the disc herniates, the material inside the disc leaves the fibers of the disc and is hanging out right next to the disc.  This can cause increased pressure on the nerve which responds by sending pain down into your leg.

What are your initial steps when you have a herniated disc?

1.  Breathe – Easy for me to say when the glass shards aren’t flying around my spine, right?  I know.  But it’s really important to breathe slow and steady.  Holding your breath increases the pressure on your spine which is not what you want right now.  I now it is incredibly painful right now but I promise it’s going to get better.
2. Grab an ice pack and your favorite chair, floor, or bed.  You need to rest for the first 24-48 hours.  Find a comfortable position (as comfortable as possible) and an ice pack.  You might want to grab some magazines or the remote control.  You are going to be there for a day or two.
3. Small movements matter. During the first 24-48 hours it is important to keep the area moving in small PAIN FREE ways.  This can mean trying to stand up straight while you walk to and from the bathroom.  Rolling your shoulders to get some movement in your upper spine.  Sitting and rotating your spine from side to side.  Don’t go crazy right now but keep those small movements.
4. Get help. Once you can walk to and from the bathroom pain free you are ready to get some help.  A Physical Therapist will help you get back to moving pain free.  Yes, you will get back to all those activities you loved doing before.

Yes, the pain will go away.

Yes, we can help you figure out your path on this journey of healing.  Please fill out this simple form and we can get you started healing and back to living life on your terms.

Let’s admit it – we expect pain as we age!

When we are young, our bodies seem to be able to get away with anything. We can run, jump, play, fall off our bikes, jump on a trampoline, and basically run ourselves ragged without any further complications. We go to bed and wake up feeling fine the next morning – and we run out to do it again! This is the joy of youth.

However, what happens when our young ones start complaining of a pain that will not go away? We take them to the doctor to start figuring out what is wrong and how we can help them.

In the case of hip pain, long term pain that does not go away with rest can often lead to a consultation with an orthopedic surgeon. The surgeon will often have X-rays or an MRI taken to assess how the bones inside the hip look. In the past 10 years, this has led to a new diagnoses or CAM or PINCER hip morphology. This means that there is a bony abnormality that is causing the hip to “pinch”, which is what brings about the pain in younger people as they tend to be more active. Of course, if the problem is a bone issue, surgery is what is recommended to fix it.

This increase in hip surgery in our younger population has become extremely concerning to myself and many other Physical Therapists. That is why there are now studies assessing hip strength, hip motion, and how the hip moves while also looking at the bony structure of both hip joints.

A recent study in the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy (JOSPT) was looking at that specific issue. The study assessed sub-elite football (soccer) players for pain, motion, strength, and motion analysis. They also took an X-ray to see what each hip actually looked like.

What they found was that the hip structure looked the same on X-ray between the painful hip and the pain free hip. Both of the hips had the same structure but only one hip had pain! Both the hips had the same bony changes that would be classified as needing surgery. However, sub-elite athletes were able to continue their sport and only have pain in one hip. Where they did see a difference between hips was in how the person was walking and the muscles they used while jumping.

This study shows that your hip pain may not be caused by how your bones look on X-ray. The pain may be caused by how your muscles are functioning while you walk, work, and play. Therefore, I strongly urge you to consider visiting a Physical Therapist to see if changing how you move through space can change your hip pain. It may help you to avoid surgery and the painful recovery that follows. Plus, you may be able to get back to your sport, your work, or your life more quickly!

Sub-elite Football Players with Hip-Related Groin Pain and Positive Flexion, Adduction, and Internal Rotation Test Exhibit Distinct Biomechanical Differences Compared with Asymptomatic Side. JOSPT: 48(7):584-593.

Thank you for walking with me through this blog series on chronic pain. I hope you have found it useful in discerning the optimum path for your health and wellness. This post is a general review of what we have covered.

Chronic pain includes pain that has not resolved in a normal, timely manner. In general, it is pain that lasts longer than 3-6 months although we have seen that it is actually a change in the pain state. Chronic pain is mediated through changes in the peripheral and central nervous systems. This means that the tissue injury model of acute pain no longer applies. Acute pain is directly related to a trauma to the tissue and has a normal progression of resolution. This can be greatly aided by Physical Therapy to prevent it from coming back or to address any related issues. For instance, I have had patients who successfully treated an acute injury with a steroid injection only to have the pain come back 6-12 months later. That is often due to the fact that the comorbidities surrounding the initial injury were never addressed. However, chronic pain that has been sustained for a long period of time is no longer related to a specific tissue injury. That injury was the trigger that set into motion a change in the nervous system that needs to be addressed in a new way.

Chronic pain must be addressed at multiple levels simultaneously. I have had patients who “try” one form of therapy at a time to see what works and what doesn’t. Although I agree with this scientific approach for acute pain, it does not stand up to the current understanding of chronic pain. A scientific approach for chronic pain is to add one treatment at a time. I have begun working with other health care professionals in the area to maximize outcomes for patients. When I work with a chiropractor, I focus on the exercise portion of treatment to improve the patient’s ability to “hold” manipulations and decrease their need for adjustments. When I work with a massage therapist, I focus on joint mobilization to ensure proper tissue length and exercise for patients to maintain the benefits of massage. Although I feel medications in general are over prescribed, I help assist medical doctors in ascertaining the benefits of prescribed medication to the treatment plan being carried out in Physical Therapy.

Chronic pain truly takes a village that is focused together on the goals of each patient. Every body responds differently to an intervention and this needs to be constantly reassessed. This is why I opened my company in the first place. To give each patient one-on-one access to one provider so they can be followed through a successful treatment regimen. The input I receive from each patient directly influences the treatment they receive that day. Education is always emphasized and I encourage my patients to ask as many questions as they can.

If I can be part of your team, please feel free to contact me at (360) 367-0970 or amykonvalinpt@gmail.com.

(formerly known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy)

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) occurs after a trauma to the distal part of the extremity or after direct injury to the nerve. CRPS is associated with distal extremity pain and swelling, with the pain being disproportionate in time and degree to the injury. Patients may also have increased blood flow and swelling, abnormal hair/nail growth, loss of motion, and weakness. This is a classic example of what happens with chronic pain. The initiating event led to a sensitization of the nervous system that is now causing abnormal reactions throughout the limb.

Before we talk about Physical Therapy treatment, let me state that this is one particular case where pharmacological approaches have been well researched and proven extremely effective. Systemically administered antidepressants and anticonvulsants or topical use of capsaicin and lidocaine have been proven to significantly reduce symptoms of CRPS. I have had patients who are frustrated by being placed on an antidepressant because they feel the doctor is saying their pain isn’t “real”. However, the truth is that the antidepressants affect the processing of the pain through the nervous system and have been shown to significantly decrease symptoms. I would strongly recommend that patients discuss all pharmacological options with their doctors so they can find a path that works right for them.

Okay, back to the Physical Therapy stuff! CRPS is a challenging disease that makes slow progress no matter the treatment option. A graded exercise program to return each patient to their desired activity level has proven effective for long term management of CRPS. Along with this, instruction in home TENS use and performance of mirror therapy has proven to be effective in treating CRPS. The goal is to support each patient with pain reduction and making positive steps towards improving range of motion and strength so they can return to their lives.

If I can help you on your path, please feel free to contact Amy at (360)367-0970 or amykonvalinpt@gmail.com.