Experiencing pain can lead to dysfunction which can affect your quality of life.  In addition to therapeutic exercises and interventions, Physical Therapists often use and administer “Modalities” as an adjunct to treatment to further reduce and relieve pain, inflammation and promote healing in order to improve function.

Some modified forms of these modalities can be also used at home with great results. The following are just a few to start with.

 

• Ice: a pack or bag of crushed ice or bag of frozen peas or corn works great because it can easily be refrozen and will break apart easily when taken back out of the freezer (unlike ice which melts enough to refreeze into a solid block). Use for 15 -20 minutes on affected area to reduce pain and inflammation, 2-3 times / day as needed.

 

•  Heat: heating pad, warm bath or shower or microwavable rice/bead pack or moist towel on affected area for 10-20 minutes to increase blood flow and pliability of muscles prior to stretching in order to reduce muscle spasm and attain greater ease of stretching.

 

• Therapeutic and Pain Relief Cream: can be massaged into the painful muscles/tissues to decrease pain and muscle spasms. Some Brands I like: Sombra Warm Therapy Cream (feels hot and cold and effects last several hours – can be ordered online), Biofreeze Gel (feels cold and has cooling effects lasting up to around an hour, can be found in drugstores and online), DermaTran (prescription meds like anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxers, etc compounded with a cream base for topical application for more direct effects verses taking orally which are good for avoiding adverse side effects – need a doctor’s order for personalized prescription for individual needs).

 

•  TENS unit: Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (EStim for short), administered either by a Physical Therapist or you can buy a home unit online, from a PT or from a medical supply co. Electrodes placed on affected area send an electrical impulse to the tissues increasing blood flow, decreasing muscle spasm and decreasing pain by overriding and interrupting the pain impulse along the nerves. 15 – 30 minutes 1-3 x / day as needed.

• Traction: administered by a Physical Therapist manually and or via a traction table to increase space between the vertebra reducing compression and allowing more room for the disc to realign. You can also achieve this to a lesser degree at home by using an inversion table to hang in an inverted position for 1-2 minutes at a time for up to 10-15 minutes.

• Kinesio and Athletic Taping:  Tape can be purchased in stores and online and can be performed by Physical Therapists, Athletic Trainers and by you once you learn the method specific for your needs.  There are many online tutorials on taping for specific injuries.

 

As always…seek professional medical assistance if you have an injury and don’t continue to try anything that increases your pain.

 

Please contact me if you have questions.

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