Does virtual physical therapy help with chronic pain?

The answer is that virtual physical therapy can be very helpful for people with chronic pain. But how do you know if your pain is chronic?

Pain is typically considered to be chronic if it lasts three months or longer, and it’s estimated that chronic pain affects more than 20% of adults in the U.S. Long-term pain is often associated with degenerative conditions like arthritis. Lower back issues are also likely to cause chronic pain, as is recovering from surgery. A virtual physical therapist can help you find ways to reduce your chronic pain effectively. 

What types of chronic pain can virtual physical therapy help treat?

There are many issues that can cause chronic pain. Of the three mentioned above, virtual physical therapy, or telePT, can help treat all three. Typically, telePT sessions involve meeting with a physical therapist in a live video chat. This allows the specialist to both see you and speak with you. 

TelePT can offer reductions in chronic pain caused by: 

1. Knee pain — Chronic knee pain is common in patients with knee osteoarthritis. It can also be linked to issues like ligament or meniscus injuries. A study of telePT reveals that patients had a more than 68% improvement in their chronic knee pain on average. 

2. Lower back pain — It’s estimated that more than 31 million people are living with lower back pain at any given time. Often, this type of pain can linger on for months or years if left untreated. TelePT offers you an effective way to reduce chronic lower back pain. One study of telePT for lower back pain found that these patients had a 68.5% improvement in their pain. 

3. Post-operative pain — Total knee replacement surgeries are a common treatment for end-stage knee osteoarthritis. However, such a surgery can lead to post-operative pain. This pain can linger for weeks or months after the procedure. TelePT has shown that it’s able to help knee replacement patients reduce their post-surgical pain. A research study on telePT after knee replacement reveals that three months of treatment improved pain scores by 58 points on average. The pain of telePT patients had completely resolved six months into the study. 

Find virtual physical therapy for your chronic pain at SSOR

Need a team experienced with virtual physical therapy to help treat your chronic pain? Our physical therapists at SSOR are just the team you’re looking for. We offer telePT session in which we can: 

• Diagnose the cause of your pain.
• Educate you on the chronic pain condition you have. 
• Demonstrate therapeutic exercises that can reduce your pain. 
• Show you how to do normal daily activities in ways that cause less pain. 
• Help you learn how to use assistive devices. 

Contact us today for more information about our telePT service or to schedule an initial appointment.