We appreciate you reading through this blog series on chronic inflammation. First, we talked about what inflammation is, then followed up with why chronic inflammation happens, then journeyed into ways to manage chronic inflammation through exercise, sleep, stress management, and diet. At this point, you might be wondering why this matters to you and/or your physical therapist. Here at Beacon Physical Therapy, we care about you as a whole person and that can involve chronic inflammation.

You may have come in to see us or stumbled across this blog post because you, yourself have experienced some sort of pain or issue requiring physical therapy. You may have been lucky enough that some of your acute injury symptoms (e.g., redness, swelling) subsided in days or weeks and you returned to full function without pain. Unfortunately, for many of us, the pendulum of lingering inflammation (see previous blog posts) can limit our ability to function and keep us in pain. As physical therapists we are all too familiar with this cascade of events that can happen during the healing journey.

Physical therapists are specialists in the evaluation and treatment of the neuromuscular and musculoskeletal systems in order to optimize function, reduce pain, and improve efficiency of movement. We see and treat MANY different diagnoses, but more importantly we work with humans and their many complexities. We can see five different patients with the exact same diagnosis or findings on diagnostic images and each of those five people will present and heal very differently. This is because each of those five people are individuals with a unique nervous system, immune system, endocrine system, and motor system. All of these systems affect the manifestation of musculoskeletal and neuromuscular pain or dysfunction. Chronic inflammation is influenced by all of these systems and if left unchecked it can limit the body’s ability to heal itself.

Chronic inflammation can play a significant role in the development of chronic pain. This prolonged inflammatory response can sensitize nerves, making them more prone to firing and transmitting pain signals. This heightened nerve sensitivity can lead to a lower pain threshold where mild stimuli that would not typically be painful can trigger pain sensations. This also alters the brain’s ability to process pain signals, meaning that when the brain receives the pain signal from the nerves it amplifies that signal when it may have not done this previously. The pain signal starts to act like a broken alarm system that keeps blaring loudly, even when there is no real danger. Just as the alarm system malfunctions and repeatedly triggers a sense of urgency, chronic pain persists in the body long after the initial injury or trauma has healed, creating a constant sense of pain or threat that can be debilitating.

In addition to pain perception, chronic inflammation can also lead to tissue damage or scar formation. This disruption in normal tissue structure and function can put pressure on nerves, restrict movement, or cause inflammation in adjacent areas. Additionally, as you are attempting to heal from an injury, persistent inflammation can interfere with the normal tissue repair process, leading to delayed or incomplete healing. This can result in the accumulation of scar tissue, altered tissue architecture, and impaired tissue function, which can contribute to chronic tissue damage.

In addition to altered pain signals and improper tissue healing, the burden of chronic inflammation and pain can significantly impact mental and emotional health. Chronic inflammation is multifaceted and complex! Our role as your physical therapist is to aid in your healing and assist you in reaching your optimum movement capacity. We hope these blog posts are helpful and spark some ideas on how to manage chronic inflammation and get you back on track to your fullest potential.

Here at Beacon Physical Therapy, we are here to support you along your rehabilitation journey. Please reach out to us with questions or concerns.

Sources:

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