Restorative Therapies
Exercise Massage Physical Therapy (PT) Physical activity can help reduce pain and increase mobility. Some examples are gentle aerobic walking, swimming, or cycling. Therapist can ease pain by relaxing tense muscles and joints, which can relieve stress and anxiety. A physical therapist can guide you through exercises to preserve and improve strength and mobility.
Restorative therapies to treat pain include many different approaches, such as the use of a heating pad or ice pack, exercise, and physical therapy.
• Therapeutic Exercise: helps people with chronic pain find a physical activity program that is gentle, moderate, and right for the individual. Learn more at the VA Rehabilitation and Prosthetic Services site.• Types of physical therapy that may help pain include: – Cold treatment: ice packs, ice baths, ice massage. – Heat treatment: hot water baths, heating pads, high-frequency sound waves to produce gentle heat deep in your tissues. – Gentle stretching – Muscle strengthening – Body mechanics – Vibration therapy: a probe is applied to a part of your body with moderate pressure and vibrated several thousand times per second.- Traction: PT therapy used for spinal pain• Aqua Therapy – water based type of physical therapy. Exercises are done in a pool usually with the help of a specially trained physical therapist.• Massage Therapy – applying pressure to specific points on the body. It can help reduce stress and muscle tension which can reduce pain.• Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a therapy that uses low-voltage electrical current for pain relief.•Therapeutic Ultrasound (TU) to deliver heat to deep tissues for improved injury healing.
*Not all therapies are available at all VA Medical Centers, and certain therapies may not be appropriate for all conditions. Talk to your provider to determine which approaches are best for you. If a given therapy is not available at your Medical Center/Healthcare System ask your provider if similar care may be accessed in your community.
• Traditional Chinese Medicine (pdf) – Department of Veterans AffairsBooklet about Chinese Medicine that describes approaches to health from a Chinese Medicine philosophy.• Whole Health Workbook (pdf) – VA Puget Sound Health Care System -Department of Veterans Affairs A guide to Proactive living and well-being.• The Free Mindfulness Project * http://www.freemindfulness.org/ – Collection of free-to-download mindfulness meditation exercises.• Mindfulness and Chronic Pain (video) * UMNCSH. This YouTube video describes how mindfulness can help with chronic pain.• Complementary Care for Pain – Veterans Health Library – Pain relief with complementary care. Always tell your healthcare professional that you are using complementary care.• Mindfulness * – Swedish Medical CenterMindfulness stress reduction techniquies and exercises. Instead of focusing on medication, learn how to reduce the stress and you will find you need less medication.• Phone-based Meditation Class on Yoga Sleep(iRest) – Yoga “Sleep” Guided Meditation Classes available from home. • WRIISC yoga nidra classes – are available to all VA enrolled Veterans, Whole Health Proactive Living and • Whole health for life website – Visit this site to use online resources, tools and other information to support whole health.• Whole health system video series: – Watch these brief videos and podcasts to learn more about whole health from other Veterans, VA leaders and clinicians across VA.• Personal health inventory: – Think about your health in a new way, focusing on what matters most in life and what brings you joy and happiness. Listen to a podcast about this approach and complete a personal health inventory to identify areas of focus to help you achieve your goals.• Whole Health For Life – Mobile Apps and Online Tools – Use these web-based and mobile tools to manage pain. Other • All Pain Treatments * – Practical Pain Management (PPM)Information on: Complementary Treatments, Interventional Pain Management, Manipulation and Massage, Pharmacological, Psychological, Rehabilitation.• Complementary Health Approaches to Chronic Pain * – National Institute of Health (NIH)Evidence to support complementary health approaches for different pain syndromes. • “Arthur’s transformation”*(video) – https://ddpyoga.com Never, Ever Give Up. Arthur’s Inspirational Transformation! YouTube video• US Pain Foundations – Complementary Therapies – US Pain FoundationList of complementary therapies and definitions.
