How Physical Therapy Can Help You Alleviate Chronic Pain
Have you been living with chronic pain? Are you willing to do what it takes to feel good again? At Darien Physical Therapy, our physical therapists use the most advanced strategies to help you manage your pain and, for some, eliminate it altogether!
September is Pain Awareness Month, and in honor of this, Darien Physical Therapy would like to provide you with some vital information regarding the origins of pain and how physical therapy can help manage and alleviate it.
Pain is very complex. Gone are the days when ignoring or pushing through your pain was the best solution. Fortunately, our team understands the complexity of pain and, more importantly, how to alleviate it once and for all! Pain happens for several reasons and manifests in different ways.
Understanding the source of your pain is one of the first steps to combat it and prevent it from returning in the future. Our clinic specializes in treating people from all backgrounds and experiences with pain. We are trained professionals who will have you feeling your best in no time at all.
If you’re experiencing discomfort or have noticed that your ability to do your usual activities has dwindled, it’s time to call in our team of physical therapists from Darien Physical Therapy today!
Understanding the Source of Your Pain
How long you’ve been experiencing pain, where it developed, and how it manifests are significant distinctions that can help shed some light on what may be causing your condition. It is also essential to understand that the intensity of your pain is not always the more reliable characteristic for finding relief.
Too often, people focus only on the intensity of their pain which is influenced by stress levels and societal or familial beliefs. The location and duration of pain are effective, reliable ways to manage and alleviate your pain once and for all.
When you meet with a Darien Physical Therapy physical therapist, you’ll have a conversation about your pain to determine how it started, when it began, where it began and how it behaves (i.e., what makes it better or worse).
There are also some things to consider before heading into physical therapy:
- Try to remember or identify precisely where the pain occurs in your body. Pain that is localized can be easier to identify the possible tissue that is causing it. When pain is more diffuse, it can be trickier to figure out what is causing it.
- Consider how the pain feels. Is it a steady ache or sharp and intermittent? Is it more of a tingling or prickly feeling? Each sensation is associated with different types of problems, so describing your pain appropriately may help determine the best treatment methods for your body’s needs.
- Does it get worse with activity or inactivity? For some people, there are specific movements that cause pain. For others, the issue is due to the quantity of accumulation of activity and not a specific event. One of the most common misunderstandings is that pain needs something to worsen, but in reality, many people get worse from a prolonged position or improper posture.
No matter what, our physical therapists can help! We are experts at weeding through the possibilities and clarifying what is causing the pain. Our goal is to help you resolve it once and for all!
So What is Chronic Pain?
Our bodies sustain injuries and experience pain no matter how careful we are. Too often, people wait too long to seek help, which can make the situation more complicated and lead to chronic pain. Chronic pain is pain that persists past normal healing time and lasts or recurs for more than 3 to 6 months.
Although most people think of chronic pain as a continuous problem, most of the time, it is cyclic in nature. Typically an individual will have an episode of pain that gets better only to be followed by a recurrence, followed by yet another recurrence.
As time goes on, the frequency and duration of the pain get longer, whereas the periods where it is less problematic grow shorter.
Seeking help from the physical therapists at Darien Physical Therapy can make all the difference. Identifying the underlying cause of your pain and figuring out the possible triggering events can lead to a reversal of the condition and eventual relief.
How Physical Therapy Can Help
Physical therapists are trained in identifying and treating the cause of your pain. This allows you to shift away from using pain medication and instead find relief with strategies that include manual therapy, stretching, muscle building, and cognitive behavioral therapy.
Considering any changes in your daily habits or environmental factors can be very helpful in determining what is causing your pain. Our therapists will work with you to identify solutions that fit your lifestyle and offer lasting results. The combination of physical therapy with psychological approaches has been shown to be the most effective way to improve physical function and resolve chronic pain struggles.
Our clinic uses several manual therapy techniques that focus on the areas you’re experiencing pain or movement restrictions. When the reason for your pain is determined, we assist you through movement to regain optimal function in each joint, muscle, or other tissue causing the pain.
Our physical therapists are as dedicated as you are and will encourage you to achieve all the goals you outlined in the beginning!
Request an Appointment with Us Today
The result of physical therapy at Darien Physical Therapy is that you can live the active life you want, free of painful limitations. Call our office today or click below and set up an appointment with one of our specialists!
Exercise of the Month
Piriformis Stretch
(Glutes, Sciatic Nerve)
Start by sitting up straight with your knees bent and feet flat. Bend your leg and place your ankle across the top of your other knee. Rotate your trunk toward your bent knee and gently pull your knee toward your chest until you feel a stretch in your hip. Hold for 30 seconds.
2 Sets, 1 Reps
(Materials needed: chair)
A Gentle Boost For Everyday Aches: Curcumin In Food and Supplements
By Christine Updegraff, MS, Bellwether Wellness
Pain can make movement difficult—but moving less can contribute to stiffness, weakness, and even more discomfort. Physical therapy helps interrupt that cycle by addressing strength, mobility, and movement mechanics. Nutrition may provide additional support, and one of the most studied botanical options is curcumin.
Turmeric and Curcumin: What Is the Difference?
Turmeric is the golden-yellow spice made from the root of the Curcuma longa plant. Curcumin is one of turmeric’s naturally occurring active compounds and is responsible for much of its color.
Turmeric has a long history of culinary and traditional use. Today, concentrated curcumin extracts are also available in supplements promoted for joint comfort and a healthy inflammatory response.
What Does the Research Show?
The most encouraging evidence involves people with knee osteoarthritis. Reviews of clinical trials suggest that turmeric or curcumin extracts may modestly reduce knee pain and stiffness while improving physical function for some people. However, the studies have used different extracts, doses, and absorption-enhancing formulas, making it difficult to identify one approach that works best.
It is also important to keep the potential benefit in perspective. Curcumin is not a rapid or powerful pain medication, and it should not be expected to control severe or debilitating pain. Botanical pain support is usually gentler and more gradual. For some people, however, even a modest improvement may make walking, exercising, or participating in physical therapy feel more manageable.
Bringing Turmeric Into the Kitchen
Using turmeric in cooking is a simple way to incorporate this colorful botanical into an overall healthful eating pattern. Its warm, earthy flavor works especially well in:
- Soups, stews, and lentil dishes
- Roasted vegetables
- Rice and grain bowls
- Scrambled eggs
- Curries and marinades
- Smoothies or warm “golden milk”
Try whisking turmeric into olive oil with black pepper, garlic, and lemon for a vegetable or chicken marinade. Curcumin is fat-soluble, so preparing turmeric with foods containing healthy fats—such as olive oil, avocado, nuts, or coconut milk—may support absorption.
Culinary turmeric contains considerably less curcumin than the concentrated extracts used in most clinical studies. Think of cooking with turmeric as a supportive dietary habit rather than a treatment for pain.
Considering a Curcumin Supplement?
Supplement formulas vary substantially. Some provide standardized curcuminoids, while others use specialized delivery systems or add piperine from black pepper to increase absorption. Greater absorption is not always better for every person, and highly bioavailable products have been associated with rare cases of liver injury.
Curcumin supplements may also cause stomach upset, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, or acid reflux. Speak with your healthcare practitioner before taking one—especially if you use prescription medications, have liver disease, are pregnant, or are preparing for surgery. Choose a reputable product that has undergone independent third-party testing.
Curcumin is best viewed as one possible addition to a broader pain-management plan—not a replacement for evaluation, physical therapy, appropriate medical care, restorative sleep, or regular movement. New, worsening, unexplained, or disabling pain deserves professional attention.
Sources: National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, “Turmeric: Usefulness and Safety”; Hidayat R. et al., Journal of Rheumatic Diseases, 2025; Zhao J. et al., Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2024.
Healthy Recipe: Grilled Salmon w/ Peach Salsa
Ingredients
- 2 salmon fillets (about 6 oz each)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt, black pepper, and paprika
- 1 large ripe peach, pitted and diced
- ¼ cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
- ¼ cup red onion, finely diced
- 1 tbsp fresh jalapeño, minced (seeds removed for less heat)
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
- Juice of 1 lime
Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine the diced peach, bell pepper, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro, and lime juice. Toss gently, season with a pinch of salt, and set aside so the flavors can meld. Pat the salmon fillets dry with a paper towel. Rub them with olive oil, then season evenly with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. Heat a grill or a stovetop skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the salmon skin-side down for about 4-5 minutes until the skin is crispy. Flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Transfer the cooked salmon to plates and spoon a generous mound of the fresh peach salsa right over the top.
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