Pain Relief & First Aid

Healthcare professionals rely on both cryotherapy (cold therapy) and thermal therapy (heat therapy) to manage pain, control inflammation, and promote faster recovery. While both methods support healing, they work through different physiological mechanisms.

Opioids are chemicals that interact with the opioid receptors in your nerve cells. They can be natural, created from the opium of poppy plants, or synthetic, created using chemicals in a lab. The term opiates is sometimes used to refer specifically to natural forms. Opioids reduce pain, but they also cause a feeling of euphoria, a “high”, which is why they can be misused.

If you’re a physical therapy clinic seeing a lot of students coming in with back pain, you may want to consider offering backpack screenings to assess children and the backpack they’ve chosen to see if it’s a proper match.

As I have grown up around golf there has always been a discussion about if golf is a “real sport” and if it is not a “real sport” then of course there is little to no chance you can get injured. As research shows, that’s just not the case.

Traditionally, methods such as icing, elevating the injured limb, and lymphatic massage have been used to manage swelling. However, modern therapeutic techniques are gaining traction among clinicians for their ability to provide longer-lasting relief. One such method is the use of kinesiology tape, a flexible, elastic tape designed to support muscles and joints without restricting movement.

Both pelvic floor physical therapy and dry needling have reached fever pitch in the media as well as in the blogosphere. Both are important in that they are changing the way that we treat and manage a variety of conditions that we have yet to have good answers for.

Curious about the extensive benefits of Red Light Therapy? From reducing chronic pain to supporting mental health, Fringe’s RLT versatility is backed by scientific research. Whether you're looking to enhance recovery from injuries or boost your overall well-being, RLT offers a safe and effective solution.

Migraines affect over one billion people annually, causing pain that should never be considered normal. There are a wide variety of contributors to migraines and a surprising one is temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD).

Following an injury, the road to recovery can be short, easy, long, or arduous. A lot depends on a person’s physical condition, age, and the nature of the injury. However, a good physical therapy regimen can do a person a lot of good.

It’s impossible to list every potential physical therapy tool, but some are more commonly used than others. Here are seven of the best at-home physical therapy tools recommended by Dawn Chambers, PT, DPT to share with your patients for rehabilitation.