Performance Health Technologies, Inc. is giving sufferers of chronic pain new tools to combat muscle atrophy and other pain related problems. The company has developed advanced software that allows the user to visually monitor a wide range of body movements, a form of sophisticated motion-oriented bio-feedback that’s of special importance to those who have learned to be afraid of movement.

Chronic pain is different than other types of pain, posing a unique set of issues. Normally, pain is a protector of the body, a signal to discourage us from taking actions that can cause or aggravate injury. When pain is chronic, a professional diagnosis can look for hidden underlying causes, and prescribe appropriate treatment. Medication or surgery may solve the problem, but sometimes nothing works and the pain continues, suggesting that the pain signal itself may be the problem. Chronic pain can sometimes be a false indicator, a bad warning light alerting someone of risks that are not really there. Such pain can be the result of neurological disorders, such as fibromyalgia, or earlier injuries that have thrown the pain feedback mechanism out of balance.

Whatever the cause, if treatments are not available, chronic pain can have an almost paralyzing effect on anyone experiencing it, and is often accompanied by depression. The problem is that chronic pain can cause a debilitating fear of even limited activity, which discourages the sufferer from performing much needed movement, resulting in gradual muscle atrophy. Not only does this limit the person’s mobility, it can actually contribute to increased chronic pain.

Performance Health Technologies, through its innovative feedback systems, gives people a new way of managing their pain. By showing the user exactly and continually how much they are moving a sensitive part of their body, therapists are discovering that it provides a sense of control that encourages patients to go further. Once the user knows that movement will not increase the pain, they learn not to be afraid of it, freeing them to perform at increased levels. This in turn helps alleviate the very serious problem of muscle atrophy and accompanying depression.

With a huge anticipated wave of aging but still active baby-boomers expected to swell the ranks of chronic pain sufferers, Performance Health has positioned itself as a key provider of an increasingly in-demand technology.

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