Did you know that there are as many as 600 muscles in the human body? While muscles allow us to move and breathe, they can also cause us a lot of pain. This is where trigger point injection therapy for chronic pain can come in handy.
But what exactly is this type of therapy and how can a trigger point injection therapy specialist help you and your chronic pain? Keep reading and learn more about how it works below and how it might be able to get to the root of your chronic pain.
Understanding Chronic Pain
Chronic muscle pain can happen for a variety of reasons. One of the main reasons is that your muscles are always tense for one reason or another. Your muscles may become tense as a result of a stressful situation, for example.
If you are often under a lot of stress, then it would make sense that your muscles are often tense. Besides that, if your muscles are tense all the time, this will eventually result in knots. Knots are stiff and inflamed portions of your muscles that are often quite painful.
You can sometimes even feel them if you massage your muscles since they feel like hard bumps or knots in your body. Once these knots form, they will only get worse with more stress. Besides that, they can cause a lot of pain because they are blocking or even compressing certain nerves in your body.
Knots can sometimes compress blood vessels as well which makes it difficult for certain parts of the body to receive the blood and nutrients they need to function properly. This pain and discomfort that the knots produce will only result in more muscular tension which, of course, will only lead to even more knots and more pain.
The Details
As you can imagine, this can easily turn into a cycle that never ends. Many people deal with muscle pain on a regular basis and they figure that they can’t do anything about it and that it may never go away on its own. While it is unlikely for this problem to go away on its own, that doesn’t mean that it can’t go away at all.
With the right kind of treatment, you can part with this type of chronic pain for good. Or, at least, you can significantly reduce the severity of your pain and discomfort. This is important because some people have muscle pain that is so severe that it is hard for them to even move.
Needless to say, this could be very detrimental to a person’s quality of life. Fortunately, one of the most common modes of treatment for this problem involves a very simple procedure known as trigger point injection therapy.
While this procedure may sound scary and complicated, it is actually very straightforward and many people find that it can help them overcome their muscle pain and tension. But what exactly is this therapy and how does it work?
Read more from this trigger point injection therapy guide to find out.
What Is Trigger Point Injection Therapy for Chronic Pain?
As mentioned before, areas of tension in the muscles are often called knots and are usually the sites of muscle pain. However, these points are also known as trigger points. Trigger point injection therapy, as the name suggests, aims to focus on these points to relieve pain and tension.
But how? It all has to do with injecting certain medications into these points to relax them and reduce pain. Usually, these injections are a combination of different medications.
Most commonly, these injections consist of corticosteroids, lidocaine, and saline. Corticosteroids are important because they have very powerful anti-inflammatory properties. Since trigger points are often inflamed and painful, this type of medication will do a lot of good to soothe the area.
Besides that, lidocaine on its own is a very efficient pain reliever. As soon as your pain specialist injects lidocaine into your muscles, you will feel immediate relief. Saline, on the other hand, is essentially salt water and ensures that the area is hydrated and healthy.
What You Need to Know
When a specialist injects all these things into a trigger point in your body, the medication will all work together to produce very powerful results. This injection will not only numb the pain but also get to the root of the pain with the help of corticosteroids. By reducing the inflammation in the area, that area of the body won’t produce as much pain to begin with.
More importantly, this injection will allow that area of tension to finally relax. Keeping your muscles relaxed is very important for keeping them healthy and pain-free. Once your muscles finally have a chance to relax, they also have the chance to repair themselves.
This is important because inflamed areas of tension are usually filled with damaged cells and tissue. When you allow your muscles to repair themselves, they will become less inflamed and in general, a lot healthier. Keep in mind that these areas of tension can occur in almost any part of the body including the back neck, arms, legs, and so on.
Fortunately, these injections can help no matter where the area of tension is.
All About Trigger Point Injection Therapy
Trigger point injection therapy for chronic pain is more effective than you might expect. With its use of lidocaine and corticosteroids, this injection not only reduces pain but also the inflammation causing the pain. That way, your muscles can relax and heal.
To learn more about it, click here.
