Once a diagnosis has been made, treatment can start. Just as every person is unique, so too is their therapy. A suitable treatment plan will be made to suit your particular needs based on your symptoms. Usually, you’ll need to go through a number of therapies to help with your condition’s pain symptoms. The following options could be part of a thorough treatment plan:
- Orthotics and splints: Oral splints may be advised to reduce forces from teeth grinding or clenching, which may be contributing to your symptoms. In our practice, we provide this therapy option.
- Spray and Stretch: A doctor or therapist can temporarily divert a muscle with a very cold spray before stretching it to the point of release. The muscle is able to move through its whole range of motion when a trigger point has been released. Outside of physical therapy sessions, a patient must keep up with limbering, stretching, and strengthening exercises to retrain the injured muscle.
- Medication: A myofascial pain patient needs temporary pain relief to help them deal with the persistent discomfort associated with their disease. This is a crucial component of the treatment strategy. Ibuprofen and naproxen, two over-the-counter NSAIDs, can assist a patient in controlling their pain. Pain relief has also been linked to tricyclic antidepressants.
Below is a list of additional modalities that can be useful. When and if necessary, we will recommend you for these services.
- Physical therapy: A qualified practitioner may use physical manipulation to release muscle contraction brought on by a taut band and muscle trigger point. Stretching exercises and lengthy strokes during massages along tense muscles may reduce tension in the muscles. A physical therapist may carry out and suggest activities focused at long-term posture improvement if bad posture is causing muscle fatigue and strain.
- Trigger Point Pressure Release: This course of treatment entails applying progressively more pressure to a muscle trigger point in an effort to loosen the taut band and tense muscle tissue.
- In this procedure, a local anesthetic, such as lidocaine or a corticosteroid drug, is injected into the sensitive, knotty tissue of the trigger point in the muscle. The trigger point can be released and treated with physical therapy more successfully after the injection works to relax its tension and reduce any accompanying pain. (Recommended if a physiatrist so advises)
Myofascial pain treatment frequently depends on the patient’s state of health or the degree of the injury. A person’s rate of improvement may also change depending on a number of factors, such as:
- Overall health and physical fitness
- Observance of at-home and self-care procedures
- Skeletal anomalies that are to blame
- Depression, stress, or anxiety
- Nutrition
- Sleep quality Other medical issues