Trigger point injections help soothe myofascial pain. Doctors often use these injections around the neck, shoulder, arms, legs, and lower back. Trigger points are painful spots in your muscles and may be very sensitive to touch or when you exact pressure. They can result from acute trauma or repetitive microtrauma on muscle fibers. Trigger points may feel like small bumps or knots in your muscle. Trigger point injections Dubuque usually involves your doctor administering local anesthetic with or without corticosteroid or Botulinum toxin.
When should you consider trigger point injections?
Trigger points injections help treat myofascial pain. Fascia is the thin, white connective tissue that is wrapped in each of your muscles. Myofascial pain typically results from one or more trigger pains. Your doctor may recommend trigger point injections if your pain does not respond to other treatments, including over-the-counter medications, myofascial release, or physical therapy.
Doctors usually combine trigger point injections with physical therapy and stretching exercises to relieve pain. The strategy can be particularly helpful when the trigger point injections are initially used to alleviate pain if you cannot do physical therapy or stretch due to extreme pain. Trigger point injections can help physical therapy to be more effective.
Your doctor will first do a thorough physical examination to ensure you are fit for the treatment. Trigger point dry needling can treat various conditions, including sciatica, headaches, tennis elbow and neck, back, shoulder, or knee pain. You may not qualify for trigger point injections if your pain results from muscle strain, structural causes, or a pinched nerve. You are also not a candidate for this treatment if you have back pain from spinal column problems like herniated discs, spinal stenosis, or degenerative arthritis.
What happens during the trigger point injections procedure?
Depending on the affected region, your doctor may suggest you sit or lie on an exam table. The doctor will clean the affected region with an alcohol pad and may mark the area with a skin marker. The healthcare provider will then identify the trigger point by feeling it and pinch the site between the fingers and stabilize the tissue. You may feel mild discomfort. The provider will insert a thin needle attached to a syringe into the affected point and rhythmically needle the area by inserting and retracting the needle without fully withdrawing it from your muscle.
You will most likely experience a muscle cramp or spasm, and your doctor will continue with the process until your muscle twitching stops or the muscle feels sufficiently relaxed. The provider will finally inject the region with local anesthesia with or without corticosteroid or Botulinum. You can go home immediately after the trigger point injections procedure.
How effective are trigger point injections?
After trigger point injections, most patients experience pain relief between twenty-four to seventy-two hours. Pain relief often lasts for about one month. Your doctor can recommend additional trigger point injections if you are still experiencing pain to help attain long-term pain relief.
Trigger point injections help relieve myofascial pain. The injections may involve local anesthesia with or without Botox or corticosteroid. Schedule an appointment at American Rehabilitation Medicine for trigger point injections to relieve your muscle pain.
