Myofascial Pain Syndrome Support Group

Hi Nicole,
I think it depends on the what you think might be the source of your myofascial pain as to which one you choose. Although I haven't done Rolfing, I do know a few others who found it helpful. It is my understanding that it restructures your body so that it is balanced. When the body isn't balanced the connective tissue or fascia becomes thicker, hardens, and shortens due to trigger points. Rolfing is supposed to restructure the body and soften the fascia, which I believe is accomplished in a 10 step program.

I think each person has to assess their situation and decide what will work best for them. Instead of Rolfing I went to an Atlas Orthogonal Chiropractor to realign my body and to a myofascial release therapist to soften or released the fascia. I can tell you that softening the fascia has been a long process for me, because it was harded down to the bone and it still needs continued work. Currently, I use a Bonnie Prudden trained Myotherapist to deactivate the TrPs and an Active Release Technique therapist to lengthen the muscles/fascia.

On the other hand, prolotherapy is needed if your tendons or ligaments have been torn or stretched beyond their capacity and have become weakened or lax. After years of chiropractic work and therapies to release my TrPs and fascia, I have significantly reduced my pain, as long as I don't overuse my muscles, which indicates to me that I haven't found the source or root cause of my pain. If I walk over a block or climb stairs, my legs end up in horrible pain. I feel burning, pulling, and tugging in the muscles. Or if I sit in a chair without good back support, my back will hurt until I see my chiropractor who adjusts L5 and does Active Release. Thus, it was suggested to me that I might have weakened ligaments from my original injuries. After extensive research, it made sense to me that prolotherapy might help me since my muscles could be contracting to stabilize joints due to weakened ligaments. Made an appointment with an osteopath who specializes in prolotherapy (Only go to one whose specialty is prolotherapy, not one that dabbles in it.). She palpitated the tissue in the area of my SI joints and lumbar spine and felt that I indeed have weakened ligaments in those areas, which often is the cause of leg and back pain. Thus, I'm scheduled for my first set of injections on Sept. 29. After that I will have first-hand knowledge of prolotherapy. As you know, prolotherapy is also a series of treatments, so results don't happen quickly. The doctor gave me a 90% chance of recovery so after 12 years of CMP I will be elated if it works for me, because I will get my life back. I think that is what we all want.

I understand your frustration with going to different therapies, spending the money, and still having pain. Unfortunately, this seems typical of people with our condition. According to Devin Starlanyl in her book Fibromyalgia & Chronic Myofascial Pain, "It (the fascia) won't reverse to its previously more liquid state without outside intervention", so don't give up going to therapy. Since Rolfing is a 10 series process, maybe you will feel improvement when you have completed the entire program, or maybe your new prolotherapist will help you. I hope that each one of us in pain finds the therapies that will reduce or eliminate it. Devin also states, "Remember, you must be in control of your own healing path". Kat

Thanks Kat. I too have the horrible burning, pulling and aching pain. I went to my first rolfing session yesterday. It mostly felt good. A little pain in some areas, but nothing compared to the daily pain I have had for seven years. I am ready for session number two because I do not feel any better. It is so frustrating to ruin your entire day because you swept your floor! The rolfer thought prolo was a bad idea. It seems that everyone I go to for help thinks I should do something different than the person before. I just want to feel like a normal person in their twenties. I have an appointment with the prolo doctor in a few weeks. He is worried that my thyroid will prevent my body from healing. I hope that is not the case.
Nicole

Hi Nicole,
I had my first set of prolotherapy injections on Tues. in both SI joints and the lumbar spine. I didn't feel that the injections were very painful and I was sore only for a couple hours afterward. Only needed to take 2 Tylonal. One thing my doctor mentioned was that after the 3rd set of injections, we would need to evaluate my progress. If neither one of us feel that I'm improving, then she would want me to be checked out again by my GP for an underlying medical condition that I"m not aware of. She specifically mentioned that a thyroid condition can prevent prolotherapy from working. In my case, she also would want me to have an updated MRI to look for spinal stenosis, since some of the symptoms in my legs could be casued by this condition.

I hope the Rolfing treatments will be helpful to you. It will be interesting to hear what your new prolotherapist says about your thryoid condition and whether he/she feels that it can be controlled to the point where the prolotherapy will work. I wish you the best in finding what works for you. Kat

Thanks to everyone for reporting on what is working. I think that helps us all in figuring out what to try next. I will be expecially interested with how the Prolotherapy goes, Kat. As for, me, I won't be trying anything new for a while. Unfortunately I got a blood clot in my vena cava vein in my shoulder a few weeks ago. Now I am on blood thinners, so I can't try anything that is potentially traumatic or invasive - not even sure I will be able to get my Botox injections while I am on Coumadin, but I have been told it's OK to exercise and do Active Release. Funny how your priorities can change -

Kat I hope the prolo works for you. I remember it being painful...but maybe I'm just not very tough. lol I used to think I was...boy was I wrong. I am scheduled to do prolo again on the 13th of this month. A little scared due to the cost and the possible let down that will just depress me further. Also worried about CSF leak....I missed five days of work last time I did prolo because of this....part of the reason I never went back. Let me know about your results.

Hi Nicole,
It has been a week since I had my prolotherapy injections and I definitely feel that my lumbar spine is stronger. I can sit longer at the computer, sit longer without a back support, and do more things without back pain. I haven't had back pain, since the injections. On the other hand my legs are adjusting to the change in my gait, so some of the muscles have developed trigger points, are tight, and sore. I work on the trigger points myself and then go to Active Release to have the muscles stretched out. My prolotherapist warned me that often people get worse before they get better. Also, sometimes it takes 3-6 months of monthly injections to see results. I think this may be the case with my legs, so I must be patient. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that lax ligaments in both SI joints (She also injected the piriformis attachments.) are the source of my leg pain.

I didn't develop headaches from the injections. Maybe it depends on what area is injected. Were your injections in the thoracic or cervical spine? Also, forgot to mention that the medical assistant sprayed me with the numbing spray as the doctor was injecting, so I think that reduced the pain of the injections.

Are you still going to Rolfing? Let us know how your prolotherapy injections go on the 13th.

Hope this series of injections works for you. Kat

The cooling spray sounds wonderful...maybe the new dr will try that approach. I am glad your back is doing better. I just had a trigger point massage and feel like crap now. Deep tissue work always kills me. My prolo was around the left scapula and upper thoracic/rib attachment.

Katty2, I'm very interested in reading about what you write about Prolotherapy. I already know how have lax/loose ligaments in my hips and hypermobility and that seems to contribute to my inability to be stable in my pelvis and contributes to my pain. But Prolotherapy sounds sooo scary to me! I'm seeing a pain management specialist on monday who is a leader in prolotherapy and i'm almost afraid for him to suggest it!

Welcome to the group sharogold,

From my research on prolotherapy, it should help you, since you have pelvic instability. There is a very small sub group on Daily Strength called Pelvic Instability started by Orchid. She is extremely knowledgable on prolotherapy and pelvic instability. She is also in the chronic pain group so you can find her there too. Send her a message (Don't post on her site, because she doesn't look at it that often.) She is a success story and was helpful in answering my questions about prolotherapy, even though I don't have true pelvic instability. She gave me hope that it will also help my leg pain, because she had the same problem that I have, which is our legs develop trigger points and the muscles shorten and tighten. Along with Active Release, prolotherapy fixed her tight leg muscles "for good". I'm hoping that prolo will fix my leg pain "for good" too.

Fof the past five years, I have had to go to my chiropractor every couple weeks to be aligned and after my first prolotherapy treatment, he couldn't find anything out of alignment. That was amazing, since that hadn't happened in the five years that I have been going to him. Strenthening the ligaments stabilized my bones. I was surprised that the prolo worked so quickly on my alignment and back. On average, it usually takes 4-6 treatments to achieve permanent results, but can take longer if your problems are severe. I know Orchid went for treatments over a period of 9 months. I think it will take at least 6 or more treatments to find the source of my leg pain. Sometimes it is a process of elimination as to what is causing the pain and a person has to be patient with the process.

I too was very nervous about the pain involved with the injections, but for me they aren't very painful. Maybe the coolant spray reduces the pain, but I only need 2 Tylonal afterwards. I think everyone has a different pain tolerance. Also, maybe if you have torn ligaments or extremely lax ligaments, it might be more painful. I've had 2 treatments of about 40 injections each time in the ligaments of the SI joints, piriformis and glutes, in addition to the lumbar spine. My third appointment is Nov. 18. I have noticed two improvements; my skeletal system is staying in alignment and my back is usually pain free, unless I do something too strenuous. This is wonderful after seven years of chronic lower back pain. I have continued with Active Release twice a week to keep my back and leg muscles stretched out. I've learned how to work on my trigger points using the book The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief by Clair Davies. But I do have a Bonnie Prudden trained Myotherapist who can work on stubborn trigger points if needed. The following are some websites for further information on prolotherapy:
www.caringmedical.com
www.getprolo.com
prolotherapy.com" title="http://www.prolotherapy.com" target="_blank"> www.prolotherapy.com

I know the injections sound scary, but getting rid of pain is a BIG incentive. Personally, I'm tired of pain and the restrictions it has placed on my life. Let us know how your appointment on Monday goes and if you found this doctor helpful. Kat

Well, I had the appointment with the pain guy and I really didn't like him. He did a thorough evaluation but I still felt like everything led up to his being really salesman-like about prolotherapy. I just don't know if that's the road I want to go down and even if I did like and trust him I would be hesitant. But the fact that I didn't feel great about him didn't help...and the stress of leading up to the appointment was hard too. He gave me some muscle relaxant med for the short-term, that made me all fuzzy and yuck. I hated it. Today my neck and jaw are killing me more than ever...and my psoas is still uncomfortable, blah. Definitely in an acute phase still...