Myofascial Pain Syndrome Support Group
Myofascial Pain Syndrome (or MPS) is a term used to describe one of the conditions characterized by chronic pain. It is associated with and caused by "trigger points" (TrPs), sensitive and painful areas between the muscle and fascia. The symptoms can range from referred pain through myofascial trigger points to specific pains in other areas of the body. It may be related...
good evening all. i was just wondering if your pain gets worse after a bad cough? my trigger points bother me, but they bother me the most after coughing a lot. im also wondering about getting prolotherapy injections in the near future. I have the common trigger points in my upper body the neck, shoulder, trapezius muscle, back of my head. and i also get the WORST migraine attacks. and the postdrome for my migraines in the throbbing of the trigger points with anxiety and depression that just wont let up. is this common? im only 22 and live a sedentary lifestyle because of this. any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!
Sorry to hear about the pain you are in . I know Katy will speak about prolotherapy as i have not been through it, only know about it. She did tell me you need to be in alignment, as some of us have alignment problems, i with my spine and pelvis.
Have you been to a myotherapist? It sounds as though you could use to see someone experienced in trigger point therapy. Not injections, but manual work. You need someone to work on the trigger points you have. The migraines may very well be caused by trigger points in your neck/shoulders.( referred pain).
YOu may want to look into a book that can answer some of your questions by Devin Starylanyl called Fibromyalgia and Chronic Myofascial Pain A Survival Guide. I have MPS only, but she talks about trigger points and referred pain among many other issues. If you had some of the trigger points under control, I am sure you would feel better, it would help your depression etc
I looked up the Starnyl book and she says about migraines:
many migraines are caused by trps in the sternocleidmastoid, cutaneus fascial, temporalis, trapezius, and posterior cervical muscles. These muscles woudl refer pain to your eyes and above your head. Many upper body trps may contribute to headaches.
Her book shows diagrams of where your pain is and wear the reffered pain patterns are, so you may want to look into it, and you can even show your dr. ( if they listen). I would suggest looking into a good trigger point therapy specialist in your area, it sounds like that is something you need.
hope that helped
Jess gave you some good suggestions. I have two more to add. My personal opinion is that you should have you musculoskeletal system checked out. I used to get horrible headaches too. The only doctor that was able to stop them was an Atlas Orthogonal Chiropractor. The Atlas Chiro is not the "crack" type. Many times in cases of migraines, the Atlas (top vertebrae) or C2 are out of alignment. Getting my Atlas and C2 in percisely the correct alignment, not only stopped my headaches but the muscles spasms in my back ended too. Check out this website www.atlasorthogonality.com or www.globalao.com (I think they may give you the same information.) The site will explain the Atlas method and there is a place to locate doctors that are trained. Look for one who is board certified and has taken many of the yearly classes offered. My Atlas Chiro said that 80% of these chiropractors also treat the entire body, which mine does. I always see him before I go to prolotherapy to make sure I'm in alignment.
Besides a myotherapist or an Atlas Orthogonal Chiro, prolotherapy might also help you if your ligaments are lax or weak in your back and neck. If the ligaments aren't strong, then the muscles have to take up their job and they can't do it. Thus, they will develop trigger points and the muscles contract. I have had prolotherapy to my lumbar and thoracic spine and shoulders, SI joints and hamstring attachments at the pelvis and knee. I feel that it has solved my back pain, but the jury is still out on my leg pain. (My leg pain started from a different injury than my back pain.) I strained my back muscles lifting heavy objects. My Atlas, C2, SI joints, sacrum and pelvis were thrown out of alignment when I took golf lessons and that is when the headaches and leg pain started. Two websites for information on prolotherapy are www.caringmedical.com and www.getprolo.com On the getprolo website, you can find a list of doctors who give prolotherapy injections. I noticed that you live in SC, so I checked the site and there is one in Mt. Pleasant, SC who sounds like he could be helpful to you since he suffered chronic headaches etc... and prolotherapy cured him. His name is Dr. Lovegrove and he is also an osteopath. The prolotherapist that I see is an osteopath and they are good because they are medical doctors, but are trained in musculoskeletal manipulation. The search for solutions to pain seems to be a process of elimination. You have to find the source of the pain and that isn't usually an easy task, because each of us is different. Try the different modalities mentioned and good luck in finding what works for you. Kat