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...
I know generally anti-inflammatory medications are not thought to be effective in MPS but I just wondered if anyone has had any success with topical anti-inflammatories or other pain killing creams/gels/lotions?
I get some relief from oral iburprofen/advil but after a few doses it upsets my stomach.
So I decided to try ibuprofen 10% gel and while it obviously doesn't help systemic pain I do feel it reduced muscle tenderness in the areas it was applied. I also tried applying it to the trigger point areas after exercise and I felt it reduced irritation.
The problem is that it is quite expensive and I have so many sore spots I could use a whole tube in 2 days!
Anyone else had any success or recommend anything?
I get some relief from oral iburprofen/advil but after a few doses it upsets my stomach.
So I decided to try ibuprofen 10% gel and while it obviously doesn't help systemic pain I do feel it reduced muscle tenderness in the areas it was applied. I also tried applying it to the trigger point areas after exercise and I felt it reduced irritation.
The problem is that it is quite expensive and I have so many sore spots I could use a whole tube in 2 days!
Anyone else had any success or recommend anything?
It might be worth discussing with your doctor as it may be more appropriate for a small but regular dose of pain pills may help you get a better overall cover of the pain so you can continue the physical rehab to get better.
Be wary of using it after exercise, you run the risk of over-doing the exercise and masking the impact by using the topical gels. Doing too much (of anything) is the enemy as far as mps is concerned, whereas going at a steady pace all the time really helps in reducing the trigger points and pain.
One final thought: I use comfrey oil (mixed with weleda massage balm) on my trigger points and it has made a massive difference to my trigger points and large areas of muscle spasm. Comfrey is the one herb that has good research of having a positive affect on muscles and my experience backs that up! It helped me start to desensitize the muscle spasms, then help reduce the spsams allowing me to 'get at' the trigger points.
Have you done any reading on the overall process of pain management? There is something called 'planning and pacing' that helps you balance out what you can do in each day to try and avoid the major flare ups after overdoing it (overdoing anything really irritates the trigger points, sadly).
I already use codeine based painkillers (I think they are equivalent to tylenol 4?) and they are generally quite effective.
In general I do 'pace' myself but I get very frustrated at having such limited energy and physical resources. My latest effort is to lose a few lbs and try to get fit, in the hope that might help me?
I fear I spoke too soon with the ibuprofen gel. Yes it has some positive effect but after a few days I started to notice my stomach grumbling. Seems like these NSAIDS are generally not good for the gut.
Sorry for all the questions - I remember the misery of uncontrolled pain before getting to the right combination, not to mention the frustration dealing with the pain whilst working out what to take but also when to take it.