MUSCLE SPASM & TRIGGER
POINTS
Do your muscles feel "tight", especially in the morning?
Do you always need to stretch with constant aches and pains in your
neck, low back and hips? Do you feel old and stiff with morning
fatigue, sleeping problems and many tender spots? These are some
of the symptoms of a condition called fibromyalgia, chronic muscle
spasm, rheumatism, myofascitis, myositis, or myotendinosis.
Trigger points are tender, sensitive areas that, when pressed, stuck,
heated, or cooled can be exquisitely painful. You may first discover
trigger points when you are surprised by someone pressing a seeingly
pain-free area. Trigger point pain may also be referred to other
areas of the body. Trigger points are common in chronic muscle spasm,
myalgia, myositis, fibrositis, strain and sprain, and other muscle
and joint problems.
To standard medicine, muscle spasm, fibrositis, and trigger points
are a mystery. No specific abnormality has consistently been found
in the muscles or connective tissues of people with fibromyalgia
and nothing is known to be awry in their body chemistry. Medical
doctors have tried novocaine, procaine, and xylocaine injections;
cooling sprays; muscle relaxant drugs; cortisone injections; and
other drugs, with mixed results. These are temporary, often hit-or-miss
solutions. The still-suffering patient is often referred to a physical
therapist for heat, massage, and other modalities, again with limited
success.
A holistic approach to this condition has become very popular. Strong
psychological components, - anxiety, compulsiveness and depression
- have been noted: Psychological problems (ranging from being abused
as a child to living with an alcoholic spouse) are issues that need
to be dealt with while treating fibrositis.
Many people with fibrositis are sedentary and out of shape. Aerobic
exercise can improve the sleep disturbances, fatigue, and pain of
fibrositis. Plus your muscles need a chance to relax, too. This
can be done in various ways: muscle stretching, massage, hot showers,
hot and cold compresses, and liniments (oil of wintergreen is widely
used).
The most common disruption of the nerve-muscle relationship occurs
as a result of the vertebral subluxation complex. A vertebral subluxation
occurs when the spinal bones (the vertebrae) become misaligned and
irritate or damage the spinal cord, spinal nerves, fascia, meninges,
and other tissues. Subluxations can alter the concentration of enzymes
and other chemicals necessary for skeletal muscle health which may
play a role in muscle disease. Compression of a nerve interferes
with impulse transmission, causing muscle paralysis, vasodilation
and trophic ulcers.
Chronic hyperactivity of sympathetic nerves is detrimental to the
tissues and organs which they innervate and may be related to musculoskeletal
dysfunction in the spinal area. Vertebral subluxation can cause
joints to "freeze" or lose normal movement, causing damage
to the involved area.
Clearly, if you are suffering from muscle spasm, trigger points,
or fibrositis, you should see a doctor of chiropractic to make sure
that your spine is free from vertebral subluxations. A healthy spinal
column will ensure that the nerves going to your muscles are free
of nerve interference and that is a necessary foundation for healthy
muscle function.
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