Muscle pain is optional; it’s time to get your life back.
For functioning better at home and work, for avoiding surgery or recovering from injury, this is the essential treatment for muscle pain and dysfunction.
“Myofascial trigger points are unbelievably common yet commonly overlooked.”
– David G. Simons, MD, pioneer, researcher, aerospace physician and leading expert in the field of pain management
Muscles are an under-treated cause of pain. In fact, with a specialized branch of medicine for almost every area of the body – heart, eyes, lungs, skin, kidneys, etc. – there is oddly no muscle specialty in medicine. As a result, while myofascial pain from trigger points accounts for an estimated 85% of all visits to doctors for pain, it is often over-looked as the possible source of the pain by both those seeking relief and their doctors.
“Muscle is an orphan organ. No medical specialty claims it. As a consequence, no medical specialty is concerned with promoting funded research into the muscular causes of pain, and medical students and physical therapists rarely receive adequate primary training in how to recognize and treat myofascial trigger points.”
– Dr. Simons
Patients seeking relief from pain are still treated with the traditional approach of anti-inflammatory medications, muscle relaxants, anti depressant medications and strengthening programs. These prove ineffective, if not detrimental, as painful trigger points do not respond to them, and may be further aggravated by the increased contraction of strengthening exercises.
It is encouraging that myofascial trigger points are becoming more commonly considered when physicians diagnose their patients. Some primary care physicians regularly administer trigger point injections, and some recognize the presence of trigger points and refer to Myofascial Trigger Point Therapists. Those that do so enjoy an increased success rate and grateful patients.