Living with Fibromyalgia? Trigger Point Injections May Alleviate Your Pain

Four million people in the United States live with ongoing fibromyalgia pain. If you’re one of them, you know just how exhausting and challenging the condition can be. Luckily, it’s also manageable with a three-tiered treatment approach that works to:  

• Minimize your day-to-day pain symptoms
• Control unexpected symptom flare-ups
• Support your overall health and well-being

At Interventional Sports and Pain Management Associates in Humble and Baytown, Texas, board-certified pain management expert Dr. Okezie N. Okezie helps Houston-area patients manage periodic fibromyalgia pain flares and restore a better quality of life. 

Here, Dr. Okezie explains how one specific pain relief procedure — trigger point injections — can deliver swift and sustained relief during fibromyalgia pain flares.  

A short tutorial on fibromyalgia pain 

Fibromyalgia is a chronic rheumatic (arthritis-related) condition that causes widespread musculoskeletal pain, tenderness, and stiffness — along with ongoing fatigue, emotional distress, mood and memory issues, and trouble sleeping. Fibromyalgia pain can be:

• Constant and widespread
• Limited to one part or region of the body
• Fluctuating (come and go)
• Migratory (move around)
• On both sides of your body
• Clustered in tender points

Fibromyalgia often begins following significant physical trauma or psychological distress. Researchers believe the disorder somehow affects the way the brain processes pain signals, effectively amplifying sensations so they feel more intense than they actually are. 

People with fibromyalgia are more likely to develop separate, co-existing pain conditions — like migraines, chronic back pain, osteoarthritis, and myofascial pain syndrome. 

Myofascial pain and “trigger points” 

As one of the most common pain conditions to co-exist with fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndrome causes the development of hypersensitive trigger points within the taut, smooth band of connective tissue (fascia) that covers and protects your muscles.  

These hypersensitive trigger points are very similar to the clusters of tender points that appear with fibromyalgia, and often overlap one another. A recent study shows that most fibromyalgia tender points are also myofascial trigger points.  

Trigger points may be small, but they can cause a significant amount of discomfort. While they’re typically tender and painful to the touch, they can also give rise to referred pain that emerges elsewhere in your body, far from the trigger point itself. 

When a muscle’s overlying fascia is studded with painful trigger points, the area becomes increasingly tense. As the affected muscle loses its strength, flexibility, and range of motion, nearby muscles are forced to compensate. This puts more pressure on your joints and pulls your body out of balance, creating a virtual recipe for further pain and discomfort.  

Trigger point release and pain relief 

Trigger point injection therapy is a safe and effective way to release trigger point knots, loosen the overlying fascia, and restore unrestricted movement to the affected muscle. And as luck would have it, these simple injections also alleviate fibromyalgia pain, too.  

After ascertaining the location and severity of your trigger points and tender points, Dr. Okezie cleanses each injection site, gently pulls your skin taut, and injects an anesthetic mixture that prompts near-instant relaxation at the targeted trigger point. 

While most trigger points loosen and subside after just one injection, Dr. Okezie may have to administer one or two additional injections from slightly different angles to take care of large or overly persistent trigger points. 

Most people experience immediate pain relief following trigger point injection therapy. To keep your muscles relaxed and pain-free as the weeks and months go on, it’s important to stay active and perform any recommended fibromyalgia stretches or exercises.

Ready to find out how trigger point injection therapy can benefit you? Interventional Sports and Pain Management Associates is here to help. Call or click online to schedule a visit at your nearest office in Humble or Baytown, Texas, today.