Trigger Point Injection
Trigger Point Injection
Trigger Point Injection
In some people, trigger point injection, also known as TPI may be an alternative for pain relief. TPI is a procedure that is used to treat painful muscular trigger points, which are knots that form when muscles do not relax. Such knots are frequently felt beneath the epidermis. Trigger points can irritate the nerves surrounding them, causing transferred pain to another portion of the body.
Trigger-point injections are used by doctors to treat persistent muscle pain and other musculoskeletal disorders.
Muscle pain can result from anything from sleeping in an improper position to tearing huge muscle groups after a strenuous weightlifting exercise.
Many types of muscle pain go away after a few days of rest, but those who experience persistent or chronic muscle pain may need medical help.
Chronic muscle discomfort can affect a person’s capacity to function as well as their quality of life. People with persistent muscle pain may find that trigger point injections provide rapid relief.
Learn about the benefits, efficacy, side effects, and hazards of trigger point injections in the sections below.
When Is Trigger Point Injection Used?
Trigger point injections may help reduce pain caused by musculoskeletal and nervous system problems like those listed below.
Myofascial pain syndrome
Myofascial pain syndrome is a chronic pain disorder that affects the muscles and their surrounding tissue. Trigger point injections may help relieve symptoms.
Trigger points in myofascial pain syndrome cause pain reactions in seemingly unconnected places of the body. Referred pain is the term for this phenomenon.
Trigger point injections relax the afflicted muscles, reducing localised muscular pain, and researchers believe the injections disrupt the nerve signalling pathways that produce referred pain.
Myofascial trigger points can be caused by a variety of factors, including:
- Muscle trauma or injury
- Repetitive motions
- poor posture
- psychological stress
A person with myofascial pain may also suffer the following symptoms in addition to transferred pain:
- Muscular soreness in certain areas
- When the sufferer moves or strains the injured muscle, the discomfort becomes more intense
- Muscular knots that a person may feel with their hands
- Stiffness or weakening of the muscles
- Having a limited range of motion is a problem
Fibromyalgia
One of the reasons why your doctor must regularly monitor your pain medications is that they can have negative side effects, such as:
Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain disorder that has some of the same symptoms as arthritis but affects the soft tissues rather than the joints.
Although the specific aetiology of fibromyalgia is uncertain, there are some risk factors to consider:
- An autoimmune illness such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis in the past
- Trauma, either physical or psychological
- Fibromyalgia runs in the family
- infections
- being a woman
Doctors used to diagnose fibromyalgia in persons who complained of pain or soreness in specific trigger points all over their bodies.
Unlike myofascial pain syndrome, which is characterised by localised muscle pain, fibromyalgia is characterised by generalised discomfort.
This shows that fibromyalgia pain is caused by neurological issues that impede the brain’s ability to process sensory information.
However, myofascial trigger points and fibromyalgia have comparable pain profiles, and some studies suspect that myofascial trigger points have a role in fibromyalgia pain.
Headaches & Migraines
Trigger points in the shoulders, neck, and head can contribute to migraine and tension-type headache conditions.
The presence of myofascial trigger points was compared in 20 physiotherapy students with episodic migraine and 20 healthy individuals without migraine in a 2014 study.
The migraine group had a much larger number of myofascial trigger sites, according to the researchers.
The association between myofascial trigger points and pressure pain sensitivity in persons with episodic or chronic tension-type headaches was investigated by the authors of a 2016 study.
People who had more myofascial trigger points were more susceptible to pressure pain than those who had fewer. The data imply that the intensity of these headaches is influenced by myofascial trigger points.
Do Trigger Point Injection work?
For patients with persistent muscle pain, trigger point injections may provide rapid pain relief and a greater range of motion.
These injections, however, do not have the same effect on everyone. Some patients report significant pain relief right after the injections, while others report that it takes many days or weeks for their discomfort to subside.
Trigger point injections are ineffective for some persons.
The effects of these injections in people with abdominal muscular pain were explored by researchers in a modest 2019 study. Two years following the initial injection, the subjects reported considerable pain reductions. Five of the subjects needed a second injection, while another had no reaction to the medication.
Despite the fact that trigger point injections may have significant benefits for certain patients, several studies have indicated that this therapy is ineffective.
Side Effects
Trigger point injections can have a number of short- and long-term consequences, including:
- Around the injection site, there may be some pain or transient numbness.
- Near the injection site, there may be discolouration or dimpling of the skin.
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Bleeding
In addition, anaesthetic-based trigger point injections can result in myonecrosis, a severe kind of muscle injury. This could take 3–4 weeks to heal.
After a few hours, pain, swelling, and discomfort at the injection site normally subside. Contact your doctor if any adverse effects do not go away within a few weeks.
Nerve blocks come in a variety of forms, but they aren’t always effective. Nerve blocks may not be right for you if your pain isn’t caused by a single or small group of nerves. Your doctor will be able to tell you if this treatment is right for you.
Risks
While trigger point injections seldom result in major side effects, they can cause:
- At the injection site infection
- Bruising
- Harm to the muscles or nerves
- Occasionally, air or gas can build up between the chest wall and the lungs, causing one or both lungs to collapse.
Ultrasound imaging can help to reduce the chance of a significant trigger point injection complication.
Nerve blocks come in a variety of forms, but they aren’t always effective. Nerve blocks may not be right for you if your pain isn’t caused by a single or small group of nerves. Your doctor will be able to tell you if this treatment is right for you.
Outlook
Myofascial pain syndrome, fibromyalgia, and tension-type headaches can all benefit from trigger point injections.
Injections are given directly into the afflicted muscle by a doctor or another healthcare professional.
A local anaesthetic, steroid, or botulinum toxin A may be used in the injection.
Some people respond well to trigger point injections, while others do not.
A doctor can explain the dangers and advantages of this treatment in further detail.
Nerve blocks come in a variety of forms, but they aren’t always effective. Nerve blocks may not be right for you if your pain isn’t caused by a single or small group of nerves. Your doctor will be able to tell you if this treatment is right for you.