May marks Fibromyalgia Awareness Month. That makes it an excellent time to talk not just about this health condition, but also the ever-expanding number of treatment options that can help with it.
Here at Hawai’i Pain and Spine on the Windward side of O’ahu in Kailua, Dr. Jonathan Carlson offers a broad spectrum of options to help people with fibromyalgia. And in honor of Fibromyalgia Awareness Month, we want to bring attention to one specific option that can soothe fibro symptoms.
If your flare-ups often cause you sore or tight muscles, you might be a good candidate for trigger point injections.
Fibromyalgia is associated with 18 tender points that occur throughout the body. You might develop muscle knots — also called trigger points — in those tender points, contributing to pain in your neck, back, hips, or shoulders.
These knots can become particularly painful when you’re having a flare-up. Since fibro flares often heighten pain levels, any discomfort the knot was causing you before might become severe.
Fortunately, Dr. Carlson can target that knot and encourage your body to release that muscle.
Trigger point injections work by delivering medication directly into the knot. Here at Hawai’i Pain & Spine, Dr. Carlson usually recommends trigger point injections that contain anesthetic and corticosteroid. This provides pain relief in the area while simultaneously fighting inflammation. Reducing the local swelling helps to reduce tension in and around the muscle, encouraging the trigger point to relax.
Plus, the insertion of the needle can help to improve blood flow to the muscle, further encouraging it to return to its normal, relaxed state.
Finally, the injection can also encourage your brain to release endorphins, which naturally reduce pain levels.
Some people get relief from a single trigger point injection. If that relief is temporary, though, Dr. Carlson develops a plan to continue injections on a schedule that encourages lasting relaxation in that muscular knot.
Additionally, he works with you to implement other treatments and lifestyle changes that might help you keep your fibro flare-ups at bay — or at least minimize them when they do occur.
Those include:
Dr. Carlson aims to help you find treatments that improve your condition and minimize your flare-ups rather than simply masking your symptoms. He works with you to find alternatives to prescription pain medications, which don’t deliver any lasting improvement for your fibromyalgia.
Trigger point injections are just one treatment Dr. Carlson can explore with you to ease your fibro flare-ups. Don’t let Fibromyalgia Awareness Month pass you by without heightening your own awareness of your options. To work with our team on a treatment plan tailored to you, call our office to schedule your appointment at Hawai’i Pain & Spine today.
