Focus on Myofascial Pain

Specialist in eliminating Myofascial Pain

Elliot R. Shratter, CMTPT

Myofascial Therapist

1916 Griegos Road NW

Albuquerque, NM 87107
Phone: 505-720-8606

Focus on Myofascial Pain

Focus on Myofascial PAIN

These tips are to highlight the very common and treatable condition known as myofascial pain.

I'll add a new tip each month to focus on a specific myofascial pain syndrome or answer a question.

Caffeine and Myofascial Pain

According to Travell and Simons, researchers in the field of myofascial pain, “small to moderate amounts of caffeine may help to eliminate trigger points by increasing vasodilation in the skeletal musculature.

However, coffee and/or cola drinks that contain caffeine, when taken in excess of two or three cups, bottles, or cans daily, are likely to aggravate trigger point activity.

Many combination analgesic drugs contain caffeine that may add significantly to the total caffeine load without the patient realizing it.”

A little Caffeine is OK.

But don't overdo it...

If you happen to have a bone spur on the plantar surface of the calcaneus, you may think the spur is the cause of heel tenderness. However, if you were to see a radiograph of your other heel, it too, may show an equally large spur that is free of symptoms.

Your heel spur MAY be coincidental and have no causal relation to the pain and tenderness.

A soleus muscle trigger point is often a major cause of such pain and can be easily treated with a combination of:

• pressure to the trigger point

• stretch with a vapo-coolent spray

• a home stretching program

The Cause of Heel Pain May not be a SPUR

Scalene Muscles

Trigger points in the scalene muscles can mimic other conditions such as C5-C6 radiculopathy, cervical spine articular disfunctions, carpal tunnel syndrome, and thoracic outlet syndrome. Effectively treating the trigger points in these muscles with myofascial therapy relieves the pain and is an easy way to rule out these other conditions.

Here are various pain patterns caused by trigger points in these muscles. In addition to the pain, you might have other symptoms like numbness, tingling and edema in the hand.

The solid red marks the most common areas of pain caused by trigger points (marked by an X) in the scalene muscles. The stipling marks areas of pain that are less common.

Focus on Myofascial PAIN

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