Myofascial Pain Syndrome | chiropractor victoria bc
When we first met her; Laurie came into Diversified Health very upset, fed up and feeling like nobody could help her, and thinking that we probably couldn’t do anything much for her either. Her doctors had told her to learn to live with the constant pain she’d been experiencing for several years, and were apparently baffled by her condition.
Laurie told us that the pain had taken over her life. She could no longer work, and her marriage was not doing well. Her relationship with her teenage daughter was also very bad. Laurie said she knew adolescent girls were tough to cope with, but she also knew that they needed some attention, and Laurie was unable to interact with her daughter on most days because of the pain. She felt guilty and inadequate because she felt like a failure, both at work and in her family life.
A friend had suggested that the practitioner at Diversified Health would pay actual attention to her symptoms and would help her to attain some level of health and freedom from pain. She was hesitant because she’d never been to a chiropractor, and wasn’t quite sure what the experience would be like.
We took a complete medical history to determine if there were any obvious or subtler areas of trauma. The evidence suggested that Laurie was suffering from myofascial pain syndrome (MPS), a painful problem characterized by “trigger points” of pain, and a limited range of motion in the affected area. It’s also a condition that is exacerbated by stress. Ironically, in her worry and fear over finding a way to pain relief, Laurie was inadvertently worsening the condition.
Laurie could point out where the pain spots of her myofascial pain syndrome were located, and we were also able to readily identify the knobby points of muscle tissue in each place where she said she was hurting so badly. These trigger points don’t show up on imaging, but an experienced chiropractor will be able to find them by touch. Stay tuned for the next article where we discuss the Recommended Action Plan for Laurie in dealing with Myofascial Pain Syndrome | chiropractor victoria bc .