|
Trigger Points are the main Symptom of MPS.
Trigger Points (TrPs) are found as extremely sore points occurring in ropy bands throughout the body. They can also be
felt as painful lumps of hardened fascia. The bands are often easier to feel along the arms and legs.
If you stretch your muscle about 2/3 of the way out, you might be able to feel them. Sometimes the muscles get so tight
that you can't feel the lumps, or even the tight bands. Your muscle feels like "hardened concrete".
TrPs can occur in the myofascia, skin, ligaments, bone lining, and other tissues. They can be caused by a surgical incision,
as is often the case with abdominal surgery. You have probably never heard of TrPs, yet they are quite common. Each specific
TrP on the body has a referred pain or other symptom pattern that is carefully documented in the Trigger Point Manuals.
Myofascial TrPs can entrap the nerves, blood, and lymph vessels, causing a variety of symptoms that confuse doctors and
patients alike. Often nerve damage is erroneously suspected, and many expensive, unnecessary (and often painful) tests are
ordered. TrPs are formed of multiple microscopic areas called active loci (pronounced low-sigh).
These loci cause the segments of the muscle fibers, called sarcomeres, to become distorted. Eventually, a contraction knot
forms, as well as a taut band. When you have TrPs, your muscle strength becomes unreliable. You may also notice that when
one part of your body is supported by another part while you are sleeping, the part being compressed goes numb.
Most specific pains called fibromyalgia are actually caused by these TrPs. TrPs seem to form throughout life as a response
to the many things that happen to our bodies. They can be caused by a variety of events ranging from a surgical incision,
overuse, repetitive motion, trauma, bruises, strains, joint problems, and so forth. Many of the aches and pains attributed
to "old age" may actually be due to TrPs, and may be reversible.
Dizziness, ringing of the ears, loss of balance, and other symptoms can all be caused by TrPs in the side of the neck,
in the muscle group called the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) complex. This muscle group performs many functions, one of which
is to hold up the head. Receptors in the SCM complex transmit nerve impulses to inform the brain of the position of the head
and body in the surrounding space. When there are TrPs present, the receptors lie. What they tell the brain is not what the
eyes tell the brain. When head movement changes the SCM message (when you turn around or look up or down) you get dizzy. This,
coupled with poor balance, can make it seem as if the walls are tilting. When people with FMS drive, we get the impression
that we "bank" our turns at a steep angle, as if we were driving a motorcycle. Also, TrPs associated with the SCM muscle group
can cause patterns of light and dark, such as tree shadows on a road, to create an almost seizure-like phenomenon. Looking
at certain printed fabrics, such as plaids, stripes, and polka dots, can make us dizzy.
TrPs often form as a result of other medical conditions. For example, a case of arthritis might be otherwise well managed,
but the accompanying TrPs might be completely overlooked. That patient's pain load could be substantially lessened if the
secondary TrPs were treated successfully. Diagnosis really becomes challenging when body wide TrPs develop with overlapping
referral zones. This "spread" of TrPs gives the impression that the condition is progressive, but it isn't. It may be getting
steadily worse, but with proper attention to perpetuating factors and appropriate treatment, the "progression" can be reversed.
Sometimes the TrP is inside the pain pattern, and sometimes the pain pattern occurs elsewhere. Each specific TrP on the
body has a referred pain or other symptom pattern that has been carefully observed and documented in many patients. This pain
pattern is similar from patient to patient. Active TrPs often produce other symptoms, also usually in their referred pain
zones. Such a TrP hurts whenever you use the muscle involved. When the point becomes very active, pain and other symptoms
result, even when the muscle is at rest. A latent TrP doesn't hurt at all unless it is pressed. It restricts movement, and
weakens and prevents full lengthening of the affected muscle. If you press on a latent TrP, it will refer pain in its characteristic
pattern. A latent TrP may be activated by overstretching, overuse, or chilling the muscle.
If TrPs are treated immediately and vigorously, and perpetuating factors (conditions that aggravate and perpetuate the
TrPs) are avoided or remedied, the TrPs can be eliminated. If the muscle is pushed to work in spite of the pain, especially
if perpetuating factors exist, active TrPs may develop secondary and satellite TrPs.
|
