Most people experience pain relief within 24 to 72 hours after undergoing a Trigger Point injection procedure. This relief usually lasts for about a month, but if the pain persists, additional injections may be recommended for long-term relief. To understand the uses, effectiveness, side effects and risks of trigger point injections, read on. On average, the pain relief provided by a Trigger Point injection lasts around 30 days.
However, the duration of the medication may vary depending on the severity of the injury or condition. The frequency of injections can also influence how long you remain pain-free. Your doctor will help you create an effective treatment plan. Anesthetic drugs injected into trigger points usually take effect within a few hours.
Steroid injections may take up to two weeks to start working, or they may not work at all. Some people find relief with dry needling, while others don't. Trigger Point Injection (TPI) treatment involves injecting a local anesthetic alone or a mixture of an anesthetic with a long-acting pain reliever (usually a corticosteroid) at the point of muscle activation. In essence, the injection “breaks tight muscle, relieves muscle spasms, and relieves pain in the long term.” If more than one trigger point is suspected of causing pain, several trigger points may be treated in one visit.
Ultrasound imaging can help reduce the risk of serious complications from trigger-point injections. Some people may experience immediate pain relief from this procedure, while others may not respond to treatment. Emotional or mental stress can further aggravate trigger points if it causes certain muscles to tighten. Trigger point injection therapy is used to relieve painful trigger points (painful areas of overactive muscle that get too tight and feel like “knots” or hard bumps when pressed).
To ease pain at trigger points, it is important to reduce stress levels, improve posture and participate in an exercise program. During the procedure, the doctor will insert a small needle into a myofascial trigger point and inject the medication. Trigger point injections can help relieve pain caused by conditions affecting the musculoskeletal and nervous systems, such as fibromyalgia and myofascial pain syndrome. A trigger point is a sore spot in the muscle that feels like a knot under the skin or a tight muscle band.
If pressure is applied to a trigger point, it can cause extreme pain at the point of contact and often in other parts of the body as well. Trigger point injections are not recommended for people who have an active infection, a bleeding disorder, allergies to local anesthetics or medications being used, are pregnant or are taking anticoagulant medications. Myofascial trigger points and fibromyalgia cause similar pain profiles, and some researchers believe that myofascial trigger points contribute to fibromyalgia pain. Trigger points that arise due to chronic conditions keep recurring.
Trigger point injections can offer immediate pain relief and better range of motion for people with chronic muscle pain.
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