Injections for Muscle Pain/Spasms
Original Post: I have PPS with all the signs of muscle weakness and fatigue. My doctor sent me to therapy and it's a chiropractor who suggested having shots once a week in the different places in my back which would be something like an ibuprofen and a small amount of Lidocaine to numb it. My back is very stiff I'm very tight and I have a lot of knots in my upper back, shoulders neck area.
I have scoliosis that is very bad he doesn't believe he can do much with the scoliosis but he wants to help the spaces in between the spine to be able to continue to move and not fused together. My question is does that sound like a good plan along with stretching and traction?
Dr. Bruno’s Response: I would be concerned about a chiropractor doing a manual adjustment of your back. Will the chiropractor inject you? Massage for deep tissue spasms done by a professional, can be really good, although painful during the treatment.
The best thing you can do though to prevent the spasms is to find out what's causing them and get rid of the cause. You have to look at how you sit, whether you have appropriate support for your lower and upper back. If not? Get support.
We always recommend you work with your physician to seek out the source of the pain. I would think seeing a rehabilitation physician (physiatrist) who knows something about PPS and a physical therapist that specializes in back pain would be more helpful.
In the hands of a good rehab doc, injection of a local anesthetic into painful areas or actual dense and painful muscle spasms in the back and neck, combined with deep tissue massage and eliminating the spasm/pain triggers, can be really helpful to break the spasm/pain cycle. Plus, the injections can be done in the office and they hurt way less than a bee sting.