[medical update] step one complete (?)
So today I got injections into the trigger points in my muscles. It sucked. I blacked out, nearly vomited, almost cried, and was shaky for probably ~two hours afterwards. Conclusion: Highly Uncool.
So basically, trigger points happen when your muscles make knots -- not just knots, like I need a massage type knots, but KNOTS. Imagine the fibers of your muscles like, I don't know, the tines of a fork, or spaghetti. Trigger points are when that shit gets fucked up. Instead of generally lined up spaghetti noodles, imagine a tight tangle of bullshit in the middle pulling all the other strands out of whack: but then instead of a tangle or a not imagine a rock made of pain in its place. This is the worst analogy, but basically, that's what it is. It isn't a knot that can be fixed with normal massage or stretching -- the tiny knot of intertwined fibers means that the OTHER fibers AROUND it are already stretched/pulled tight, and so massage or stretching can actually make it worse.
It's hard to prove that trigger points have actually formed -- usually it's the kind of thing you "prove" by curing symptoms. In my case, they definitely aren't sure it's what's happening, because I do have a herniated disc; and they aren't sure which is the cause of the other. How ever, there isn't anything really "bad" that can happen with trigger point injections. Worst case scenario is, they don't work, and I just threw some money.
What they do for these things is mix up an anesthetic and a steroid in a syringe. The doctor then finds the sore place in your muscle - with a basic understanding of where trigger points occur - and sterilizes your skin with alcohol. He then puts in the needle and sort of... Wiggles it, or waits, to make sure it's in the "right place"; then he injects a set amount of the mixture. Inserting the needle hurts, of course, and the injection part stings a little, but then the numbing kicks in somewhat. Today I got... I don't even remember cause I passed out and was confused. 8 of them?
They hurt, but not like a ton - but enough that it sucked. They were also just the worst possible combination of pain, incredibly weird, and horrendously gross.
Of course I'll put up with them if they help - procedures get better once you know what to expect; also they can give me a Xanax - but uh, it pretty much sucked.
Since trigger points are very individual and can be highly affected by variations in body chemistry - and since we all know how shite my body chemistry is - there's no good way to predict when I'll know whether or not it worked. Within a week I should have a better idea.
I spent the day lying on the couch or in bed or otherwise moving as little as I could because my body just felt weird, wrong, and I didn't want to think about it. Today sucked. :/
This entry was originally posted at http://seventhe.dreamwidth.org/337953.html, which has
comments. Comment there (with OpenID) or here, it's all good.
So basically, trigger points happen when your muscles make knots -- not just knots, like I need a massage type knots, but KNOTS. Imagine the fibers of your muscles like, I don't know, the tines of a fork, or spaghetti. Trigger points are when that shit gets fucked up. Instead of generally lined up spaghetti noodles, imagine a tight tangle of bullshit in the middle pulling all the other strands out of whack: but then instead of a tangle or a not imagine a rock made of pain in its place. This is the worst analogy, but basically, that's what it is. It isn't a knot that can be fixed with normal massage or stretching -- the tiny knot of intertwined fibers means that the OTHER fibers AROUND it are already stretched/pulled tight, and so massage or stretching can actually make it worse.
It's hard to prove that trigger points have actually formed -- usually it's the kind of thing you "prove" by curing symptoms. In my case, they definitely aren't sure it's what's happening, because I do have a herniated disc; and they aren't sure which is the cause of the other. How ever, there isn't anything really "bad" that can happen with trigger point injections. Worst case scenario is, they don't work, and I just threw some money.
What they do for these things is mix up an anesthetic and a steroid in a syringe. The doctor then finds the sore place in your muscle - with a basic understanding of where trigger points occur - and sterilizes your skin with alcohol. He then puts in the needle and sort of... Wiggles it, or waits, to make sure it's in the "right place"; then he injects a set amount of the mixture. Inserting the needle hurts, of course, and the injection part stings a little, but then the numbing kicks in somewhat. Today I got... I don't even remember cause I passed out and was confused. 8 of them?
They hurt, but not like a ton - but enough that it sucked. They were also just the worst possible combination of pain, incredibly weird, and horrendously gross.
Of course I'll put up with them if they help - procedures get better once you know what to expect; also they can give me a Xanax - but uh, it pretty much sucked.
Since trigger points are very individual and can be highly affected by variations in body chemistry - and since we all know how shite my body chemistry is - there's no good way to predict when I'll know whether or not it worked. Within a week I should have a better idea.
I spent the day lying on the couch or in bed or otherwise moving as little as I could because my body just felt weird, wrong, and I didn't want to think about it. Today sucked. :/
This entry was originally posted at http://seventhe.dreamwidth.org/337953.html, which has
comments. Comment there (with OpenID) or here, it's all good.