What, exactly is myofascial pain syndrome?
This syndrome is caused when the muscles tighten to such an extreme that the muscles end up in large knots, these areas become so painful that it hurts every time someone tries to use that particular set of muscles.
These areas known as trigger points will continue to tighten up until the knotted area is worked out.
This huge knotted up mass can not only create pain in that area, it can cause pain to radiate to other parts of a person’s body.
Why are my Muscles Treating Me This Way?
The exact cause is unknown. Many physicians agree that injury to those particular muscles can cause this syndrome to occur.
Studies also show that continues use of the muscle, puts a lot of stress and strain in it, which can cause myofascial pain.
Give me Relief
Although there isn’t a cure for this syndrome, there are several different treatment options to reduce the muscle contraction, which relieves the pain. I will discuss them in the following paragraphs.
Some people believe pain is the result of built up negative energy, that’s flowing throughout your body. So in order to stop the pain, they believe they need to replace this negative energy with positive energy. This is done through several different methods.
Pranic healing is a type of treatment that replaces the bad, negative chakras with positive energy, through various techniques. These methods treat the energy, which heals the body.
Yoga and meditation is another option. They use deep breathing techniques to relax the mind and get rid of negative energy.
This calming of mind also helps rejuvenate positive energy. Yoga also works with various postures, which relieves stress and helps a person sleep.
Some use Ayurveda medicine to help relieve the pain. This practice began thousands of years ago with Buddhism and Hinduism.
This type of holistic treatment focuses on creating a balance of the mind body and soul. They believe that a person has to be in sync with the universe, in order to have complete homeostasis.
How does it work? This type of treatment uses different massaging techniques with various essential oils, to recreate this healthy balance.
The type of massaging technique and the essential oil used depends on that person’s particular ailment.
Your Home Can Be Causing Your Pain
Some people believe that negative energy is stored in their home. In order for them to remove the negative energy they may do a different number of things. One of these is Feng Shui.
Feng Shui consists of cleaning their home, making sure to clear away all the unnecessary clutter. A person would then rearrange, reorganize and redecorate their living space using specific Feng Shui colors. Sometimes a bowl of sea salt is set out.
This salt is thought to absorb all the negative energy. It’s suggested to replace this sea salt every couple of months.
Some clean their home with sea salt and water. This will also help remove all the negative energy. Whether you use sea salt, or not, it’s thought that just the act of cleaning your home clears away all of the harmful negative energies.
What Oils are best for Myofacial Pain?
Many use aromatherapy to help relieve the symptoms of myofascial pain syndrome. While others use massage oils. Aroma therapy’s intended to heal the pain by first healing the person’s mind, body, and soul.
This oil can be applied directly to the skin, or used as an inhalant where it will be absorbed into the mucous membranes in the nose and then distributed throughout the body.
To get relief from painful, stiff sore muscles, an herbalist might suggest using black pepper, peppermint, wintergreen, eucalyptus, juniper rosemary, kava kava, skullcap and rose. I will explain a little about them, in the following paragraphs.
When mixed with other essential oils, black pepper has shown to be useful in curing things like digestive issues and constipation. It’s also shown to be beneficial in maintaining heart health.
Peppermint is good for digestive issues like upset stomach, heartburn, and indigestion. I put a small drop in an 8 oz. bottle of water for my babies when they became colicky.
This always seemed to calm their tummy pains and helped them rest. Peppermint has also been proven to be beneficial for constipation, liver disease, and repertory issues.
Eucalyptus also helps with repertory and digestion ailments it’s known to open airways and help with mucus secretion.
Juniper helps detoxify. It helps get rid of the harmful free radicals. It’s often used as part of a skincare regimen. In addition, juniper helps with urinary problems.
Rosemary is good for mental health and is often used in hair care products.
Rose creates balance and harmony. It is used in skin care.
They also suggest the use of chamomile, jasmine and my all-time favorite lavender. These oils will help a person relax, which will ease their pain.
Chamomile will also help build up a person’s immune system.
Jasmine is used to restoring energy. It’s also great for the skin.
Lavender is used for many things. It helps relieve stress and fatigue. It restores good energy, its comforting scent helps with insomnia. It can be used to clean minor abrasions and it’s wonderful for your skin. Did I mention how heavenly it smells?
Lastly, they suggest using geranium, lemon and grapefruit, to restore the positive energy.
Geranium helps with numerous circulatory and nervous disorders. It restores damaged tissue and is good for skin health.
Lemon is an antitoxin. It helps with the nervous system and many people use it in their skincare regimen.
Grapefruit is an antitoxin and it helps with weight control.
Some people use sea salt or Epson salt in their bath to remove the negative energy that’s causing the pain.
For the sleepless nights often associated with this painful disorder, may suggest the following organic herbs; Jamaican, dogwood, wild lettuce, valerian, passionflower, and hops.