Tough-to-Treat Myofascial Pain Responds to Botulinium Toxin Type A
It’s pretty neat to see an article addressing an incredibly common condition that is virtually unheard of in mainstream medicine. Although this study uses Botox, other methods include trigger point therapy, post-isometric relaxation stretches, moist heat and manipulation.
53rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology Nearly three-quarters of patients with refractory myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) experience good to excellent pain relief following treatment with botulinium toxin type A (Botox) injections, according to data presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). While botulinium toxin type A has proven effective in a variety of conditions associated with muscle spasm, the literature on its use in refractory MPS has been limited. Of the 187 injections in 104 patients in whom records were available for review, Dr. Royal reported that 135 (72.2%) injections resulted in good (16.6%) to excellent (55.6%) pain relief, lasting an average of 2.7 to 3.8 months. Nearly one in five patients (19.2%) who had an excellent response had at least a six-month duration of relief. Treatments were well tolerated with only a handful of patients having mild and very transient reactions. Myofascial pain syndrome is a common chronic regional pain syndrome defined by the presence of trigger points and referred pain remote from the involved area, Dr. Royal noted.