Having muscle pain and muscle strain? Try acupuncture?

Acupuncture is effective for muscle pain

Muscle pains are common and almost everyone has sore, aching muscles sometimes. Muscle pain can involve a small area or your whole body, ranging from mild to excruciating and can involve more than one muscle. Most muscle aches and pains go away on their own within a short time, but sometimes muscle pain can last for months. Muscle pain can develop almost anywhere in your body, including your neck, back, legs and even your hands.

Muscle pain also can involve ligaments, tendons, and fascia, the soft tissues that connect muscles, bones, and organs. Muscle pain is most frequently related to tension, overuse, or muscle injury from exercise or physically-demanding work. In these situations, the pain tends to involve specific muscles and starts during or just after the activity. It is usually obvious which activity is causing the pain. Trapezius muscle is a large superficial muscle that extends longitudinally from the skull to the upper back and laterally to the shoulder blade. Its functions are to move the scapulae and support the arms. These muscles are usually overused and painful due to much stress and improper postures.

Acupuncture is a useful tool to release trapezius muscle pain. There were 20 women aged ranging from 18 to 40 years with upper trapezius muscle pain for average 5.55 years. They were treated with acupuncture After 9 sessions of acupuncture treatments, a reduction in pain intensity was observed on the upper trapezius muscle on both sides. The Pain pressure threshold increased significantly on both sides at the end of the treatment. A significant increase in the electromyography values of the trapezius during isometric contraction was observed at the end of treatment.

Hamstring muscle strain

The hamstring muscle group is made up of three separate muscles: the semitendinosus, semimembranosus and biceps femoris. They originate from the lower part of the pelvis, lie on the back of the thigh and insert into the back of the shin bone. They mainly bend the knee and extend (straighten) the hip joint when contracting. Hamstring strain is a very common condition. When the muscles are pulled, a sudden sharp pain at the back of the thigh can be felt. This pain is sudden onset often after certain activity. The muscle will often feel tight and tender and go into cramp. Walking may be painful. In severe case, there could be swelling and bruising. It is likely to get hamstring strain, if the activities involved in hamstring such as running, jumping or sudden stopping and starting; if you don’t warm up before exercising, if the muscles in front of the thigh are tight since they pull the pelvis forward and tighten the hamstring, if glutes are weak, Glutes and hamstring work together weak glutes can make hamstring overloaded and become strained. Acupuncture can reduce the pain and help hamstring recovery.

The deltoid muscle is a triangular muscle located on the uppermost part of the arm and the top of the shoulder. Like many other muscles, the deltoid can be sore for a variety of reasons, including overuse and tendon injuries. When the deltoid muscle is injured, one may feel pain or tenderness at the front, side, or back of the shoulder, especially when lifting the arm. The injury can be from mild with tightness and slight pain without restriction of movement to severe pain, swelling and severe restriction of shoulder and arm movements. Acupuncture can release deltoid muscle pain.

Suffer from Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS)? Acupuncture can help

Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) refers to pain and presumed inflammation in the body's soft tissues or muscles. It is a condition of muscle pain. It is a chronic, painful condition that affects the fascia (connective tissue that covers the muscles). It could involve either a single muscle or a muscle group. The main complaint is muscle pain. The pain can be deep, aching pain in a muscle and it can persist or worsen with activity or stress. It can affect one’s sleep. Examination can find trigger points in related muscles and a tender knot in a muscle. The causes include a muscle injury, strain on a muscle, ligament or tendon, disks problem, chronic fatigue, repetitive movement, lack of activities, some medical conditions. Muscle tightness creates trigger points in the muscles. An acute muscle injury or continual muscle stress may lead to the development of trigger points. People who frequently experience stress and anxiety may be more likely to develop trigger points in their muscles.

There are four types of trigger points

An active trigger point is an area of extreme tenderness that usually lies within the skeletal muscle and which is associated with a local or regional pain.

A latent trigger point is a dormant (inactive) area that has the potential to act like a trigger point. It may cause muscle weakness or restriction of movement.

A secondary trigger point is a highly irritable spot in a muscle that can become active due to a trigger point and muscular overload in another muscle.

A satellite myofascial point is a highly irritable spot in a muscle that becomes inactive because the muscle is in the region of another trigger pain.

Acupuncture can reduce myofascial pain effectively by releasing muscle tension and removing trigger points in the muscles.