July 17th, 2011 | Posted in 2 Pain, Injuries, Sports
Muscles Muscular Atrophy and motor impairment of the limbs (Flaccid Paralysis) is a clinical manifestation characterized by weakness or paralysis and reduced muscle tone without other obvious cause (e.g., trauma). — ‘Wei Syndrome’ in Chinese Medicine.
Myofascial Pain Syndrome (myofascial refers to the combination of muscle and fascia). This is described as a focal hyperirritability in muscle that can strongly modulate central nervous system functions.
Travell and followers distinguish this from fibromyalgia, which is characterized by widespread pain and tenderness and is described as a central augmentation of nociception giving rise to deep tissue tenderness that includes muscles. Studies estimate that in 75–95 percent of cases, myofascial pain is a primary cause of regional pain.
Myofascial pain is associated with muscle tenderness that arises from trigger points, focal points of tenderness, a few millimeters in diameter, found at multiple sites in a muscle and the fascia of muscle tissue. Biopsy tests found that trigger points were hyperirritable and electrically active muscle spindles in general muscle tissue.
In the treatment of trigger points for persons with myofascial pain syndrome, an acupuncture needle is inserted into the skin and muscle directly at a myofascial trigger point. A myofascial trigger point consists of multiple contraction knots, which are related to the production and maintenance of the pain cycle.
Proper needling of a myofascial trigger point will elicit a local twitch response (LTR), which is an involuntary spinal cord reflex in which the muscle fibers in the taut band of muscle contract. The LTR indicates the proper placement of the needle in a trigger point. Research has indicated that acupuncture that elicits LTRs improves treatment outcomes.
No study to date has reported the reliability of trigger point diagnosis and physical diagnosis cannot be recommended as a reliable test for the diagnosis of trigger points. Knowledge of the points is required.
Causes of Flaccid Paralysis
A common cause of flaccid paralysis is anterior spinal artery syndrome, in which the anterior spinal artery is blocked. Blockage can be caused by spinal cord trauma, cancer, arterial disease, or thrombosis. Other causes include:
Note. Pins ‘n’ Needles and Muscle Spasms are often due to deficiency of Magnesium.
