Musculoskeletal Pain
Musculoskeletal pain can quickly overwhelm your life. You go from having a clear vision of who you are to simply struggling to exist. We understand that one of the most difficult things about living with musculoskeletal pain is that sometimes the reason for the pain cannot be explained.
We want you to know that we understand your pain, we believe your pain, and we want to help you find an end to your pain. Dealing with musculoskeletal pain is an adversarial struggle, especially when the reason for your pain is not clearly known. You wake up every morning, you find it difficult to move, you find it difficult to work, and it is a challenge to interact with your friends and family. Since the medical community has not been able to identify the reason for your musculoskeletal pain, you may feel like you are guilty of being a hypochondriac, and every single day is a struggle to prove that your pain is real.
What Causes Musculoskeletal Pain?
The truth is there is no one thing that leads to musculoskeletal pain. Pain can be caused by:
- Tissue Damage
- Wear and Tear
- Accidents
- Sprains
- Fractures
- Dislocations
- Trauma
- Repetitive Movements
- Prolonged Immobilization
- Changes to Your Posture
- Muscle Shortening
- Muscle Tears
- And many other identifiable and unidentifiable issues
Regardless of the reason for your musculoskeletal pain, the truth is it affects every single moment of your life. In addition to the limitations that the pain puts on your mobility, there are the effects the pain has on your mental and emotional state. One musculoskeletal pain sufferer said, “The search for a cure seems futile, and it is draining me of the energy I need to continue going.”
Understanding Different Types of Musculoskeletal Pain
Musculoskeletal pain is produced by joints, bones, tendons and ligaments, muscles, or bursae. The source of the pain often plays a role in its intensity.
- Bone pain is described as deep, penetrating, and a dull ache. In most cases, bone pain can be connected to an injury. When an injury is not the culprit, things such as bone infections, tumors, or endocrine disorders are usually what causes the pain.
- Muscle pain usually will not hurt you to the same extent bone pain does. But it is unpleasant nonetheless. Muscle pain is caused by spasms and cramps. An example of this is a Charley horse. The pain it produces is intense. Muscle pain can be the result of an injury, an infection, tumor growths, or diminished blood flow.
- Tendon and ligament pain usually does not hurt to the same extent that bone pain does. It’s sharp and intensifies when the tendon is moved. Tendon pain, depending on the source, may improve with rest. Tendinitis, tendon injuries, tenosynovitis, and lateral or medial epicondylitis are among the primary reasons for tendon pain.
- Joint pain is often connected to joint inflammation. Arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, infectious arthritis, and inflammatory arthritis, are the primary reasons for joint pain. Joint pain becomes more intense when the joint is moved. And while it may calm down when the joint is not being moved, there is usually a constant dull ache. At times, ligament, tendon, or bursae injuries may mimic joint pain.
Fibromyalgia may cause pain throughout the musculoskeletal system. This pain is described as tenderness in specific trigger locations. It can be difficult to accurately describe the fibromyalgia pain, but the pain it produces is real. Some musculoskeletal malfunctions lead to nerve compression. Carpal tunnel would be a good example of this.
In some cases, what you feel as musculoskeletal pain is the result of a disorder in a different organ. For example, you may feel what you think is shoulder pain, but it is, in fact, a result of something affecting your lungs. Or you may have what you feel is back pain, but it is a kidney stone. Pain in your armpit may be the result of a heart attack.
Understanding the Symptoms of Musculoskeletal Pain
How does musculoskeletal pain make you feel? For many, it feels like the entire body is aching. They feel like their muscles have been overworked or like they have done an extreme workout in the gym. Their muscles twitch, they burn, and they hurt. We understand that the pain you currently feel is unique from what others feel. However, it is likely that your musculoskeletal symptoms include:
- Pain
- Fatigue
- Insomnia
Musculoskeletal pain can make you feel like your body, something that you once trusted completely, is betraying you. As a chronic pain sufferer once said, “Musculoskeletal pain is forcing me to develop a new relationship with my body. I feel as if my body has betrayed me. Now, I must develop a new relationship of trust and cooperation with my body.”
How We Can Help
Over the years, we have had the experience of working with many individuals suffering from musculoskeletal pain. A lot of them have had the unfortunate experience of having doctors who believe that since they cannot diagnose the reason for the pain, the pain is not real. You will never have this experience with us. We understand that your pain is real, we believe you, and we will not give up on you.
Our mission is to listen to you. We want to hear how pain has affected your life. Once we get a clear picture of your experience with musculoskeletal pain, we will be better equipped to create a unique and individualized treatment plan.
Our first step is to develop something that will help you to manage and relieve your pain in the short term. Next, we are going to develop a long-term pain management program.
When you walk out of our clinic, you are going to know unquestionably what our plan is to help you, what results you should expect, and what will be required of you to get the most out of your pain management treatment. We feel that the best thing we can do for you is to put all of the cards on the table during that initial consultation.
Musculoskeletal pain robs you of your life. We want to help you gain confidence in your body again. We want you to be able to rebuild your sense of self and to rediscover the things you enjoy but cannot currently do because of musculoskeletal pain.