Pain is a warning our body sends to itself. Our bodies are sending signals to our brains. I personally think the signals are like, “there seems to be a problem with this part, so keep an eye on it”. There are different types of pain, but I’m going to discuss the common muscle pain that many people experience. In myalgia, the nerves connected to the muscle fibres are stimulated and transmit signals to the brain, which makes us feel pain. Thus, many therapists find the problematic “trigger point” by facilitating the muscle during treatment.
So, what types of treatments are in progress?
Firstly, speaking of massage therapy, a certain amount of physical stimulation is applied to the problematic muscle to promote blood circulation in the muscle and treat the problematic pain. The treatment does not cause much pain, so it is easy to access, but the duration is very short.
Secondly, IMS (Intra-Muscular Stimulation), which is being carried out a lot in Physio, means treatment by giving stimulation to the inside of the muscle. It is a treatment method used in oriental medicine called Dry-needling or Knife-needling, where the treatment involves injuring the muscle with a needle to promote blood circulation and stimulate the muscle. Since these treatments require damaging the fascia or the muscle itself, significant pain may occur during treatment. Moreover, since the treatment involves purposely injuring normal tissues, there is a high risk for inexperienced practitioners.
Lastly, my method of treatment is a type of Electro-Acupuncture, which promotes blood circulation and relieves the problematic pain points by inserting needles into the affected muscles and using an electric stimulator to give appropriate stimulation to the muscles to exercise. No artificial wounds are made during treatment, hence, there is no significant pain, and the duration is also long. However, since the intensity of stimulation is decided by the patient himself/herself, if the patient is strongly stimulated, he/she will experience general muscle pain (pain when receiving a strong massage) for 1-2 days but eventually, the pain will gradually get relieved.
The pros and cons of treatment are briefly described in the table below.
Of course, there are also pain relievers, exercise therapy, and other forms of treatment. As I said at the outset, pain is the body’s warning to itself. The more you ignore these warnings and leave them alone, the worse the results will be. According to my clinical experience, those who come to visit at an early stage for treatment get treated after 1-2 treatments, but those who visit for chronic pain require much more treatment. If you are experiencing pain, we recommend that you seek treatment as soon as possible!
Don’t forget that “pain can reduce the quality of life”.
