"Jane" is a 48-year-old woman who came to the office with a 31-year history of migraine-like headaches. These crippling headaches happened at least once a week and could last for up to three days, severely impairing her ability to function.

Her history of treatment is a typical one. Jane's headaches began when she was just 14 years old. In 2002 she was officially diagnosed with migraines and prescribed Fiorinal by a neurologist, which helped with the headaches, but she became dependent on it. She switched to Imitrex. In 2007 she saw a different neurologist who diagnosed myofascial pain syndrome and gave her 25 trigger point injections over a five-week period. The injections did nothing to relieve her pain. Massage therapy helped her temporarily, but her migraines continued to plague her. Chiropractic treatment and physical therapy also failed to adequately treat her symptoms.

But the story doesn't end there. When Jane came to the clinic, we examined her using the MPDD, and we were able to identify 16 muscles that were responsible for her pain. Jane was visiting us from out of town, and only had a week during which she could receive treatment. Since only six muscles can be injected during any week of treatment and she could only stay a week, she received treatment to six muscles. By the end of the week, Jane was pain-free for the first time in 31 years. She has stopped taking ibuprofen completely. She took Imitrex on just one occasion after staying out late on a weekend and going to bed at 4 a.m. rather than her usual 10:30.

After returning to our clinic to treat the remaining muscles, the residual pain in her neck and upper arms was also eliminated.

No matter what your diagnosis is for your persistent pain, it may be related to undiagnosed painful muscles...and no matter how long you have had it, you may still get relief. Jane's story could be your story, too.

December 2, 2009 - 2:53pm — Posted by Dr. Norman Marcus