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Tips To Manage Everyday MS Pain




Muscle spasticity. Headaches. Acute facial pain, known as trigeminal neuralgia. Tingling, burning, and aches throughout the body. In multiple sclerosis (MS), pain can arise from several sources and manifest in different parts of the body. MS is an autoimmune disease that creates inflammatory lesions in the brain and spinal cord. For more than half of those who have MS, significant pain is a recurring symptom.


There are three major sources of MS pain: nerve pain, muscle spasm pain, and other muscle and joint pain. Pain can be difficult to treat for people with MS. While there are plenty of medical approaches to chronic pain management, the following methods don't come with the risks of addiction and side effects that many pharmaceutical pain management options do.


Nerve Pain

Nerve pain is caused by myelin damage and resulting problems to the nerves that carry sensation from the body to the central nervous system (CNS) and back again. It may feel like stabbing, burning, throbbing, aching, or prickling, but the pain can occur in almost any part of your body. Where and how the pain manifests will depend on which nerves are affected.


Trigeminal neuralgia (facial pain) and Lhermitte’s sign — a shock-like sensation that runs from the back of your head down your spine when you bend your neck forward — are two types of nerve pain experienced by people with MS.


Acupuncture for Neurological Pain Management

Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medical treatment that seeks to balance a person’s chi, or life force. Acupuncture uses very thin needles inserted into the skin to redirect energy. Acupuncture may be helpful for people with MS, especially to alleviate more severe MS-related pain, spasticity, numbness, and tingling.


Spasticity

Muscle spasticity is a common symptom of MS. Muscle spasms can cause painful tightness or stiffness of the muscles, and they occur when a nerve pathway malfunction makes your muscles tighten and spasm.


When people with MS experience a tight girdling sensation squeezing the chest, ribs, or waist, that’s referred to as the MS hug. This condition is caused by involuntary spasms in the small intercostal muscles between the ribs, causing pain that feels like a girdle around the torso.


Botox for Spasticity-Related Pain Control

Botox injections have been shown to block spastic connections between the nerves and muscles that typically occur in MS, and offer short-term relief (up to three months). Of added pain-management benefit, botox can relieve headaches, which also commonly occur with MS. For the best outcomes:


- Maintain the pharmaceutical regimen prescribed by your treatment team.

- Ensure that the provider you go to for botox therapy is specifically knowledgeable about using botox to treat pain — especially MS pain.


Muscle and Joint Pain

MS can keep you from moving or standing comfortably and freely. Musculoskeletal pain can be derived from ligament, joint, and other soft tissue damage. Pain can also be a secondary response to MS symptoms and treatments. If possible, you should identify the underlying cause of the pain so you can address and resolve it.


Limping or improper posture to compensate for MS-related inflammation and discomfort in another body part can sometimes cause joint and muscle pain. In addition, using mobility aids suboptimally can put unnecessary pressure and stress on muscles and joints and lead to aching or stabbing pain.


Music as a Pain Relief Method

Research out of the Cleveland Clinic suggests that music can treat pain. Although there aren’t any definitive studies showing that music can reduce pain specifically in people living with MS, evidence shows the healing effects music has on pain reduction.


References

The MS Hug Explained: Description, Symptoms, and Causes

PAIN: THE BASIC FACTS

Chronic Pain: Management and Treatment


Nyaka Mwanza is a freelance writer for MyHealthTeams. She completed a B.A. in Communications: Visual Media from American University and undertook post-baccalaureate studies in Health/Behavioral Communications and Marketing at Johns Hopkins University. Nyaka is a Zambian-born, E.U. citizen who was raised in sub-Saharan Africa and Jacksonville, N.C. However, she has called Washington, D.C., home for most of her life. For much of her career, Nyaka has worked with large global health nonprofits focused on improving health outcomes for women and children. Nyaka believes words hold immense power, and her job is to meet the reader where they are, when they’re there.




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