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AN A-Z OF DORSAL AND THORACIC PAIN: FIBROSITIS

on March 20th, 2009 by admin

This painful condition occurs when muscles take too much weight and are consistently overworked. The trapezius muscles in the back of the head, shoulders and neck are vulnerable to overstress in this way. People who aren’t used to lifting heavy weights will easily stress these muscles.

Soft tissue injuries do not show on an X-ray, so you can be complaining about a pain the doctor doesn’t recognise. The little fibres of the muscle bleed into themselves and form small adhesions along and across the other fibres. The fibrous sheaths of the muscles become inflamed. When the muscle has to ‘pay out’, the adhesions interfere with its action. They don’t stretch themselves. It feels like a stinging pain as the fibres tear again, and the cycle recommences.

Every chiropractor and osteopath will recognise the fibrous matter (fascia) which has been torn and forms a painful knot. It has to be broken up to enable the muscle to stretch freely again. But oh, the relief when you have freed the muscle and the patient can turn the head or lift the arm without that grabbing pain.

People ask me, ‘If I leave it, will it get better?’ No, the work has to be done. There is no way fibrositis will disappear on its own. Deep heat ointments are wonderful but you still need someone experienced to unravel the knots gently. Some practitioners excel in releasing the fascia across the muscle that rolls to one side when torn.

One of our practitioners solved Margot Fonteyn’s foot troubles of four years in two treatments using this fascia-rolling technique. It is the Rolls Royce treatment for fibrositis, and is a real art. Ballet dancers always need this therapy.

Practitioners can feel the muscles’ rigidity when they are fibrositic. The tension is so great, they feel like steel wires when you are probing them. These ropey tissues don’t go pink when they are worked on. The blood supply is scanty. The patient and practitioner alike know when you are exactly on the site of pain! But it feels so good.

Massage with Tiger Balm is popular. Herbal oils used include lavender, eucalyptus, thyme and rosemary. Mix with a vegetable oil especially if you use pure oil of wintergreen. Remember your homoeopathics won’t work if there is an aromatic oil around, so be warned and store them carefully.

Acupuncture is a most successful treatment for fibrositis. However when I was inexperienced I bent a few needles trying to penetrate the knots. I now use my laser frequently on the problem area, or as I saw the doctors do in China, needle around the fibrous mass on the shoulder points.

If you know you are going to lift heavy loads at work, then prepare yourself. Go to the gym and start building up your strength to be able to handle the type of load that will be required of you. Prevention is better and less painful than cure.

*70\19\2*

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