Stress and Chronic Neck Pain: Can Trigger Point Injections Provide Lasting Relief?

Stress is a curious mental and physical response that affects people in vastly different ways. At its most simple, stress is welcomed by some and loathed by others. 

When stress is negative, however, your body tends to tighten and trigger the fight-or-flight response to danger. When this tightness passes quickly, there may be little lasting effect. It’s a different matter when your stress becomes chronic. 

At Metro Anesthesia & Pain Management in West Des Moines and Des Moines, Iowa, we often see stress manifest in our patients as neck pain. This relationship may be more common than you think. 

Today, we look at the connection between stress and chronic neck pain, how stress leads to pain, how we diagnose it, and how trigger point injections can help you achieve lasting relief. 

The link between stress and chronic neck pain

The body tightness you experience when under stress is real. You feel tense, and it stems from muscular tension, which can be uncomfortable or painful. When neck pain becomes chronic, muscles may never fully relax. 

The chemical reaction your body has to stress causes inflammation in joints and muscles. Added to the steady contraction of muscles in your neck and shoulders, stress can also affect your posture, further complicating the conditions in your upper-body musculoskeletal system. 

Diagnosing stress-related neck pain

The symptoms you’re most likely to present from stress-related neck pain include neck stiffness, tightness in the support muscles of your neck and shoulders, and headaches that feel as though they reach over the back of your head and frequently settle in the temples. 

We rule out injury or other potential causes to the area with a physical examination and evaluation of any other symptoms.

The exam often reveals knots of myofascial tissue, a common connective tissue that surrounds groups of muscles with a normally slippery surface over which muscles freely pass. These are called trigger points. 

Trigger point injections for neck pain

These bits of myofascial scarring can sometimes benefit from massage. However, there are limits to the effectiveness of manual manipulation. Chronic or deep trigger points may not respond to massage. 

Trigger point injections represent a next-level approach to breaking up myofascial adhesions. We use small-diameter needles to inject an anesthetic (usually lidocaine) along with a corticosteroid, a long-lasting and powerful anti-inflammatory. 

Trigger point injections provide benefits in several ways. It’s thought that the injection itself causes a micro-injury that prompts a natural healing response by the body. The lidocaine blocks pain signals over the short term, while the steroid medication reduces local swelling. 

The steroid provides monthslong relief and, combined with your body’s healing, the trigger point returns to normal. Trigger point therapy offers lasting relief for chronic neck pain. 

Contact Metro Anesthesia & Pain Management at the nearest location, by phone or online, to book an examination with one of our specialists today.