Of course, with any injury, there is pain, and pain leads to muscle spasm (of course the disc damage to my neck did not help either. I receive trigger point injections every week from my MD, and cervical spine epidural injections every other week, all in an attempt to relax the muscles as much as possible before surgery.
A trigger point injection involves the doctor palpitating the sore/tight regions of the neck and feeling for the extremely painful knots (trigger points). He circles the area with a pen and then injects a mixture of a small amount of medication with lidocaine directly into the muscle. The patient feels strong pressure and pain as the medicine is injected. The goal of the injections is this: when muscle is in spasm, no blood supply is going to the region. By poking them with a needle, blood rushes to the area, thus relieving (or partially relieving) the spasm.
My MD was very into my blog project, and allowed me to take pictures of the procedure.
And yes, it hurts! But it provides immediate relief (and helps release the muscles in the face). It is important that people with TMJ problems explore ALL their options for relief of muscle spasm. Surgery is less successful with muscle tension. Pre-op, patients should get themselves in as good of shape as possible ... again, so that the muscles can relax.
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