The Best Muscle Relaxants for Every Type of Pain

The Best Muscle Relaxants for Every Type of Pain

Using Flexeril with other drugs that make you drowsy can worsen this effect. Ask your doctor before using opioid medication, a sleeping pill, a muscle relaxer, or medicine for anxiety or seizures. Our writers and reviewers are experienced professionals in medicine, addiction treatment, and healthcare. AddictionResource fact-checks all the information how many hours apart can you take flexeril 10 mg before publishing and uses only credible and trusted sources when citing any medical data. The Verified badge on our articles is a trusted sign of the most comprehensive scientifically-based medical content. If you have any concern that our content is inaccurate or it should be updated, please let our team know at [emailprotected].

Since muscle relaxant drugs are used as second-line medications, they are available by prescription only. However some otc muscle relaxers are also available on the market and are relatively safe. If a person abusing acetaminophen suddenly stops misusing the over the counter muscle relaxer, withdrawal symptoms can occur. These withdrawal symptoms may range from bone and muscle pain and restlessness to diarrhea and vomiting.

• By preventing serotonin transmission, cyclobenzaprine alleviates pain by reducing the number of pain signals that reach the central nervous system.
• Continue reading more about cyclobenzaprine high effects that lead some people to abuse the drug.
• For example, if you have insomnia (trouble sleeping) due to muscle spasms, your doctor may prescribe sedating muscle relaxants like cyclobenzaprine or tizanidine.

These drugs have the potential to decrease tension and spasm within a sore muscle, which may reduce pain. Physical therapy can help with back pain, knee pain, and neck pain. Especially in the case of back pain, physical therapy is an effective first-line treatment. Physical therapists combine stretches and exercises to strengthen muscles and relieve pressure from joints. Side effects of tricyclic antidepressants include drowsiness, blurred vision, and drop in blood pressure when standing up after sitting (20).

Medications for Back Pain and Neck Pain

The two main possible complications of taking muscle relaxers are the potential for overdose and dangerous interactions with alcohol. This means they have addiction potential and can cause withdrawal symptoms if you develop a dependence and stop taking them. You should avoid these medications if you have a personal or family history of substance use disorder. In general, antispastic medications act on your spinal cord or skeletal muscle directly to improve muscle tightness (hypertonicity) and involuntary spasms. Muscle relaxers are currently only available via prescription.

Some patients taking SNRIs report nausea, dizziness, and dizziness (21). Both SSRIs and SNRIS may be linked to serotonin syndrome (23). If you have neck or back pain, or you’re dealing with some other condition that causes muscle spasms, your doctor might prescribe a muscle relaxer (or muscle relaxant) for you. Doctors prescribe metaxalone in combination with rest, physical therapy, and other nondrug treatment strategies for painful muscle conditions.

What are some of the best medications for muscle pain? – Medical News Today

What are some of the best medications for muscle pain?.

Posted: Fri, 22 Jul 2022 07:00:00 GMT [source]

You should work with your healthcare providers to develop a comprehensive recovery plan that includes rest, stretching, physical therapy, and exercise to treat muscle spasms. Muscle relaxants are also used to treat skeletal muscle spasms (tension, cramping, or involuntary contractions). For example, they are used to treat muscle spasms caused by conditions such as acute low back pain, tension headaches, and fibromyalgia.

Conditions

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However, when moderate or severe pain persists, prescription muscle relaxants are recommended. As prescribed muscle relaxers act on the CNS to inhibit muscle contractions, which cause pain, they are known as habit-forming drugs with a potential of leading to muscle relaxant overdose. Due to these facts, all drugs from this class are put into a prescription-based category. Therefore, a few over the counter muscle relaxers still exist. Some of the popular and commonly prescribed muscle relaxants are briefly described below. Severe pain can seriously affect your quality of sleep, causing uncomfortable cranky mornings.

Diazepam (Valium) is a benzodiazepine used to relieve muscle spasms caused by inflammation, trauma, or muscle spasticity. It works by increasing the activity of a certain neurotransmitter to decrease the occurrence of muscle spasms. Side effects can include drowsiness, fatigue, and muscle weakness.

Antispasmodics are used to treat muscle spasms, and antispastics are used to treat muscle spasticity. Some antispasmodics, such as tizanidine, can be used to treat muscle spasticity. However, antispastics should not be used to treat muscle spasms. There are many prescription and over-the-counter medications available that can provide relief for muscle spasms and muscle spasticity. Muscle relaxants should always be used at the recommended dosage and for the prescribed time frame.