Why Using Skeletal Muscle Relaxants?

By Author: Thomas Strickland
Total Articles: 102
Comment this article

We all deal with muscle spasms in our lives and they may take different forms. Those of you who are exercising on a regular basis or those who have a sedentary lifestyle both experience stiffening in muscles and painful sensations in different parts of the body that affect the ability to move limbs and perform everyday activities. These are the most common causes for using muscle relaxant drugs, but they are not limited to that. Muscle relaxants are often prescribed for speeding up the recovery of patients who have undergone serious neurological condition treatment. Conditions like multiple sclerosis or arachnoid cysts can lead to muscle spasms and other similar symptoms, which require the use of muscle relaxant medications.

Quite often, muscle relaxants are given to speed up the recovery in patients who have undergone serious neurological surgeries in order to minimize the effects of such an intervention. Neurologists know that muscle spasms are often caused by dysfunctions in the nervous tissue that leads to involuntary contraction of a single muscle or a muscle group. And when recovering from a neurological condition, ...
... such symptoms can occur quite often. That's why doctor prescribe muscle relaxants such as Baclofen that significantly improve the recovery process and make it much easier for the patient to re-gain control of their body after the main problem has been eliminated. Drugs like Baclofen work by relaxing the spinal chord and through that improving the ability of the brain to control muscles in different parts of the body.

Thousands of patients undergoing treatment of neurological conditions get prescribed with muscle relaxants every year. Typical muscle relaxant medications are administered either orally or by direct injections into the spinal fluid. Those who suffer from spasticity and severe muscle spasms are advised to choose the latter form of administration, because it lets the drug enter the spinal chord much faster and more effectively, even if it's a bit painful for the patient. Baclofen is the most commonly prescribed muscle relaxant for such purposes because it helps overcome spastic symptoms much better than other similar drugs.

Skeletal muscle relaxants make part of a larger class of drugs called muscle relaxants and are used to reduce the unpleasant effects of muscle injuries and spasms. Most skeletal muscle relaxants affect the central nervous system in order to achieve the desired effect. They are usually available as pills or injections, and the dosage depends on the actual condition they are used to relieve. However, there are certain precautions that you should be aware, so you should inform your doctor if you have any of the following:

- Kidney or liver problems
- Substance abuse or history of
- Porphyria
- Epilepsy

Keep in mind that muscle relaxants are very potent drugs that can cause serious consequences if not used properly. If you need to take them for a long period of time then you should pay your doctor regular visits in order to professionally monitor your condition and make sure that the drugs aren't causing any harmful effects. Doctors often discourage taking most muscle relaxants for a long period of time because they may develop dependency. Quite often you may be prescribed to switch between different types of skeletal muscle relaxants after a certain period of time in order to lower the risk of dependency.