Call NowIs Manipulation Under Anesthesia Painful?
If you are worried that you will never find relief from chronic pain, it might be time to try manipulation under anesthesia or MUA. This innovative technique can offer life-changing results for patients that are suffering from pain and mobility issues.
At Impact Medical Sun City Center, we use this noninvasive procedure to manage several acute and chronic conditions including tension headaches and fibromyalgia, to pain in the neck, back and knees.
We discuss how MUA works and if it is a painful procedure to undergo. Ready? Let’s dive in!
MUA in Action
While you might not be familiar with MUA, it has been around for 60 years. This treatment works to relieve pain by breaking up adhesions and scar tissue that are limiting your movement and causing problems.
Most of the time, the areas causing the issues are found around your nerve roots, muscles, and joints.
To perform MUA, our team will start by administering mild medication to sedate you. Then we use a variety of therapeutic methods to break up any restrictive tissue. These treatments include:
- Passive stretching
- Manipulations
- Specialized movements for your muscles and joints
Because you are relaxed by the sedative during MUA, your medical provider can more easily manipulate your joints and stretch your muscles.
When to Consider MUA
Some of the most common areas of focus with MUA include the shoulders and knees. However, our team might recommend this therapy for other conditions that haven’t responded to other treatments.
MUA can help chronic and acute issues such as:
- Muscle spasms
- Strains and sprains
- Pinched nerves
- Neck or back pain
- Disc conditions
- Failed back surgery
While this isn’t an exhaustive list, the technique can be used for almost any chronic musculoskeletal pain, especially if you are suffering from a restricted range of motion.
MUA can also offer pain relief from chronic conditions such as fibromyalgia and migraines.
What You Can Expect During an MUA Procedure
Before having manipulation under anesthesia performed, you must undergo a full exam by a physician to ensure that you are a viable candidate for treatment.
During your MUA appointment, our anesthesiologist will administer a mild sedative. Then, our specially trained chiropractor team will work to mobilize and manipulate your restricted areas.
Your joints will be articulated and put through their full range of motion and the limbs will be stretched. Low-intensity, repetitive stretching can help break up scar tissue, but in some cases, high impulse velocity thrusts may be performed to break barriers in movement.
As scar tissue is broken down, any joint restriction is reduced and muscle fibers are stretched, resulting in an increase in a patient’s range of motion.
MUA treatments typically take 15-30 minutes, and we inject anti-inflammatory medication to help reduce any tenderness you might have upon waking.
MUA can be repeated up to four times if necessary for maximum benefits.
Based on your unique condition and response to MUA, we might recommend a series of treatments to provide optimal results. Though you can typically expect to see dramatic results fairly quickly from MUA alone, we might also include this technique in combination with a rehabilitation or physical therapy program.
Is MUA Painful?
In most cases, you can expect to experience some temporary muscle soreness as if you had a vigorous workout.
This is because, during MUA, the body undergoes a strenuous exercise session, even though the exercise has been performed by a medical professional.
Sun City Center MUA Treatment
If you are suffering from chronic pain, manipulation under anesthesia may help enhance your range of motion and allow you to live pain-free. Call our compassionate team at Impact Medical Sun City Center for an MUA consultation today at (813) 938-5195!
