This article is one in a series on Medications for Pain…  what are your choices?  how do various medications work?  what are the pros and cons?  how about side effects?

Today we’ll look at the medication category of Muscle Relaxants.  Muscle relaxants are drugs which help muscles relax and prevent muscle spasms.  Common medications include Zanaflex and Baclofen.

Previous medications we’ve looked at, like anticonvulsants and antidepressants, can directly reduce pain.  Starting today and over the next few weeks, most of the medications I’ll review work instead indirectly on pain, by affecting some other system and indirectly decreasing pain.

There are many categories of muscle relaxants, all working on different neurotransmitter systems in the body.  While most muscle relaxants work indirectly on pain, Baclofen may also have direct pain-reducing effects.  You might think of muscle relaxants as supplemental medications for pain, rather than primary ones.

Uses of Muscle Relaxants:
Muscle relaxants are used in conditions where these symptoms are a problem:

• muscle tension
• muscle spasm
• dystonia (severe, long-lasting spasm)

These symptoms can occur in pain disorders such as chronic back pain and CRPS.

Side Effects:
Side effects include sedation and weakness.

You might also be interested in the article Dystonia Makes Movement Hard.

In this series:

1. Medication for Pain Series 2009
2. Aspirin, Motrin and NSAIDS
3. Anticonvulsants
4. Antidepressants
5. Anesthetics
6. NMDA receptor antagonists (e.g. Ketamine)
7. Muscle relaxants
8. Blood Pressure Medication
9. Narcotics (Opiates)
10. Anti-Psychotics
11. Medication Advances Coming Soon
12. Research Advances