Sunningdale Osteopathic Clinic

Sometimes 'muscle relaxants' (in the UK often called diazepam or temazepam) are given by GP's to help in the pain management of a back pain episode. A typical 'cocktail' would be;

• an anti-inflammatory drug to combat inflammation
  a pain killer (often a codeine based one) to block pain signals reaching the brain
  and the aforementioned 'muscle relaxant'

My tip is to be a little cautious about taking 'muscle relaxant' medications. They belong to a class of drugs called anti-anxiolytics (anti-anxiety drugs). The traditional justification for giving these drugs in back pain episodes went like this;

• this patient is anxious
  anxiety raises muscle tension
  muscle tension causes pain
  therefore let's give diazepam (etc.)

But, there are a number of pitfalls with this approach;

• they can make you feel 'zonked out' the next morning
  they don't actually relax muscles at all
  but even if they did, muscle tension per se is NOT the primary cause of painful spines!

Be careful in your use of so-called 'muscle relaxants'!