Trigger Point Therapy

 

For appointments phone 07813767417

What is trigger point therapy?

Trigger point therapy is the release of trigger points often giving instant relief from aches and pains that may have been endured for years

Persistent, recurring or continuing intermittent pains may be caused by active trigger points. Aches and pains are not an inevitable part of life.

Trigger points are key to much unexplained and misdiagnosed pain because many of them refer the pain to another location and mimic other symptoms. The pain in your neck may be caused by a trigger point in your shoulder, the pain between your eyes from one in your neck. These referral patterns are predictable and have been thoroughly researched and accurately mapped over the last thirty years.

How do trigger points cause pain?

A trigger point often feels like a knot in a muscle. In fact it is a contraction in a small part of the muscle. Blood flow is effectively reduced in the immediate area which results in oxygen starvation and the accumulation of waste products, irritating the trigger point. This responds by sending out pain signals until the brain determines to rest the muscle. The muscle begins to shorten and tighten up.

Muscles that have been shortened frequently squeeze nearby nerves. Two examples are Piriformis Syndrome and Carpal Tunnel symptoms. When trigger points in the piriformis muscle compress the sciatic nerve, they send shooting pains down the leg. This is sometimes misunderstood as a slipped disc or an impingement in the lumbar vertebrae. Carpal Tunnel symptoms can be caused by trigger points in the extensor muscles in the forearm, and sometimes in the scalene muscles of the neck.