Let's Talk Trigger Points

You might have seen a chart of the human body with little dots all over it at some point, maybe in a physical therapy office, or a massage studio. So, what's that all about?

Trigger Point

Back in the 1940's, two medical doctors began researching people with severe "untreatable" pain. Most of the research subjects had spent years in pain, and had exhausted the cures of Western medicine, yet nothing worked. Our researchers found that most of their subjects had one thing in common: trigger points.

A Point of Exquisite Tenderness

A trigger point is technically defined as a "point of exquisite tenderness". In physical terms, it's a circle of hyper-irritable tissue, generally located within a taut band of muscle. Trigger points can cause intense pain, which can be just local at the exact location of the trigger point, or it also can be referred to another location.

Trigger points arise as a result of acute trauma, or repetitive motion that causes trauma over time.

Encouraging Wider Spread Dysfunction

The area directly surrounding the trigger point often feels very tight, with a decreased range of motion. If one area of the body is unable to move as designed, neighboring areas will step in to help accomplish tasks. So, in the case of trigger points, the immobile trigger point will cause surrounding muscles to compensate. The degree to which this causes problems varies, but it creates a higher risk for injury during strenuous events.

It’s Crazy Common

The researchers estimated that 75% of pain clinic patients have a trigger point as the sole source of their pain.

Want an example of a trigger point? Most people have at least one trigger point in their neck or shoulders. Using the above image, locate a typical trigger point area in the neck or shoulder and press down. If that spot feels super tender, even more so than the surrounding area, you may have discovered your first trigger point.

If your sense of touch in your hands is sensitive enough, you'll notice that a trigger point feels like a nodule of muscle fiber that's far harder than the surrounding tissue. Note: A sense of touch takes months to develop in massage students, so don't be discouraged if your fingers don't notice any differences from place to place. However, I've been a massage therapist for 20 years, so they feel like flashing neon signs to me! Which is one of the ways I know that we are working in the right location to make positive changes.

How Trigger Point Massage Works

Trigger point massage addresses these areas by pressing and holding the area to dissolve the trigger point, and free the immobile muscle tissue. When treated in conjunction with the wider area, it can restore the entire region to proper function.

Schedule A Trigger Point Massage

If your interest is piqued by trigger point therapy, schedule a Trigger Point massage, using online booking, here.

Is It Time To Charge Your Battery?

Has life been extra spicy lately? It might be time to call all that energy you’ve put out into the world back home to yourself. A great way to do that is to get a massage. Massage is an efficient way to regroup, and recharge your internal battery.

How It Works

One of the immediate benefits of massage is a feeling of deep relaxation and calm. The levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, drop, and “feel good” hormones like serotonin and dopamine, rise. I think of it as “hitting the reset button” or a mini-vacation - and you can do it within just one hour. A new perspective allows you to face big challenges with a fresh take and renewed energy.

Rest and Digest

By the same mechanism, massage supports good mental hygiene by regulating the nervous system. It temporarily shifts our nervous system from “fight or flight” to “rest and digest.” This decreases anxiety, and lowers both heart rate and blood pressure. From this place, our experience of the world can shift dramatically.

A Place of Safety For Everyone

Massage is one of the only modalities that provides healthy touch - something we all need to thrive - in a safe and nurturing environment. It offers support, comfort, and human connection.

Grab a Spot on The Calendar

It’s easy to book your next session online. Book Now...

Massage Gift Certificates And Holiday Hours

I got asked twice last week by clients, "Do you have gift certificates for massage on your website?" The answer is Yes! 

Massage gift certificates are available online here. Choose your favorite design (there are some nice ones!), then email or print. Someone is really going to appreciate it. Pro tip: Want a printed copy to include with a Holiday card? When asked for the recipient's email, just enter your own, and print it on your home printer. Get A Gift Certificate Here

Holiday Hours

I'm here through Christmas, for normal office hours! I will be taking my usual short break between Christmas and New Years, returning on Jan 2. 

Sneak In One More Session Before Years End

Get a classic stress busting session, or address that nagging pain issue - you know the one. Massage is an especially rewarding way to use up HSA or FSA funds that expire at year's end. Visit FiveCreeksMassage.com to book your next session. Book Now...

Hope you have a rewarding Holiday season!

Relaxed and Centered

When was the last time you felt relaxed and centered? I had a profound moment with a client the other day. It was just after their massage, and they were smiling, and they seemed really surprised to be doing so. It was a few days after the US Presidential election, and they told me that they arrived feeling like they'd never smile again.

I'd like to think that they were also back in touch with who they were, and the innate strength they possess. Seeing things from a new perspective. This often happens after a massage. The person who leaves the massage studio is not the same person who entered. They are often lighter and more free, having dropped some of the heavy mental burdens they carried before.

Part of my work is seeing clients after overwhelming life losses, like death, divorce, trauma, and the like. We are able to hold space for that loss, while massage brings the self back into focus. Yes, the loss is present AND so are you.

Calm, and able to handle the challenges that come your way. There's great value in reconnecting with yourself. Think of how you feel after a long vacation. Calm, able to handle challenges that come your way, with a sense of space that allows you to easily intuit the best way forward. Rested and regrouped. That's the feeling you get after a good massage.

How? Massage impacts your brain chemicals, namely endorphins and stress hormones, in as little as 15 minutes. One of the immediate benefits of massage is a feeling of deep relaxation and calm. Massage releases endorphins - brain chemicals that create feelings of wellbeing. Stress hormone levels, namely adrenalin, cortisol, and norepinephrine, drop precipitously during a massage. I think of it as hitting the reset button, or a mini-vacation - and it typically starts within the first 15 minutes of a massage.

Get maximum decompression value by scheduling now, before the Thanksgiving Holiday. I'll be around in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, including specially opening on a day I'm normally closed, Wednesday, November 27. 

Grab your spot on the calendar. Book Now...

Massage For Tech Shoulder

So many of my Bay Area clients have tech jobs, or jobs that require long hours at a computer. Over the past twenty years, I’ve seen an epidemic of shoulder issues: pain and tightness around the shoulder, sometimes extending into the neck.

Companion issues. Clients may also experience nerve sensation down an arm - it might feel like tingling, numbness or pain. They may notice issues in their wrists or hands. They may have limited range of motion in the shoulder, or in the neck, ex. “I can’t turn my head.” It may also be accompanied by tension headaches.

This is something that I also experienced in my previous tech career. It sometimes turned workdays into a real sufferfest. Since I had real personal involvement with this issue, it’s something I really paid attention to in my training as a massage therapist. And I’ve been drawn to classes and research on this topic ever since. 

Massage For Tech Shoulder. Back in 2018, I used that, and 1,000's of hours of "hands on" knowledge of what worked for clients (and what didn’t) to develop a massage tailored to people that spend most days at a computer or laptop - Massage For Tech Shoulder.

This massage is designed to reduce neck and shoulder pain, and give you greater mobility. Each session is customized to your unique situation, but often it includes special work on the front of the shoulder, arms and hands, as well as the more standard-yet-super-satisfying “work where it hurts” on the neck, tops of the shoulders, and between the shoulder blades.

How It Works. The muscles of the rotator cuff - the movers of the shoulder, which extend in all directions away from the shoulder joint - are often out of balance in this population. So we systematically work through all of these muscles, creating more balance for the entire shoulder. How? Massage elongates “short and tight” tissue, and resets its resting length. In releasing overactive areas, and addressing this area plus the neck, clients often experience dramatic reductions in pain levels, and see increased range of motion.

Want to learn more about one of the most common shoulder muscular imbalance patterns I see daily in tech workers? Check out my article on Upper Cross Syndrome.

Massage For Tech Shoulder is only available at Five Creeks Massage. Book Now