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.