"Oh, that's the spot, Doc!"
Patients are frequently astonished that we can find, just by feeling, the painful spot. Trigger points are very sensitive spots in muscle bands that trigger painful responses and are differentiated by heightened discomfort in the patient and an apparent hardness to the doctor or therapist. Trigger points are not just sensitive nodules, but they affect the surrounding muscle and tissues.
A type of soft tissue therapy, trigger point therapy, first coined by Dr. Janet Travell who treated President John F. Kennedy for his back pain, is based on the theory that pain in a certain part of the body can actually be caused by an injury or dysfunction somewhere else. chiropractic treatment of the spinal nerve injuries and dysfunctions is complementary.
Trigger points are areas of tenderness in a muscle. Trigger point therapy involves the application of pressure to these painful, tender areas in order to alleviate their pain and dysfunction as well as pain in other parts of the body. Sometimes massage and trigger point therapy are applied together. Theoretically, active trigger points bring about muscle pain which passes pain and tenderness to other parts of the body when pressed. Latent trigger points are those that don't hurt unless pressed, but they are thought to cause joint stiffness and decreased ranges of motion as we age.
By incorporating trigger point therapy, the doctor or therapist presses on these painful points to ease the muscle and tissues affected. Even as the application of pressure on a trigger point may cause your soreness to become more noticeable, it has the odd effect of feeling good at the same time. You will discover that trigger point therapy in combination with your chiropractic Cox Technic treatment goes far to move you toward pain relief.
New Hampshire Spine and Sport provides trigger point therapy to enhance your healing. Ask New Hampshire Spine and Sport for more information.