Williamson Chiropractic Care: Trigger Point Therapy

"Oh, that's the spot, Doc!"

Patients are frequently amazed that we can locate, just by feeling, the painful area. Trigger points are highly irritable spots in muscle bands that provoke painful responses and are characterized by increased soreness 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 formulated 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 in fact be brought about 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 applied pressure to these painful, tender spots in order to relieve their pain and dysfunction as well as pain in other parts of the body. Sometimes massage and trigger point therapy are used together. Theoretically, active trigger points bring about muscle pain which transfers pain and tenderness to other parts of the body when pressed. Latent trigger points are those that don't have pain unless pressed, but they are believed to cause joint stiffness and reduced ranges of motion as we age.

By including trigger point therapy, the doctor or therapist puts pressure on these painful points to ease the muscle and tissues affected. Even as the applied pressure on a trigger point might cause your discomfort to become more noticeable, it has the odd effect of feeling good at the same time. You will discover that trigger point therapy in connection with your chiropractic Cox Technic treatment goes far to move you toward pain relief.

Apple Country Chiropractic offers trigger point therapy to maximize your healing. Ask Apple Country Chiropractic for more information.