young man at the physio therapyIf you have tight areas of knotted muscle in your neck and back, these “trigger points” can affect other areas of your body when manipulated. Trigger points can form as a result of stress, muscle overload, traumatic injury, or poor posture. They are called trigger points because, the same way pulling the trigger of a gun causes a bullet to leave the barrel, trigger points in one spot can cause pain and discomfort elsewhere in the body.

Trigger point therapy at Spine Correction Center could be very beneficial if you suffer from certain types of pain. Learn more about trigger point therapy and its limitations before your first appointment at our Fort Collins office.

What is Trigger Point Therapy?

The purpose of trigger point therapy is to locate nodules of tense muscles in your back that cause referred pain to other parts of your body. Then, a massage therapist works out the tension by hand, releasing the trigger point and alleviating your pain.

Trigger point therapy is considered a complementary treatment to some of the other techniques we offer at Spine Correction Center. The therapy can be performed through massage, as described above, or you can receive trigger point injections. These only take a few minutes to administer and promote healing for dysfunctional muscles, making these injections a valuable part of the rehabilitation process.

What Can Trigger Point Therapy Treat?

Pain comes from many different sources. Here are the types of pain that may originate in trigger points and therefore be treated with trigger point therapy:

  • Back pain: Whether your back pain is sudden or you’ve been dealing with discomfort for months, trigger point therapy can release the knots in your back that contribute to your discomfort. A few treatments with our massage therapist may be all you need to experience substantial pain relief, but injections are a good option for deeper treatment.
  • Chronic headaches: It’s estimated that 80% of headaches originate in the neck, where trigger points could cause tension and make your whole head hurt. If you experience recurring headaches and suspect that trigger points are a contributing factor, injections could ease your symptoms.
  • Plantar fasciitis: It may seem odd that heel pain could be affected by knotted muscles in your back, but according to a small study published in 2011 in the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy, adding trigger point therapy to your regular foot stretching routine could decrease your pain.
  • Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease: Trigger point therapy may not treat the source of Parkinson’s disease, but a 2006 study published in Movement Disorders shows that this treatment has promising potential for patients experiencing motor function difficulties.
  • Fibromyalgia: The mysterious pain of fibromyalgia could stem from trigger points. When used in combination with other therapies, you may experience pain relief that improves your quality of life.

What Can Trigger Point Therapy Not Treat?

Some types of pain only originate at the source. Here are three conditions that trigger point therapy can’t treat:

  • Muscle spasms: A trigger point is a tight muscle with a small point of origin. On the other hand, a muscle spasm is a violent contraction that involves the entire muscle. This is why trigger point therapy isn’t appropriate for treating this condition.
  • Muscle tears or strains: It’s possible for an acute injury to form trigger points later on, but the torn or strained muscle itself originates from a traumatic event, not a trigger point.
  • Arthritis: Pain from arthritis is caused by inflammation, not muscle tension. Therefore, trigger point therapy is not an effective treatment option.

Schedule a Free Trigger Point Therapy Consultation at Spine Correction Center

If you have back pain, chronic headaches, plantar fasciitis, Parkinson’s disease, or fibromyalgia, it’s possible your condition could be improved with trigger point therapy. A free consultation is all it takes to determine whether the team at Spine Correction Center can treat your ailment.

To get started down the path to recovery, please call us at (970) 658-5115 or schedule your consultation online today!