Millville Chiropractic Care: Trigger Point Therapy

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

Patients are often 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 tender nodules, but they affect the muscle and tissues in the surrounding area.

A form of soft tissue therapy, trigger point therapy, first originated by Dr. Janet Travell who treated President John F. Kennedy for his back pain, is based on the theory that pain in one 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 sore, sensitive areas in order to alleviate their pain and dysfunction as well as pain in other areas of the body. Sometimes massage and trigger point therapy are applied together. Theoretically, active trigger points cause muscle pain which passes pain and tenderness to other areas of the body when pressed. Latent trigger points are those that don't have pain unless pressed, but they are thought to cause joint stiffness and reduced ranges of motion as we get older.

By incorporating trigger point therapy, the doctor or therapist puts pressure on these painful points to relax 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.

Wilson Family Chiropractic offers trigger point therapy to maximize your healing. Ask Wilson Family Chiropractic for more information.