In some cases, stretching, rubbing, or massage treatment for a muscle can make the pain worse in the long run if the Trigger Point is not released prior to working on the larger areas of the muscle.
Five minutes is roughly the maximum that any trigger point will need at one time, but there is not really any limit — if rubbing the trigger point continues to feel good, feel free to keep going.
The objective of trigger point therapy is releasing or softening a muscle knot to reduce (or eliminate) the knot pain and associated pain. This release happens by applying various levels of pressure to muscle knots, and then stretching the affected areas through a complete range of motion.
An acute muscle injury or continual muscle stress may lead to the development of trigger points. For example, a spot within or near a strained muscle may become a trigger point. Repetitive motions and poor posture also may increase your risk. Stress and anxiety.
Pressure with your hand
Use this technique for trigger points you can easily reach and apply pressure with using your own hands. For this technique find the trigger point, then apply moderate pressure until you feel the pain fade and the muscle relax, or to a maximum of 90 seconds.
You feel better and tension in the muscle releases, but of course the trigger point is still there and will re-activate when aggravated.
Maintain the pressure for 30 to 90 seconds or until you feel the tissue release or soften. The client will often describe a decrease in symptoms as the point releases. Ninety second holds produce the best results but 30 seconds is sufficient to produce a change.
Myofascial trigger points tend to accumulate throughout a lifetime. In the presence of sufficiently severe perpetuating factors and if left untreated, an acute myofascial pain syndrome characteristically becomes chronic.
Patients feel better, but the trigger points are still there, so of course they continue to develop until they hurt again. Further treatment is needed to diminish them further and eliminate them.
How long do trigger point injections last? On average, pain relief from a trigger point injection lasts around 30 days. The severity of the injury or condition can affect how long the medication lasts. How often you get the injection can also affect how long you go without pain.
While there is no single type of massage labeled a “trigger point massage,” massage therapists can use a number of different techniques to loosen these knots, including myofascial release and deep tissue massage. Massage works to release a trigger point by pushing fresh blood in and flushing waste material out.
You can revisit the trigger point up to 6 times each day if necessary, but typically 1-2 sessions per day will suffice. In terms of myofascial release pressure, you want to go middle of the road here. Using a pain scale of 1 to 10 where 10 is the most, aim for 4-5.
An active trigger point refers to pain to another part of the body. If someone presses on an active trigger point in your shoulder, you may feel pain in your shoulder along with symptoms in your chest or arm.
Occupational or recreational activities that produce repetitive stress on a specific muscle or muscle group commonly cause chronic stress in muscle fibers, leading to trigger points.
As with many other biomechanical problems, chiropractic care is often the best solution. By utilizing a specific, highly targeted, noninvasive approach, chiropractic care helps alleviate the factors that have led to the painful muscle spasms known as trigger points.
Trigger Point Symptoms
The hallmark of a trigger point is the palpable “knot” or band of tight tissue in the belly of a skeletal muscle. It will often produce a “jump sign,” a client's sudden and obvious reaction to stimulus. Other common symptoms of trigger points include: Dull aching and tenderness.
Generally, a trigger point feels like a hard 'lump', knot or band in the muscle. Here, we list the most significant signs and symptoms indicating the presence of trigger points: Stiffness. Muscle tightness and weakness.
Heat is for muscles, chronic pain, and stress – taking the edge off the pain of whole muscle spasms and trigger points, or conditions that are often dominated by them, like back pain and neck pain, for soothing the nervous system and the mind (stress and fear are major factors in many chronic pain problems).
If the trigger points continue to develop they will get to the stage where they no longer spontaneously deactivate with rest. The condition then becomes one of chronic (long term) continuous pain. Over time such chronic pain causes the nervous system to become sensitised, causing the development of fibromyalgia.
Trigger points can occur anywhere in the body but are most common in the neck, shoulders, back, and hips. Everyone may get them, although some individuals get a greater amount or have more discomfort from them.
It's that sore or painful spot that when touched, makes you yelp out or scream “ouch!” A trigger point is most often described as a hyperirritable spot, a taut band of skeletal muscle fascia, a local tenderness, or a referred pain.
It can just feel that way. Fascial tissue that is thickened, glued, restricted, and tight has many points of attachment in the body. Softening and easing tension in one area often leads to a sensation of tightness or pain in another. It is all connected.
Besides breaking up the pain-spasm-pain cycle, massage brings new blood supply, and with it oxygen and nutrients, so muscles can function properly. Some muscles become rock hard when the supply of blood is less available. Breaking up the physical knot and bringing oxygen in will gradually restore normal function.
Somatic massages have been found to be helpful for people who suffer from PTSD. The therapist will work with the client to help them to identify and release areas of holding in their bodies. This can help to reduce the symptoms of PTSD, such as flashbacks, nightmares, and anxiety.