Manahawkin Chiropractic Care: Trigger Point Therapy

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

Patients are often astonished that we can locate, just by feeling, the painful area. Trigger points are extremely irritable spots in muscle bands that provoke painful responses and are identified by heightened soreness in the patient and a noticeable 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 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 actually be brought about by an injury or dysfunction somewhere else. chiropractic treatment of the spinal nerve injuries and dysfunctions is complementary.

Trigger points are spots of tenderness in a muscle. Trigger point therapy involves the application of pressure to these sore, sensitive areas in order to relieve their pain and dysfunction as well as pain in other areas of the body. Sometimes massage and trigger point therapy are used together. Theoretically, active trigger points cause 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 thought to bring about joint stiffness and reduced 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 discomfort to become more apparent, it has the odd effect of feeling good at the same time. You will find that trigger point therapy in combination with your chiropractic Cox Technic treatment goes far to move you toward pain relief.

Manahawkin Chiropractic Center offers trigger point therapy to enhance your healing. Ask Manahawkin Chiropractic Center for more information.