Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries's Use of Trigger Point Therapy

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

Patients are frequently amazed that we can locate, 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 obvious 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 established on the theory that pain in a certain part of the body can actually be caused 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 parts of the body. Sometimes massage and trigger point therapy are applied 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 hurt unless pressed, but they are thought to bring about 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 relax the muscle and tissues affected. Even as the application of pressure on a trigger point might cause your discomfort to become more noticeable, it has the strange 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.

Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries offers trigger point therapy to enhance your healing. Ask Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries for more information.