Trigger Point Therapy
Trigger point therapy is a manual therapy technique that involves the application of a specific pressure to tender muscle tissue in order to relieve pain and dysfunction in other parts of the body. Trigger point therapy, Trigger point massage or Myofascial trigger point therapy are all names used for the assessment and treatment of these painful nodules in your body.
Trigger points are areas of tenderness in a muscle. There are two basic types of trigger points: active and latent. Active trigger points cause muscular pain and will refer pain and tenderness to another area of the body when pressure is applied. Latent trigger points only exhibit pain when compressed, they do not refer pain to other areas of the body.
TRIGGER POINTS: DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
Trigger Points Therapy is used to reduce the pain that results from hypersensitive muscles. SPT identifies trigger points is done by gently pressing on the surface of the skin, feeling the texture of the underlying muscle.
Trigger Point Therapy identified and treated as hyperirritable spots in skeletal muscle that are associated with palpable nodules in taut bands of muscle fibers. Trigger point therapists believe that palpable nodules are small contraction knots and a common cause of pain, and often accompany chronic musculoskeletal disorders. Compression of a trigger point may elicit local tenderness, referred pain, or local twitch response
The local twitch response is not the same as a muscle spasm. This is because a muscle spasm refers to the entire muscle contracting, whereas the local twitch response also refers to the entire muscle, but only involves a small twitch, no contraction The trigger point model states that unexplained pain frequently radiates from these points of local tenderness to broader areas, sometimes distant from the trigger point itself. SPT trigger Point therapists have identified reliable referred pain patterns, allowing them to associate pain in one location with trigger points elsewhere.
Types of Trigger Points
- Central Trigger Points
- Attachment Trigger Points
- Inactive Trigger Points
- Ligamentous Trigger Points
- Satellite Trigger Points
- Diffuse Trigger Points
- Active Trigger Points