Trigger Points | Type of Points and Benefits of Trigger Point Therapy

Trigger Points: A Bodywork Therapy

• The trigger points are found in the skeletal muscle and commonly referred to as its hyperirritable spots. They are connected with palpable nodules in tight and firm groups of muscle fibers where the trapezius trigger points can also be found. These palpable nodules are small knots that are usually associated as the cause of pain.
• When the trigger points are compressed, it elicits local tenderness or localized twitch response. The now popular trigger point therapy is a massaging technique that commonly targets the neck trigger points and the shoulder trigger points to ease up the tension and stress in this areas.

Characteristics Trigger Points

You might have heard about the Dr.

Janet Travell trigger points, this is because she was the first to come up with the clinical findings of trigger points in 1942. Some of these characteristics include the following:

• Pain not caused by neoplasm, degeneration, infection, trauma, and inflammation.
• The pain experienced may be felt as tumor or muscle band.
• The twitch response is obtained upon the stimulus of the trigger points.
• There is no explanation of the pain based on neurological examination findings.

Types of Trigger Points

Based on the trigger point charts, the trigger points can be classified according to its qualities, including:

• Active trigger point where pain can be referred locally or in another location.
• Latent trigger point already exists but the pain is not obvious yet until pressure to the myoskeletal structure that contains the trigger point is applied. This type can cause poor muscle imbalance and coordination.
• Key trigger point has a pattern that activates or creates a latent trigger point on the nerve pathway.
• Satellite trigger point is usually one that is activated by key trigger point such that when it is treated, the satellite will also be resolved and will eventually go back to latent trigger point.

Myofascial Pain Syndrome and Trigger Points

• The advancement of Dr. Travell’s work included the discovery of the myofascial trigger points. The syndrome has been described as the focal muscle hyperirritability that is able to modulate strongly the functions of the central nervous system.

This is different from the trigger points of fibromyalgia wherein there is a widespread tenderness and pain affecting the deeper tissue including the muscles. The pain caused by myofascial syndrome is related to muscle tenderness of the trigger points found in the various sites of the muscle and the fascia tissue.

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