Trigger Points

Many people suffer from sensitive muscle spots. If you have lasting pain, tightness, or restriction of certain movements, you may be feeling the effects of these sensitive muscle knots called trigger points. Trigger points can cause increased muscle tension, muscle weakness and loss of coordination, sleep disturbances, twitching sensation, pain upon muscle contraction and pain referral upon palpation.

Trigger points are hyperirritable, hard, nodular spots found in taut bands of muscle fibers. They are either active or latent. Active trigger points are painful without any stimulation, while latent trigger points produce pain when compressed. Trigger points are due to acute or chronic muscle overload, physical stress or trauma to the muscle, emotional stress and nutritional deficiencies.

In addition to chiropractic care and nutritional counseling, your chiropractor can perform ischemic compression, massage and stretching techniques to provide soft tissue release allowing for improved blood flow, decrease in muscle spasm, and the break up of scar tissue. Ultrasound, muscle stimulation and low-level laser therapies may also be used to treat trigger points.