Oxford Chiropractic Care: Trigger Point Therapy

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

Patients are frequently astonished that we can locate, just by feeling, the painful area. Trigger points are highly irritable areas in muscle bands that provoke painful responses and are characterized by heightened soreness in the patient and an apparent hardness to the doctor or therapist. Trigger points are not just tender 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 based on the theory that pain in one 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 sensitivity in a muscle. Trigger point therapy involves the application of pressure to these painful, tender 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 bring about muscle pain which transfers pain and tenderness to other areas of the body when pressed. Latent trigger points are those that don't have pain unless pressed, but they are believed to cause joint stiffness and decreased ranges of motion as we age.

By including trigger point therapy, the doctor or therapist puts pressure on these painful points to ease the muscle and tissues affected. Even as the applied pressure on a trigger point might 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.

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