Connected Chiropractic's Use of 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 sensitive areas in muscle bands that trigger painful responses and are identified by heightened pain in the patient and a noticeable 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 originated 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 in fact 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 incorporates applied pressure to these sore, 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 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 have pain unless pressed, but they are thought 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 relax the muscle and tissues affected. Even as the applied pressure on a trigger point may cause your discomfort to become more noticeable, it has the strange effect of feeling good at the same time. You will discover that trigger point therapy in connection with your Chiropractic Cox Technic treatment does wonders to move you toward pain relief.

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