Young Chiropractic's Use of Trigger Point Therapy

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

Patients are often amazed that we can locate, just by feeling, the painful spot. Trigger points are highly sensitive spots in muscle bands that trigger painful responses and are identified by heightened discomfort in the patient and an apparent hardness to the doctor or therapist. Trigger points are not just tender nodules, but they affect the muscle and tissues in the surrounding area.

A form of soft tissue therapy, trigger point therapy, first originated by Dr. Janet Travell who treated President John F. Kennedy for his back pain, is founded on the theory that pain in a certain 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 involves the application of pressure to these painful, sensitive areas in order to alleviate their pain and dysfunction as well as pain in other parts of the body. Sometimes massage and trigger point therapy are applied together. Theoretically, active trigger points bring about muscle pain which passes pain and tenderness to other parts of the body when pressed. Latent trigger points are those that don't hurt unless pressed, but they are presumed to bring about joint stiffness and decreased ranges of motion as we age.

By including trigger point therapy, the doctor or therapist presses on these painful points to ease the muscle and tissues affected. Even as the applied pressure on a trigger point may cause your pain to become more apparent, it has the strange effect of feeling good at the same time. You will discover that trigger point therapy in combination with your chiropractic Cox Technic treatment does wonders to move you toward pain relief.

Young Chiropractic provides trigger point therapy to enhance your healing. Ask Young Chiropractic for more information.