How Trigger Point Therapy Helps Your Body And Muscles
Trigger point therapy is a series of massage techniques that help release muscles that might be locked. If you have muscle "knots", these are often trigger points where the muscle is spasming.
It is a specific form of massage that presses on points that then attach to muscles, helping those muscles release.
These often come about because of overusing that muscle, through injury, or even high levels of stress and tension can cause these spasms. These trigger points can then cause pain to be referred to other areas of your body.
This massage style can help with tight shoulders, necks, back pain, and chronic pain. It can be a little painful, or a lot, but it is an effective way of generally releasing muscular tension.
What Is Trigger Point Therapy?
A trigger point is defined as a hyperirritable spot that’s found in a taut band of skeletal muscle. In simple terms, it’s a really tight area in your muscle tissue.
Trigger points are often referred to as muscle knots because of the way the muscle tissue almost balls itself together to create this tight point.
The problem with trigger points is that they commonly cause pain.
Have you ever felt a particularly tight spot in your back or neck that just won’t go away? It’s always there, and you can feel the soreness emanating from it. This is a muscle knot/trigger point, and the chances are your pain won’t subside until it’s been dealt with.
Trigger point therapy focuses on these sticky points. It is considered a deep-tissue massage because a fair amount of pressure is required to get into muscle knots and break them up.
That’s the primary goal of this massage treatment; to free patients from pain caused by persistent knots and trigger points in their muscle tissues.
How Is Trigger Point Therapy Done?
Technically, trigger point massage therapy can be done by anyone.
Massage tools are available, such as foam rollers and lacrosse balls, which allow you to attempt it at home.
However, the best results come when a qualified therapist does the treatment.
Your treatment will begin with the massage therapist asking a series of questions to figure out where your trigger points are, the pain they’re causing, and when they seem to flare up most of all.
Unlike more general deep tissue massages, this type of massage therapy depends on your input.
After asking you some questions, your therapist will start the massage.
The first is to find out exactly where your trigger point is. They will move their hands around the muscle and ask you to indicate when they’ve landed on it.
Typically, they may press down on parts of the muscle tissue and ask if it feels tender or not. The more tender it feels, the worse the trigger point is.
When they’ve found your muscle knot, they begin to work on it. Different therapists may have different techniques.
The most common technique is to apply pressure to the trigger point. They do this using their hands, knuckles, elbows, or even a massage tool.
The pressure is applied to help relax the muscles around the trigger point, which should make the knot ‘melt’ away.
If a knot is particularly tight, then massage tools with vibrations are sometimes used. Some studies show that vibrations on trigger points can lead to a decrease in muscular pain.
Your therapist may also move parts of your body around to affect the muscle knot.
For example, if you experience neck pain, then they may ask you to move your head or raise your arm up and down as they massage the point and keep applying pressure.
After releasing the trigger point, they may also stretch the muscle to stop it from bunching up again.
How Does Trigger Point Therapy Work?
A trigger point massage involves applying pressure to the afflicted muscles and trying to get them to relax. But, how does all of this work?
Trigger points are tight knots of muscle tissue, which effectively means that the muscle is locked in a contracted, or shortened, position.
A good way to visualize this is by looking at an elastic band.
Usually, the band can be pulled and stretched with ease. But, tie a knot in the band and attempt to pull it.
You’ll find far more restriction as the knot causes it to be stuck in a more shortened position. When you have a trigger point in a muscle, this same thing happens.
Trigger point therapy works by trying to unlock the contraction mechanism of a muscle. We want to get the muscle working as it should, returning it to its natural position.
When pressure is applied to a muscle knot, it starts to relax and loosen up. Sometimes your therapist will ask you to breathe deeply which sometimes helps you to relax and allows the muscles to release quicker
Moving a muscle through different ranges of motion also helps it release.
For example, if you have a trigger point in your quadriceps (top of your upper thigh), the therapist will often apply pressure then help you bend and extend your leg at the knee.
This also helps to encourage more blood flow to the area, which allows the trigger points to melt away.
How Does Trigger Point Therapy Help Your Body?
Improved Posture
People with muscle knots in their shoulders, neck, and back often have poor posture.
The tight muscles pull your shoulders forward, rounding your thoracic spine. As a result, you end up with a hunchback posture, which causes more pain.
By releasing your trigger points, you can relax the muscles that cause posture problems. Your body will move into its correct alignment, and you can work on further improving your posture with corrective exercises.
Relief From Chronic Muscle Pain
The obvious advantage is that it can free you from chronic muscle pain.
It’s useful for anyone with myofascial pain syndrome as well. This is a condition that causes chronic pain in muscles that are repeatedly used and contracted over and over again.
A study from 2017 found that trigger point release massages led to a reduction in perceived pain from the participants.
After two 25-minute treatments a week, a total of 12 treatments, the results showed they experienced less pain than at the beginning and less pain than participants in the control group.
Also, by releasing trigger points, you help increase the blood flow to the affected muscles, allowing them to work better. By increasing the oxygen flow you also help promote faster healing.
Relief From Tension Headaches
Most of the time, tension headaches are caused by trigger points in the trapezius muscles and the neck. They can also radiate pain from tense jaw muscles as well.
Sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle can also cause headaches if the trigger points of attachment are tight. Often, massaging along the occipital bone at the base of the skull will help release this muscle and relieve migraines.
By having a massage, you can release tension and sort out the cause of the problem. It leads to long-lasting results, which is much better than taking paracetamol.
Improved Range Of Motion
There have been studies that show a negative link between trigger points and joint mobility. Muscle knots stop the normal firing of muscles and reduce their action, leading to lower functioning and being less able to rotate, stretch, and contract. These adhesions reduce your flexibility.
By removing or reducing the trigger point, you allow the muscle to contract and relax how it should, which improves joint mobility. Adding in a program of stretching will also help increase your range of motion and prevent these trigger points from re-emerging.
Better Flexibility
If your muscles are stuck in a shortened state, you can’t extend and stretch them fully.
This can then lead to a chain reaction in your body, with more muscles compensating for the lack of flexibility of one, leading to greater loads on those muscles. This can in turn lead to pain and muscle restriction in the rest of your body.
By removing the trigger point, you unlock the muscle and can stretch it out further than before.
How Do I Stop Trigger Points Reforming?
Ensure that once the trigger point has been released you “retrain” it to stay in this relaxed state. Daily stretching will help ensure that the muscles remain in this state as long as possible. Consider Pilates or yoga as alternative stretching techniques. Add in gentle exercise to your daily routine.
Relax and just allow your body to find its balance naturally. Try to be conscious of your posture.
Slow down your working pace – Stand up and stretch as much as you can. Ensure that your workstation is set up to provide you with the most optimal working environment and that you are not straining your body.
Reduce your stress - Stress is a big cause of trigger points. By concentrating on reducing this in your life, you will not only increase your overall health, but also reduce the chance of trigger points reforming.
Drink plenty of water. Hydration is the key. Our body needs hydration to function correctly and so do our muscles. Not only does it help in recovery, but H2O will help remove any toxins and lactic acid that may be trapped in the tight muscles.
Keep your body as warm as possible – Especially in the winter months, our body and muscles feel the cold. Heat packs are a great way to provide quick relief and can also help maximize any stretching that you may have done.
Epsom salt bath – Treat your body to the healing properties of Epsom salts.
Magnesium – Not only will magnesium help support the relaxation phase of the muscles, it also allows the body to create more insulin like substances which are the main contributor to the growth and strength of your muscles. Talk to your health care professional about tips and tricks to add extra magnesium to your diet.
When was the last time that you really looked at where and how you sleep? – Many of us do not understand the importance of a good mattress and what a difference it can make to our muscle’s well being. If you have had the same mattress for over 10 years, chances are you need a new one and your old one could be doing more damage than good to your back, neck and muscles.
With all things body related diet and overall nutrition is the key to ensuring our bodies and there engines can form at their peak. Clean whole foods, and minimal refined sugars or processed substances will only aid your body in its recovery process ensuring that you can get the most benefit from your treatment.
Respect your muscles and your body. Making yourself feel good physically is one of the ultimate ways to respect yourself. Treat your body as you would the body of someone you love dearly. Healthy food, exercise, low stress, and of course regular deep tissue massages.