What is a trigger point?

Whether or not you know how to define a trigger point, chances are you have felt the effects of one.

A trigger point can be simply defined as a hyper-irritable center within a taut band of muscle tissue. These taut bands are characterized by shortened, or contracted, muscle fibers, which can reliably be palpated by a set of skilled hands.

The term “trigger point” was first introduced in 1940 and later revised to “myofascial trigger point”. Though the term was being utilized in a few published papers, it was not widely known until a certain publication by two physicians who focused on this particular type of pain.

In 1982, Dr. Janet Travell and Dr. David G. Simons published a revolutionary book called Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual. Travell’s main contribution was the idea that pain could be experienced in a different region of the body other than the actual source. Sometimes this pain could be a great distance from the source. This is known as “referred pain”, or sometimes called “secondary hyperalgesia”. It’s hard to imagine now, but at the time their ideas were widely ridiculed.

These trigger points not only cause pain and referred pain, but they can have serious effects on motor control, range of motion, and movement patterns.

If you are experiencing some pain from an old injury or recently overworking your muscles, chances are high that you have some trigger points. A skilled manual therapist can identify and resolve your trigger points and help you get rid of pain you may have been experiencing for months or even years.

I have been specifically trained in neuromuscular therapy, which is a systematic soft-tissue treatment protocol to help resolve trigger points and their associated pain. Schedule a session and see what it’s all about!