Trigger Points

Trigger Points

Trigger points are areas of tenderness in a muscle. There are two basic types of trigger points: active and latent. Active trigger points cause muscular pain and will refer pain and tenderness to another area of the body when pressure is applied. Latent trigger points only exhibit pain when compressed, they do not refer pain to other areas of the body. Latent trigger points are believed to be one of the causes of stiff joints and restricted range of motion of old age.

Trigger point therapy's purpose is to eliminate pain and to re-educate the muscles into pain-free habits. After several treatments, the swelling and stiffness of neuromuscular pain is reduced, range of motion is increased, tension is relieved, and circulation, flexibility and coordination are improved. It took a while to get the muscle in that condition, and it will likely take more than one massage to get rid of it. These points are often areas of chronic "holding" and you need to learn how to move in different ways to keep them from recurring.