Treating Your Trigger Points

by Rich Poley©

“The key to treating trigger points is to lengthen the muscle fibers that are shortened by the trigger point mechanism.” Travell & Simons’ Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual, Volume 2, page136.

Gentle stretching lengthens muscles and removes many latent trigger points; but not even the super heroes of stretching, yoga and Pilates, will get them all. Trigger point therapy, which can be a powerful extension of yoga and Pilates, will eliminate the most dangerous ones. This simple remedy can be incorporated into most fitness classes.

Finding
Because you have many trigger points, they’ll be easy to find. Just press different places on a muscle until you hit a tender spot. Trigger points are more likely to be found in the areas of your body that are stiff and tense. Your upper back is a good place to look. If you run, you’ll find trigger points in your leg muscles. If you swim or play tennis, you’ll find them in your shoulders. Almost everyone has them in the bottoms of their feet.

Releasing
Once you’ve located a trigger point, continue pressing it until the tenderness goes away. Pulsing or slightly changing the angle you’re pressing usually helps. Mild trigger points should resolve within five breaths. After releasing a trigger point, slowly move the muscle through its full range of motion three times. An extremely tender point may take more than one session to dissolve. Use a body marking pen to tag it and come back to it on succeeding days.

Relaxing
Relaxation facilitates stretching and is the secret to releasing trigger points. To relax a muscle, you must relieve it of its work load. Muscles perform two jobs: they stabilize and mobilize. If your muscles are working to stabilize you, they won’t be able to relax. To relieve your muscles of this burden, lie down, preferably on a yoga or Pilates mat. Here are some more tips to help you deactivate triggers:

• Warm your muscles with exercise, a shower, a hot tub, or by gliding your hands over them.
• Use a massage tool to extend your reach and power to press deeply with less effort.
• Let gravity do the work by placing the tool between the mat and your trigger point.
• Tensing a muscle before relaxing it, will identify the muscle and help it release.
• Straighten the muscle and direct your full attention toward feeling it let go.
• Breathe slowly and deeply into your abdomen, exhalation is relaxation.
• Relaxation is an active process.

Benefiting
Trigger point therapy will remove the knots from your muscles. To find out how much better you’ll feel and perform, try it. It’s the difference between yes and no.

Trigger Points: Are They in You?

Photo by a2gemma
Article by Rich Poley

Debilitating Little Buggers
Trigger points weaken muscles, reduce range of motion, and drain endurance. While you may not have heard of them, you’ve experienced them. Everyone who’s had muscle pain and stiffness has experienced trigger points. They are the tender spots or knots that grow in your muscles. They’ve been written about in thousands of articles in medical journals and authoritatively described in Myofacial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual, by David G. Simons, M.D., Janet G. Travell, M.D., and Lois S. Simons, P.T.
You’ve seen the long-term effects of untreated trigger points in the elderly, their bodies twisted and reactions slowed. Gradually, over many years, knotted muscle fibers reduce people’s range of motion and sap their strength until they have trouble getting out of a chair. Decrepitude is thought to be part of the normal aging process. When caused by trigger points, which it usually is, it’s preventable. Trigger points are the most easily treatable significant muscle problem that you’re certain to face.

Tiny Knots
Medical doctors believe trigger points form naturally as a result of muscle abuse. Over and under use of muscles causes the ultra thin fibers that make-up muscles to tangle into the tiny knots that are trigger points. The knots cause muscles to shorten and tense.
Trigger points are of two types: latent and active. Both cause all the muscle dysfunctions described above but only active trigger points spontaneously emit pain. Active triggers are relatively rare but everyone suffers latent ones. While trigger points appear naturally, they also disappear naturally when your muscles are stretched.

Stretching Them
Here’s the rule: elongating muscles removes trigger points. Gentle natural stretching that’s part of normal daily activities eliminates most small triggers. Yoga, Pilates, and fitness classes resolve many of the more stubborn ones. Unfortunately, the toughest trigger points persist and require a more precise controlled stretch that comes from pressing directly on the muscle. This form of massage, known as trigger point therapy, elongates the muscle and removes the knot.

Do it Yourself Trigger Point Massage
The good news is that trigger point therapy is easy to do. With a little knowledge and the right massage tool you can restore muscle strength, flexibility, and endurance to your own body. You can remove all your latent trigger points simply by pressing them. Ninety-percent of trigger point therapy is just pressing muscle tissue. You can tell you’ve hit one when the spot you’ve compressed is exquisitely tender. Stay with it for about five breaths or until the pain subsides.

Pressing Them
Yes, trigger points are in you. If you want to improve muscle performance and avoid the physical frailty of old-age, you have to get them out and keep getting them out. Fortunately, it’s easy. Just press them and they’re gone. Doing so, improves the way you look, feel, and perform.