Pain is complex, and often pain comes out of nowhere. When we injure ourselves doing an activity, we can say, “I was running, and I felt a pop, now I have hamstring pain.” However, what happens when we don’t remember doing anything that caused an injury? We wake up one morning and we can’t turn our head or bend over to put on our shoes? What causes these injuries?
Let me introduce you to the Trigger Point!
Trigger points often occur in an over-used muscles or because of poor posture. They are areas in a muscle that get tight, hyper-irritable and ischemic (not getting any nutrients or blood flow into the area), which can create a predictable and repeatable pain pattern when applying pressure to the point. However, the pain is not always felt in the tight band or knot. Often the trigger point will refer pain to another area of the body. For example, neck muscles can make you think you have a headache. However, it is actually a referral pattern from your neck muscles. This chart shows many of the referral patterns in the neck and head that mimic headache pain.
What Can Help a Trigger Point?
Multiple studies have shown that acupuncture relieves pain and also affects the way we process and feel pain. There is a saying in Chinese medicine: Where there is no free flow, there is pain.
Sports Medicine Acupuncture and Trigger Point Acupuncture can make a tremendous difference in the myofascial systems of the body and can treat active trigger points causing pain. This style of needling has become known to many as Dry Needling. Besides treating only individual muscles, Sports Medicine Acupuncture goes a step further and treats the entire body as one holistic unit.
Your Body Is Unique
When you come to the Maynard Clinic of Acupuncture, we don’t use protocols to diagnosis or treat you. It is important when trying to find where a trigger point stems from that we look at the problem Globally and locally. Why did this happen? What else is out of balance in the body that could cause this? Through Western orthopedic tests, manual muscle tests and Chinese Medicine diagnostic techniques we put together a treatment plan that is unique to YOU!
If you would like to learn more contact us 802.324.3898 or Book An Appointment Online.