Layden Chiropractic's Use of Trigger Point Therapy

"Oh, that's the spot, Doc!"

Patients are frequently astonished that we can locate, just by feeling, the painful area. Trigger points are very sensitive spots in muscle bands that provoke painful responses and are characterized by increased pain in the patient and an obvious hardness to the doctor or therapist. Trigger points are not just sensitive nodules, but they affect the surrounding muscle and tissues.

A type of soft tissue therapy, trigger point therapy, first coined by Dr. Janet Travell who treated President John F. Kennedy for his back pain, is founded on the theory that pain in one part of the body can in fact be brought about by an injury or dysfunction somewhere else. chiropractic treatment of the spinal nerve injuries and dysfunctions is complementary.

Trigger points are areas of tenderness in a muscle. Trigger point therapy involves applied pressure to these sore, tender spots in order to alleviate their pain and dysfunction as well as pain in other areas of the body. Sometimes massage and trigger point therapy are used together. Theoretically, active trigger points cause muscle pain which passes pain and tenderness to other parts of the body when pressed. Latent trigger points are those that don't hurt unless pressed, but they are thought to cause joint stiffness and decreased ranges of motion as we age.

By including trigger point therapy, the doctor or therapist puts pressure on these painful points to ease the muscle and tissues affected. Even as the application of pressure on a trigger point might cause your discomfort to become more noticeable, it has the odd effect of feeling good at the same time. You will discover that trigger point therapy in connection with your chiropractic Cox Technic treatment goes far to move you toward pain relief.

Layden Chiropractic offers trigger point therapy to maximize your healing. Ask Layden Chiropractic for more information.