Trigger Point Therapy: What’s it Good for?

In the adult human body, muscles make up between 60-70% of total body weight, meaning that there are a lot of them! Designed first for movement, a secondary purpose of the muscular system is to provide for maintenance of posture and body positioning. It’s no wonder that muscles are among the most sensitive parts of our body.

Trigger points are tight areas within muscles that create problems (namely, pain) in other parts of the body. Through a process called referral, whereby the actual pain is felt in a spot other than the point of painful stimulus, a tight muscle in the back can cause you a headache or neck pain. This is not a matter of scar tissue within the muscle, but of a heightened level of sensitivity in a specific muscle; with trigger point therapy, we seek to release this painful point from tension through targeted pressure and release. 

The most common method of treating trigger points involves using direct pressure from the chiropractor’s finger or thumb! This may not be the most comfortable part of the massage, but once the trigger point is released, we can follow it up with a more relaxing massage that increases circulation and provides an influx of oxygen and nutrients to the site, helping it recover quickly. 

Trigger points are a daily irritation that should not be allowed to exist; call our office in Bakersfield to schedule an appointment and find out how we can release these problematic points and teach you how to do it at home or in the office as well!

Dr. Jeff Haynes, D.C.