Trigger Point Therapy
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Trigger point therapy is used by therapist to treat painful muscles and loosen knots. Trigger points are areas of hyper-irritation in a muscle. They occur because the muscle has been injured in some way and an area of the muscle is contracted. This contracted area restricts blood flow. The restriction of blood flow causes the muscle to become nutrient starved and have a build-up of waste products. This can cause pain, numbness, tingling and weakness in the muscle.

Trigger points cause both local and referred pain. Referred pain is pain that occurs away from the originally injured area. Referred pain occurs in a predictable pattern. It is important to remember that the point of pain isn't always the source of the problem when treating trigger points. Trigger points can cause pain that mimics arthritis, tennis elbow, or carpal tunnel syndrome. They can also cause headaches, earaches, heartburn, or nausea.

When you find a trigger point during a massage, you should use your thumb or finger to press down on the area. Make sure you are exactly in the center of the spot before you start your treatment. Using a scale of 1 to 10--1 being the least painful and 10 the most painful--ask the person you're massaging how much pain they feel. Back your pressure off until they're only feeling a 2 or 3. Hold your finger on that spot at that pressure for 10 seconds then release the pressure. Don't move your finger off the point but release the pressure for 2 seconds. Now press down again on the exact same spot at the exact same angle and pressure as you did before. Hold it for 10 seconds. Then release the pressure again. Repeat this pressure on and pressure off technique for no longer than 90 seconds or until the pain goes away completely.

It is important that you don't overwork any one area when you do trigger point therapy. If you do this can cause serious injury. The person you're working on my begin to feel sick. If they do stop the treatment.

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