Spinalogy Blogs

Trigger points are present in all humans irrespective of age but it doesn’t always mean they’ll cause a painful condition. Trigger point injection (TPI) is a leading non-surgical treatment option for managing pain in muscles. They’re mainly linked to myofascial pain syndrome which is associated with muscle tenderness. The defining characteristic of a trigger point is its abnormally high response to stimuli. These are located in the taut band of skeletal muscles. Trigger points can get activated due to ageing, falling or accident, repetitive muscle use injury, or lack of an active lifestyle. When a trigger point gets activated, muscle contraction occurs which can bring about referred pain, twitch responses in the affected muscle, and sudden intense episodes of pain known as jump signs. The jump sign is a pathognomonic of an activated trigger point.

Sometimes the muscles remain in a constant state of tension and are unable to relax. This can cause knots in the muscles as well as nerve inflammation in the surrounding area. People with this condition also experience referred pain in which the pain extends to other parts other than the trigger point. The upper back is a common site of trigger point pain where the pain in the rhomboid or trapezius muscles can even cause pain in the head and shoulder region.

Trigger point injection therapy is a non-invasive procedure in which your doctor will perform injection on the site of pain or the trigger point. The injection contains an anaesthetic and a corticosteroid which work together to numb the pain by deactivating the trigger point. Trigger point injections can be used to treat pain in many locations such as arms, legs, lower back. It is used to treat illnesses such as fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndrome, and tension headaches.

The site of injection is marked manually through palpation and once identified, marked to prevent any injury in the procedure. Trigger point injection treatment followed by mobilizations, trigger release techniques, physiotherapy, and postural correction helps in pain reduction.