Muscle tightness can be painful, but when the pain is formed by muscle knots, it’s more than an annoyance. Big, hard knots can form in our muscles. Often, they won’t go away.
Our hands reach for these areas reflexively, as though we’re hoping to rub away that painful knot. We prompt friends and loved ones to place their hands on the knot in question, saying “Feel that?” The response is usually “Wow! That’s quite a knot you’ve got there!”
Muscle knots are no fun at all. These knots form in what are known as “trigger points.” The painful ones stay painful, even when we’re not moving around. They can make sleep and rest difficult. This kind of trigger point is “active.” Conversely, a “latent” trigger point isn’t necessarily painful, but can be responsible for muscle weakness and lost mobility. An active trigger point can cause pain in other areas, as the pain seems to radiate from the knotted muscle.
Trigger point injections can alleviate the pain associated with both types of muscle knots. At Back & Body Medical, we specialize in trigger point injections to treat both active and latent trigger points, relaxing the muscles involved to relieve the associated pain and muscle weakness and restoring lost mobility.
When all else has failed.
If you’re suffering from pain, weakness or mobility loss from trigger points, you may have already run the gamut of available therapeutic options. Maybe you’ve been attending a physical therapist, using a combination of treatments, including ultrasound therapy. But if you’re suffering from a chronic condition, you may be a candidate for trigger point injections.
What are trigger point injections?
The therapy involves injection of a local anaesthetic into the trigger point in question. Trigger point injections are administered in brief sessions and may implicate more than one problem area. The needle used is fine. Patients report that the discomfort they experience is similar to having blood drawn.
Side effects following treatment may include minimal bruising and soreness, but they’re short-lived. Most of our patients at Back & Body tell us these last no longer than a couple of days. As with any therapy, patient response varies. The severity of the trigger point’s symptoms and the patient’s overall health and sensitivity both factor into response to trigger point injections.
The most compelling case for trigger point injections is that their effects persist for up to a calendar month. Generally speaking, the injection site is numb for several hours following treatment (due to the nature of local anaesthetic).
Trigger point injections offer hope for people who suffer from muscle spasms and knots that form persistently at the site of a particular trigger point. So, the answer to the question “What are trigger point injections?” is – an effective, minimally invasive therapy that offers hope for relief from chronic muscle knots.
Find out more.
Call the trigger point injection professionals at Back & Body Medical. If you’re suffering from the symptoms described, this therapy may be the answer you’re looking for.
