Hello and welcome to this video
in which we're going to be talking about
trigger points.
So you may have heard about trigger
points but not really be sure
what they are or why they might be
important in relation to chronic pain
Conditions,
or even fascia and myofascial release.
So let's start with the definition of
what a trigger point is -
It's a highly irritable localized spot
of exquisite tenderness in a nodule
in a palpable taut band of muscle.
So that was coined by Dr Janet Travell,
who was John F Kennedy's personal
physician in the 1960s,
but equally importantly she was the
person
who mapped and discovered trigger points
and how they work in the body,
so we owe a lot to her. The
description that she's given of trigger
points is really good because
it does sum up exactly what they are. So
when you press a trigger point it quite
often feels
tender and it can feel like a knot or a
nodule
in your muscle or in the soft tissues of
your body.
But what exactly are they and why do
they form?
Trigger points are areas
of muscle and fascia that have become
irritated and that irritation
creates micro scar tissue - a tiny
bit of the muscle
and the fascia that wraps around and
through it becomes irritated,
and then some scar tissue is created as
a result of that.
Because fascia is a very fluid tissue
and it wraps around and through
everything else in the body
like a big three-dimensional network,
it means that if one part of your
fascia
creates scar tissue then it's a bit like
getting
a snag in a jumper - it changes the
balance throughout your body and over
time
it can start to create pain patterns.
The tricky thing about trigger
points is that the pain that you feel
is not always where the actual trigger
point
Is. This is called referred pain
and it's very typical with trigger
points and with any kind of fascial
Problems.
This is also why a lot of people who
have chronic pain
have difficulty getting effective
Treatment.
As an example of a referred pain
Pattern -
if you develop a trigger point in your
neck
it can quite often lead to problems Š pain,
Stiffness, tingling in your hand and your
Wrist.
If you only look to treat this area
in your hand
you could be missing the actual root
cause of the problem
which is in your neck. So working with
trigger points
it's important to know where you are in
the body and where the possible problem
areas could be.
But first of all, let's look at how
trigger points
form - they can form through lots of
different
reasons and some of the most common ones
are:
Surgery and scar tissue - anytime you
have any surgery,
big or small, it creates scar tissue as
your body
repairs itself. This scar tissue
over time can grow out from the original
spot
along local lines of tension in your
body
and this can cause pain that can develop
in a different area, maybe weeks
Months, or even years after the original
Surgery.
Another cause of trigger points can
be Accidents.
This could be big accidents but, for
lots of us,
it can be a combination of those small
accidents that you hardly notice
- for example things like tripping over
a curb,
bumping into something in the house, or
maybe just
slipping on a step. Any of those can
create
some micro scarring which can
contribute to changing the balance and
the tension in your body.
Another cause of trigger points can be
Over and Underuse. Overuse is where
we use one part of the body
too much for repetitive movement - a
really good example of that
is doing lots of computer work where
you're using your hands
a lot of the time on the keyboard and
using the mouse.
Over time this can cause the tissues
in your hands and your forearms to
become irritated
and this can cause trigger points to
form either
in your hands and your arms, or also
into your neck - that's because
anything that involves overuse of one
part of the body, also involves
underuse of another part. Again, with
our example of computer work,
if you sit and do a lot of computer work
the rest of your body has to brace
itself into a position to hold you in
that place.
In particular your neck and shoulders
become quite tight and tense
to allow all this fine movement to
happen with your fingers and your hands.
Trigger points can form in both
places
for different reasons but everything is
Connected, obviously.
Another cause of trigger points can be
your Posture.
We all have a natural posture and
very few of us
have the benefit of being totally
symmetrical.
Whatever your posture is, it can
contribute
to tension which can then lead to
trigger points over time.
Finally, one of the common
causes of trigger points can also be
Stress. This can be the physical
stress of
doing work, doing movement and it can
also be
emotional or mental stress,
particularly where you're dealing with
events that are outside of your control.
In reality for most of us it's some
combination of some or all of these
causes that actually
cause trigger points to form and then
start to cause problems for us.
So how can we work with trigger points?
As I mentioned
Before, quite often trigger points cause
referred pain
Patterns, so where you feel the pain is
not necessarily where the problem area
Is.
It's a question of working out where
those
problem areas are - once you've
located a problem area it will feel
tender
to your touch and when you press it
may just give you pain in that area,
or it may actually recreate your pain
Pattern.
To work on these areas you can
use your hands,
you can use balls and other tools,
which help to release the tissues.
From a myofascial point of view,
because all
trigger points involve the fascia
as well as the muscles,
then the more slowly and the more
progressively you work
with the tissues, then the more
effectively things will release.
So for example you can use a trigger
point ball,
and you just need to lie on this, lean on
It,
sit on it, and allow time for the tissues
to start to let go.
This can take a couple of minutes and
as you're there
you can feel a peak of pain that then
eases off.
The more you work with your trigger
Points, the more they will start to
undo and eventually they will dissolve
and just disappear. Working regularly
with your trigger points
can really give you benefits of reduced
Pain,
better range of movement, and better
balance in your body.
In order to help you find the trigger
points that can be causing you pain,,
then you need to get a good self-help
book like our trigger point book here.
This has loads of very clear diagrams
and easy to follow instructions which
show you where the trigger points are
that can be causing your pain
Patterns, and then how to work with them
to release those trigger points.
If you want to find out more about
trigger points and you want to get our
book or our trigger point ball,
then why not visit our website where you
can find these
as well as lots more information about
self-help myofascial release.