Does this sound familiar…
Been sitting at your desk most of the day and your neck and shoulder are aching again? It could well be a nagging Myofascial Trigger Point.
What is a Myofascial Trigger Point you are wondering?
A Myofascial Trigger Point is a hyperirritable spot in the muscle that can elicit local tenderness, it can refer pain to a specific area and will be palpable to touch like a knot. They can be found anywhere from your facial muscles to muscles in your feet.
What causes them?
Well anything, from bad posture (yep I bet you just sat up straight) to moving incorrectly during sporting and leisure activities.
Myofascial Trigger Points can co-exist with other musculoskeletal condition such as Achilles Tendinopathy or degenerative conditions like Osteoarthritis in the neck. Such conditions will affect how you move due to pain thus stressing the muscles in the surrounding areas.
So what can you do about them?
There are several treatment options to choose from. We can assess your movement health which can be used as a long term solution to reducing the stress going through your muscles which we can do here at The Physio Clinic Bristol; Sports Massage is also a great option to kneed away the knots or we can try dry needling or a combination of the above.
What is dry needling?
Dry needling (aka acupuncture) is an effective technique for relaxing those contracted muscle fibres that produce the knot feeling when you press the tender spot. A sterile, single use acupuncture needle, or sometimes several, is inserted into the knotted area to relax the muscle fibres and improve local circulation. This treatment can give immediate pain relief as the muscle can start to relax straight away. It is a relatively painless mode of treatment. You may experience some post-treatment soreness but that will be short-lived. Sometimes a follow-up treatment is required, but you can discuss an appropriate treatment plan with your physiotherapist.
So, next time you get that nagging knot, it could just well be a trigger point. Get yourself booked in for an assessment so we can get you back to your pain-free self and enjoying life without pain.
