Acupuncture for Myofascial Trigger Points
What are trigger points? Why do they cause pain? How do I know if I have them? What causes them? How does acupuncture help with trigger points? The answers to these questions are addressed here.
Acupuncture for pain relief is well known, and treating pain makes up a large part of my practice. My experience is that acupuncture to release muscular trigger points is one of the most effective ways to relieve pain for many people.
In fact, this was the reason I first tried acupuncture in 1994, after I injured my neck and upper back attempting to water ski. I was in pain for a couple of months before I decided to see the acupuncturist who worked at the Wellness Center at my gym. After months of pain, I was virtually pain-free after one acupuncture treatment. This, plus a number of other experiences, set me on the path that has me celebrating my 19-year anniversary as an acupuncturist.
What are trigger points?
Trigger points are often called “muscle knots,” but here aren’t actual knots in muscles (although that’s what it can feel like.) The clinical term is “myofascial trigger point.” Although their true nature is actually still uncertain, it is generally understood that a trigger point is a small patch of tightly contracted muscle, a micro-cramp of a tiny patch of muscle tissue (as opposed to a whole-muscle spasm like a “charlie horse”). That small patch of muscle chokes off its own blood supply, which irritates it even more.
Muscle pain is a very common medical complaint, and trigger points are often a factor. They are involved in headaches, neck pain, low back pain, and much more. Trigger points can cause pain, complicate pain, and also mimic other pain problems.
How are trigger points diagnosed?
If you have more than half of these, and no other apparent explanation for your pain, you probably have trigger points:
You have sore spots in muscles.
Your pain usually occurs in specific areas of your body.
The problem feels more like muscles than joints.
Your pain is primarily dull, aching, and nagging.
You feel a lot of stiffness as well as pain.
Affected areas feel weak and heavy.
Stretching is appealing (but not very effective).
Hot showers and baths are usually helpful.
Anti-inflammatory medications don’t really work.
What are the main causes of trigger points?
Overexertion, either from strong contraction and/or general fatigue
Stagnation and lack of stimulation of muscle tissue
Pain from any other cause, such as an injury or other chronic health problem
Sustained elongation or shortening from poor posture or holding awkward positions (like at a desk) for long periods of time
Exhaustion and sleep deprivation
Exposure to cold
Stress
Excessive caffeine consumption
How can acupuncture help release trigger points?
Acupuncture releases trigger points by penetrating the muscle and causing it to involuntarily contract. Releasing a trigger point gets the muscle out of the shortened state and into an elongated and relaxed state. Some trigger points may resolve in one treatment while others may need more treatments for the muscle to reprogram itself. Generally the longer the pain has been there corresponds to the number of treatments needed. There can be soreness in the muscle for up to 72 hours after trigger point release that feels like the muscle soreness after a workout.
I have found that a combination of trigger point releases, distal acupuncture points along the affected pathways, heat and massage is highly effective for many people in relieving most kinds of pain.