What is Trigger Point Therapy and can it help me?

Firstly what are trigger points......? Trigger points are areas of the muscle that can cause pain within that area of the muscle, or can refer pain to a different area of the body. Trigger points may feel tender and cause referred pain when the muscle is at rest or when the when pressure is applied to the trigger point. The sensation can vary depending on the individual and muscle involved, such as a dull ache, burning sensation, sharp pain or general tenderness. Active trigger points often cause reduced strength and reduced range of motion around the area making daily tasks or exercise more difficult.

Trigger points can become 'Active' due to various reasons:-

• Damaged muscle tissue 
• Overused muscle tissue ( such as exercise or overuse at work) 
• Poor postural patterns/ body position 
• Infection 
• Electrolyte imbalance

The image above shows how active trigger points in the neck muscles could be the cause of your headaches.

So how can trigger point therapy help? Initially, trigger point therapy can help in reducing pain symptoms. Pressure applied to specific areas of the muscle can ease the pain sensation. When pain is reduced, the muscle is able to function more efficiently to allow improved strength and range of motion. This may be improving how high you can reach your arm to the kitchen cupboard, or how much you can extend your leg to run.


During your treatment, your therapist may use a combination of massage, trigger point therapy and stretching. It is normal to expect a course of 3 or more treatments potentially (maybe more, maybe less) depending on your condition. 'Maintenance massage' is often useful to prevent further episodes of pain, tenderness and stiffness.

Trigger points are complex, and treatment outcomes do depend on how long the pain has been present, daily movements affecting your muscles, posture and home self-care such as foam rolling and stretching.

Working with your massage Therapist you can find a good routine to maintain healthy muscles. Quite often working with a physiotherapist or exercise physiologist is useful to retrain movement patterns that may have been the initial cause of pain developing.

If you would like to book a remedial massage with one of the highly experienced team at HFRC, you can book online here.