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Trigger Points: What They Are And Ways To Relieve The Pain They Cause

by Terry Wilson

If there are specific areas in your back that are very tender and sore to the touch, these areas are most likely trigger points. A trigger point is a tightened muscle that feels like a knot in most cases, and you can have trigger points in any of the 400 muscles in your body. If you suffer from these, getting a trigger point massage can be highly beneficial. In addition, finding ways to avoid triggering your muscles can also help.

Why Do Trigger Points Occur?

Trigger points can occur in your muscles for several reasons, and one reason is from overuse. If you do an activity that uses muscles you normally do not use, it may cause trigger points to occur. Another common reason for developing trigger points is from misuse of muscles. Each muscle in your body is designed to be used in a certain way. When you use muscles in ways they were not designed, they can become irritated. One cause of misuse of muscles is bad posture.

If you have bad posture when you walk or sit, you might be using muscles in your back or neck that should not be being used. This will eventually cause the muscles to tighten up and become inflamed. Repeated use of these muscles in this way can lead to developing knots in the muscles.

When this happens, you may feel stiff or sore, and when someone rubs your back in these areas, it might feel good and painful all at the same time. If this is the case, you can assume these are trigger points.

What Is A Trigger Point Massage?

A trigger point massage is something you can get to help relieve and fix the problems you are having with your muscles. During a trigger point massage, a therapist from a place like Health Atlast Fountain Valley will aim at reducing the knots in your trigger points by massaging them. When this occurs, it might feel slightly painful to you, yet you will most likely consider this a good type of pain. The therapist will continue working through all the trigger points you have, and you may want to consider having this done every week until you no longer feel pain in these areas.

In addition to getting professional massages, you can also perform massages on yourself. When you do this, you must simply rub the trigger points with your fingers or hand. Do not use too much force so that the pain is unbearable, but you should use enough force to make sure you are doing some good to the tightened muscles.

What Else Can You Do To Help This Problem?

Getting massages is a wonderful way to relieve the pain and tightness with your muscles, but if you do not make changes in your life you may never steer completely clear of this problem. One major change you may need to make involves the way you carry yourself, sit, sleep, and stand.

Your posture has a lot of effects on the way your muscles feel and work. The first thing you should do is try to sit up straight each time you sit down. This may feel awkward at first, but it is something you can train yourself to do.

In addition, you may need to make changes with the way you sleep. If you sleep on your back, try propping a pillow under your knees when you sleep. This will help your back stay in its normal position more easily. If you sleep on your side, place a pillow between your knees to reduce pressure on your back.

If you would like to find relief for the pain and stiffness you have from trigger points, contact a massage clinic. They can offer many types of massages, including trigger point massages. 

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