The sensory, motor, and autonomic symptoms caused by myofascial trigger points.

A hyperirritable spot in the skeletal muscle that is associated with a hypersensitive palpable nodule in a taught band. The spot is painful on compression and can give rise to characteristic referred pain, motor dysfunction and autonomic dysfunction.

Treatment directed at deactivating or desensitizing myofascial trigger points in order to decrease or eliminate the pain caused by these trigger points.

Because myofascial trigger points are painful to the touch, applying pressure to them, which is one method of treatment, can be painful. However, in my opinion, the amount of pressure applied need not be excessive to be effective. Limiting the amount of pressure will decrease the discomfort during therapy. There are also other techniques that I use that are not painful at all.

Following a therapy session one may experience discomfort. Some may not. Usually this discomfort will last from a few hours to into the following day.

Perpetuating factors are those things that will aggravate pain caused by trigger points and keep them from being resolved. These include but are not limited to: an ill fitting pillow, a cane that is improperly adjusted, and chair arm rests that are too high or too low.

Soft tissue mobilization with movement is a way of decreasing or eliminating pain by manipulating a body part into a position where the pain is no longer felt with movement.

Strain counter strain is a technique where the muscle is manually put in a shortened position and held there for a period of time in order to deactivate the trigger point.

Stretching a muscle after a trigger point in that muscle is treated helps that muscle to maintain its newly uncontracted state.