You shouldn’t have to live with chronic muscle tension and painful knots. Boston Pain Clinic in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, offers trigger point injections to relieve tension and help knotted muscle fibers heal. To learn more about trigger point injections and how they can help you, call the Boston Pain Clinic office to schedule a consultation. You can also request an appointment online at any time.
Trigger points are tightly knotted muscle fibers or fascia (the connective tissue surrounding your muscles and organs). These trigger points often irritate the nerves surrounding them, which is why you feel pain. The most common places to develop trigger points are muscles in the shoulders, back, hips, and buttocks.
You may have one or many trigger points. There are two kinds of trigger points. Latent trigger points hurt if you press on them but aren’t as severe as active trigger points, which are highly sensitive.
Active trigger points are often painful, even when you’re resting. You may have additional problems such as weak muscles, a limited range of motion, and referred pain (pain felt in a different part of the body to the trigger point). Myofascial pain syndrome is a condition where trigger points cause persistent pain.
Trigger points can develop for various reasons, including:
Trigger points are most often a result of muscle overuse or excessive stress, but they can sometimes occur if you don’t move or exercise enough.
When your muscles tense up and form knots that won’t relax, trigger point injections can help them relax. If you have several trigger points or a large trigger point, you might need several injections.
During your procedure, your Boston Pain Clinic practitioner inserts a very small needle into your trigger point. This injection contains a numbing solution and often a corticosteroid. The injection helps your muscle relax and takes the pressure off nerves, alleviating your pain.
Feeling a slight sting or pinch when the trigger point needle first goes in is normal. However, because part of the fluid is a local anesthetic, the injection numbs the area almost instantly.
This should minimize or completely get rid of any pain you may feel. For highly sensitive areas, your provider can apply a topical numbing cream to further limit discomfort during your session.
You may require additional trigger point injections, although it depends on how well you respond to the treatment. If you’ve had chronic pain from trigger points for years, you’ll likely need to come back to Boston Pain Clinic for additional injections.
Call Boston Pain Clinic to inquire about trigger point injections and see if they can help you. Alternatively, you can request an appointment online at any time.