Muscle Pain: How Can Trigger Point Injections Help?

If you’ve ever felt a muscle knot beneath your skin, perhaps at the site of an ache or pain, you know what a trigger point is. These form when muscles contract and don’t completely release. Trigger point injections are a simple way to find relief.

Whether from overexertion, tension, or conditions like fibromyalgia, you could be in pain because of myofascial knots, also known as trigger points. These are often detectable as lumps under the skin. Often, they’re easy to find on the upper back and shoulders.

Trigger points create aching pain that feels deep. Direct pressure on the site may produce a sharper pain. Along with the aches, your muscles could feel tight with reduced mobility.

Metro Anesthesia & Pain Management specializes in trigger point injections, a proven way to relieve the pain created by myofascial knots. For fast relief of this type of muscle pain, book an appointment today.

What is a trigger point?

Trigger points are localized areas of tight muscle tissue that can be active, producing pain constantly, or latent, causing pain only when touched or manipulated. A sensitive bump can be felt at the site of pain, and pressing on it causes a twitch response and radiating pain.

There are plenty of suspected causes for trigger points but their formation isn’t fully understood. Acute trauma, repeated microtrauma, lack of physical activity, and chronic poor posture are some of the conditions thought to create trigger points.

The role of trigger point injections

Relieving the pain from a trigger point means rendering it inactive. This can be accomplished through a variety of methods like massage or ultrasound. But one of the most effective ways to release these localized pain centers is a trigger point injection (TPI).

A simple office procedure, TPI uses a thin needle to pierce the trigger point, injecting local anesthetic or saline solution. The injection renders the trigger point inactive, and sometimes the pain relief is instant.

In cases where local inflammation is an issue, a corticosteroid may reduce swelling.

Patients who may be allergic to anesthetics can be successfully treated with dry needling, a type of TPI that uses no fluid. The needle action itself is enough to relax the trigger point.

In some cases, you may need a course of treatment for extended relief from trigger point pain.

Trigger point injections are safe

TPI is a low-risk treatment. Bleeding, bruising, and infection are the most common complications, but these are rare, with a risk similar to allergy shots or blood samples.

Saline is biocompatible, and the anesthetics and steroids involved are widely used and well-tolerated. Allergic reactions are rare.

TPI treatment takes only a few minutes, during which several trigger points could be treated. It’s possible to have some lingering soreness around the injection site, lasting a day or two.

Find out more about TPI and your suitability for treatment by consulting with Metro Anesthesia & Pain Management in West Des Moines and Des Moines, Iowa. Call the nearest office today or book your consultation online. Relief isn’t far behind.