from NielAsher Advanced Trigger Point Techniques:
We will define a trigger point after Drs. Janet Travell and David Simmons (1998),
"A highly irritable localized spot of exquisite tenderness in a nodule in a palpable taut band of (skeletal) muscle."
These hyperirritable localized spots can vary in size, and have been described as "tiny lumps", "little peas", and "large lumps"; they can be felt beneath the surface, embedded within the muscle fibers. If these spots are tender to pressure they may well be "trigger points". The size of a trigger point nodule varies according to the size, shape, and type of muscle in which it is generated. What is consistent is that they are tender to pressure. So tender in fact (hyperalgesia) that when they are pressed, the patient often winces from the pain; this has been called the "jump sign". When pressed and held for six or more seconds this acute pain seems to melt into a specific and reproducible map of pain.
Myofascial trigger points may well be implicated in all types of musculoskeletal and mechanical muscular pain. Their presence has even been demonstrated in children and babies. Pain or symptoms may be directly due to active trigger points, or pain may "build up" over time from latent or inactive trigger points. Studies and investigations in selected patient populations have been carried out on various regions of the body. There is a growing amount of research evidence directly linking musculoskeletal pain to trigger points. A high prevalence of trigger points has been confirmed to be directly associated with myofascial pain, somatic dysfunction, psychological disturbance, and associated restricted daily functioning.
Poor posture is a powerful "activator and perpetuator" of myofascial trigger points (Simons et al. 1998) and is always worth considering in chronic trigger point syndromes. Postural muscles tend to have a greater percentage of type 1 fibers; this characteristic, as discussed, may lead to a more resistant type of trigger point. Human beings are four-limbed animals, and like our cousins, we are designed to move around and hunt for food. I am sure that if one put a gorilla in a chair all day, it would get a bad back!
We will define a trigger point after Drs. Janet Travell and David Simmons (1998),
"A highly irritable localized spot of exquisite tenderness in a nodule in a palpable taut band of (skeletal) muscle."
These hyperirritable localized spots can vary in size, and have been described as "tiny lumps", "little peas", and "large lumps"; they can be felt beneath the surface, embedded within the muscle fibers. If these spots are tender to pressure they may well be "trigger points". The size of a trigger point nodule varies according to the size, shape, and type of muscle in which it is generated. What is consistent is that they are tender to pressure. So tender in fact (hyperalgesia) that when they are pressed, the patient often winces from the pain; this has been called the "jump sign". When pressed and held for six or more seconds this acute pain seems to melt into a specific and reproducible map of pain.
Myofascial trigger points may well be implicated in all types of musculoskeletal and mechanical muscular pain. Their presence has even been demonstrated in children and babies. Pain or symptoms may be directly due to active trigger points, or pain may "build up" over time from latent or inactive trigger points. Studies and investigations in selected patient populations have been carried out on various regions of the body. There is a growing amount of research evidence directly linking musculoskeletal pain to trigger points. A high prevalence of trigger points has been confirmed to be directly associated with myofascial pain, somatic dysfunction, psychological disturbance, and associated restricted daily functioning.
Poor posture is a powerful "activator and perpetuator" of myofascial trigger points (Simons et al. 1998) and is always worth considering in chronic trigger point syndromes. Postural muscles tend to have a greater percentage of type 1 fibers; this characteristic, as discussed, may lead to a more resistant type of trigger point. Human beings are four-limbed animals, and like our cousins, we are designed to move around and hunt for food. I am sure that if one put a gorilla in a chair all day, it would get a bad back!
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