Trigger Point Injections
Trigger points are “knotty” areas or bands in muscle tissue. Trigger points are commonly seen in “Myofascial Pain Syndrome.”
Trigger Point Injections (TPI) are sometimes given for neck pain, headaches, and low back pain to treat muscle spasm and other soft tissue problems. Typically a low dose of anesthetic medication is injected into the trigger point(s) after careful examination. This is a simple “in-office procedure” and can give excellent relief for headaches, neck pain, mid/low back pain, shoulder, hip, and thigh pain of myofascial origin, and soft tissue damage. The following figure displays some common areas of myofascial trigger points:
A mixture of lidocaine and marcaine is often used to inject into the muscle trigger point, which helps to relieve muscle spasms.
Trigger Point Injections are not painful and maybe repeated on an occasional basis. The mechanism of action is by reducing the focal point of the muscle spasm. TPI is useful in the following situations:
- Muscle spasm in the back or neck
- Headaches associated with neck pain
- Focal areas of muscle hyperactivity in the upper or lower body
Contact us today at Rehability to learn if Trigger Point Injection is right for you.