Trigger Point Massage
Massage Type Offered - Trigger Point
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Trigger Point Massage in Fort McMurray
Trigger point massage locates painful spots in muscle tissue and works on them directly to reduce pain and deactivate the point. The defining feature of a trigger point is that it almost always refers pain to a different area of the body. Higher Health Acupuncture & Massage Therapy Clinic offers trigger point therapy in Fort McMurray, Alberta.
Session length - 45 / 60 / 90 minutes
Pressure - Firm and sustained on specific points
Clothing - Undressed to your comfort level, draped throughout
Best for - Pain that shows up somewhere other than its source
Booking - Part of a therapeutic session
Insurance - Registered therapist receipt provided for direct billing
What is a trigger point?
A trigger point is a painful spot in muscle tissue that radiates pain to other areas. It signals that the body has experienced some form of physiological dysfunction: poor posture, repetitive mechanical stress, a mechanical imbalance such as legs of different lengths, or acute trauma.
Trigger points are part of a protective mechanism. They are a defense reflex that keeps your body safe. Problems start when the reflex misfires or does not switch off, leaving you with ongoing pain and stiffness.
Trigger point therapy locates those points and manipulates them to reduce pain and deactivate them.
What does trigger point massage help with?
- Headache
- Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain
- Low back pain
- Osteoarthritis
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Tinnitus
- Migraines
- Sciatica
- Sports injuries
What to expect in your session
- Your therapist maps where you feel the pain and where it travels to.
- They palpate to find the source point, which is often some distance from where it hurts.
- Sustained pressure is applied to the point, held until the tissue releases.
- Broader work through the surrounding muscle to stop the pattern re-forming.
When your therapist finds the right point, you will usually recognize it. The referral pattern reproduces the pain you came in with. That recognition is the signal that they are in the right place.
Who should not book trigger point massage
Avoid trigger point work over an area with acute inflammation, infection, an open wound or a recent fracture. Tell your therapist if you are on blood thinners, have a clotting disorder, have osteoporosis, or have a diagnosed nerve condition. If you have unexplained numbness, weakness or pain that has not been assessed, see a physician first so the treatment targets the right cause.
Frequently asked questions
That is the defining characteristic of a trigger point. A point in the upper trapezius commonly refers pain into the head, one in the gluteal muscles can refer down the leg. Treating only where it hurts often misses the source.
Headache is one of the primary conditions trigger point massage is used for, particularly tension headaches driven by points in the neck, shoulders and jaw.
Sustained pressure on an active point is uncomfortable, and it typically reproduces your familiar pain before it eases. It should stay within a range you can breathe through. Tell your therapist if it does not.
Some points release in a session. Points that have been active for years, or that are being maintained by a posture or work pattern, take a course of treatment plus a change to what is causing them.
Deep tissue works broadly through deeper layers of a muscle group. Trigger point work is pinpoint, applying sustained pressure to a specific spot.
Your therapist can show you how to use a ball or foam roller on the points they have found. Self treatment maintains progress but does not replace the assessment.
Related treatments
- Therapeutic Massage - broader treatment for a named condition
- Myofascial Release - for fascia restriction feeding the pattern
- Deep Tissue Massage - for the surrounding chronic tension
Book online or call 780-743-0566.
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