Trigger point therapy

Trigger points are described as hyperirritable spots in skeletal muscle that are associated with palpable nodules in taut bands of muscle fibers. Trigger point researchers believe that palpable nodules are small contraction knots and a common cause of pain. Compression of a trigger point may elicit local tenderness, pain elsewhere, or local twitch response.

When I was studying [trigger point therapy], I read the two volumes by Travell & Simons.

I recall that they said besides the ordinary trigger points that develop from muscle strain, if one has a diseased organ (e.g. heart, gallbladder, etc.), sometimes it can prompt development of a trigger point in a muscle nearby….

If you identify a trigger point, there are do-it-yourself instructions that can sometimes really help. Instead of the anaesthetic that is used by a practitioner, there is a special technique [in which ice is used]. …

It might be that if you could release one or more trigger points it could make a big difference. Once they arise, they can be self-perpetuating.

Joyce Waterhouse, PhD

• The trigger point therapy workbook: your self-treatment guide for pain relief, second edition – self-help book designed to help the layperson to treat themselves for painful trigger points with massage
  • selections available from author's website
  • book available on Amazon.com
• Travell & Simons' myofascial pain and dysfunction: the trigger point therapy workbook – a two-volume manual

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