​What are Trigger Points?

Trigger points are painful points in muscles that are tight, injured, or over-worked. Often described as “a knot” in the muscle, these focal points of tenderness will usually cause a deep ache and can radiate pain out to other areas in a somewhat predictable pattern. Trigger points are theorised to be local areas of contracted fibres within a muscle. The chronic tightening is thought to lead to reduced blood flow which in turn contributes to a build up of waste products, such as lactic acid, and increased sensitivity of the muscle which in turn leads to more muscle tightening and reduced circulation, eventually the area runs low on energy making it hard for the muscle fibres to then release – a situation classed as motor endplate energy-crisis phenomenon. This cycle builds: a painful muscle contains trigger points and trigger points lead to further muscle pain.

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