Key Takeaways
- A trigger point is a tiny, very tight spot within a muscle. It's not a spasm or a cramp.
- Trigger points can cause pain far from where they actually are.
- Trigger points in the neck can cause pain that feels like sinus problems.
When patients come in, they often point to exactly where it hurts. But as Dr. Parsons explains in this video, where you feel pain isn't always where the problem is. The culprit may be a trigger point.
What Is a Trigger Point?
A trigger point is a very specific, tiny part of a muscle that is extremely tight. It isn't a muscle spasm, and it isn't a cramp. What makes trigger points tricky is that they can cause pain in a part of the body nowhere near the trigger point itself.
Common Examples
One common trigger point is in the infraspinatus, a muscle on the shoulder blade, but the pain it causes may show up somewhere else. If a practitioner isn't trained in trigger points, they may keep treating the painful area while the real problem goes unaddressed.
The neck is another example. Trigger points along the sternocleidomastoid muscle can cause pain around the face that's easily mistaken for sinus problems.
How Dr. Parsons Treats Trigger Points
Dr. Parsons is trained in the Nimmo Receptor-Tonus Technique, developed by the late Dr. Raymond Nimmo, which addresses trigger points by hand. She notes that fewer practitioners use this approach today. The medical alternative is usually a trigger point injection of a corticosteroid or saline.
If you have a strange pain pattern you can't figure out, and rubbing the sore spot doesn't help much, it could be a trigger point. The Natural Path Health Center in Fresno can help pinpoint where it's really coming from. Learn more about our chiropractic care.
Read the full video transcript
Hey everyone, it's Dr. Mikell Suzanne Parsons, founder of the Natural Path Health Center. As a chiropractor, a lot of you come in and you'll say something like, "It hurts here," or "It hurts here," or "It hurts here." Well, that's not always where the problem is. There's something called trigger points. These were discovered and made famous by several doctors who studied trigger points. A trigger point is a very specific, tiny part of an entire muscle that is super, super, super tight. It's not a muscle spasm. It's not a cramp. It's called a trigger point. And what's tricky about these is you could be feeling pain somewhere in your body nowhere near where the actual trigger point is. Now, this particular trigger point is very common. It could be in the infraspinatus muscle, which is on your scapula, your wing bone, but you might be feeling pain here. So if you go to someone who's not trained in trigger points, they might be continuing to assess and work here, but the problem is up here. Same thing with the neck. Where all these X's are, that's where the trigger points are, and where these red dots are, that's where you'll be feeling the pain. So you might be getting pain around here, and it could be mistaken for sinus problems, because that's where your sinuses are as well. But the problem could actually be one of these spots here along your sternocleidomastoid muscle. There have been several books written about this. There are practitioners trained in a technique called Nimmo Receptor-Tonus, created by Dr. Raymond Nimmo, who has since passed away, and I truly don't know how many practitioners are still doing that work. I'm one of them. But it's going to turn into a lost art, because the medical side of this would do a trigger point injection, either with a corticosteroid or saline. But we can actually address it with our own fingers. So if you're having pain and you haven't been able to get a clear idea of where it's really coming from, we have this here in the office. You can flip through it and take a peek, or you can ask me, and I can help narrow it down, because they stink and they hurt, and we want to resolve that so it doesn't continue to be a problem for you. So if you've got this weird pain pattern you can't figure out, and you rub on the spot and it doesn't really help much, it could be a trigger point. Don't let it fool you. It's not going to fool me. Talk to you soon.
Dr. Mikell Suzanne Parsons, DC, CCN, DACBN, DACNB
Dr. Mikell Suzanne Parsons, DC, CCN, DACBN, DACNB is a Doctor of Chiropractic, certified clinical nutritionist, and brain wellness expert with 34+ years serving Fresno families at The Natural Path Health Center.
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