I am a Sports and Therapeutic Massage Therapist at The Space Between. I qualified with a Bachelor’s degree in New Zealand 12 years ago. One of my favourite techniques to use is trigger point therapy to assist clients with pain relief.
Trigger point therapy is a variety of techniques used to release and realign knotted fibers within the muscle to get rid of pain and restore proper function.
The muscles are made up of tiny fibers that overlap each other each time the muscles contract and lengthen, like a sliding door. These fibers can become knotted during exercise, repetitive movements, trauma or stress, causing pain and tight bands of muscle fibers that cannot move freely as normal.
An active trigger point can refer pain to surrounding areas or limbs, so if you are feeling pain in one region, it may not be where the problem originates from. You may not even know you have an inactive trigger point until you press on it. Applying direct pressure to these trigger points can force the fibers to release, then I can realign them with stretching and lengthening techniques, so they can then regain normal pain-free functionality.
The most common areas where I find trigger points are in the upper shoulders and neck, either from stress, bad posture, or overuse with exercise or physical work. These trigger points will often radiate into the head when pressed or can cause headaches on a regular basis if left untreated.
Book a session today if you would like some natural, long lasting pain relief.