One of the more recently identified, and simple, treatments of chronic pain has been made popular over the past decade by American physician Dr Janet Travell. And it is one of the few medical terms that is nearly self-explanatory.
It consists of treating tender points in the soft issues which often accompany, or cause, chronic pain.
The trigger point is a small, well-defined area of tenderness, sensitive to pressure or stretching. Usually less than a centimetre in size, it is located in muscle, connective tissue or skin. When stimulated, or excited, it reacts by causing pain and spasm in a rather explosive way. Hence the comparison with pulling the trigger of a gun! And pain is not only caused at the site but far beyond the point. For example, a trigger point in the neck may produce headaches. One in the back may produce leg pain. A trigger point in the shoulder blade can produce pain down the inside of the arm.
Predisposing causes There is a range of conditions that tend to make tissues develop a trigger point. These include:
• Chronic muscular strain produced by poor posture or repetitive movements.
• General tiredness, nerve irritation and chronic pain.
• Poor sleep patterns are believed to be increasingly important because these can lead to chronic muscle spasm when a person is asleep. The poor sleep pattern condition is now a popular illness, given the name ‘fibromyositis syndrome’. This has all the hallmarks of being a twentieth century disease due to continuing muscle spasm aggravated by anxiety and strain.
It can be summarised as an ‘uptight syndrome’ during waking and sleeping.
Immediate causes These include sudden injury due to strain, temperature changes and serious illness — thus putting a strain on the whole body, and acute nerve pressure.
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