A type of musculoskeletal pain that doesn’t get a lot of press, but impacts your life significantly nonetheless is that which originates from your trigger points — deep discomfort resulting from a knotted muscle that simply will not relax, no matter what you try.
Something that makes it challenging for clinicians to diagnose and treat this problem is that the pain you feel can sometimes be felt in a completely different location on your body than the trigger point itself.
The stellar team at Gain Wellness Center offers an innovative treatment for trigger point pain. Dr. Mandeep Walia-Bhatia, Dr. Jeremy La Motte, and Dr. Joseph Coppolino approach your pain with both clinical expertise and warmth, both essentials in the highest quality care.
Trigger points exist in multiple places in your body, from your neck to your ankles. Unfortunately, trigger points can’t be observed on imaging tests, but your doctor can tell they’ve hit a trigger point if they palpate it and feel a twitch in reaction to pressing on the painful nodule.
Trigger points occur because of overuse of certain muscles, and in addition to pain, you often notice a limited range of movement because your muscle is balled up and not elongated as it should be. Your muscle doesn’t have the same resilience it once had, typically tires in less time, and takes longer to recover from activity.
Patients tell us that they frequently experience audible joint popping when they’re engaged in movement as well.
A chronic pain disorder called myofascial pain syndrome not only causes pain in your muscles but in parts of your body that appear distant and unconnected. Unfortunately, with this condition, pain doesn’t ease up and progressively gets worse.
Stress has also been linked to a higher risk of experiencing trigger point problems. Fortunately, we offer patients a diverse range of treatments for managing stress and stress-induced health problems, including trigger point injections.
The Gain Wellness Center team offers an advanced treatment for trigger points called trigger point injections. These shots can provide significant relief, whether your pain is in your back, neck, arms, or legs. They also help people who are plagued by headaches, and the treatment is a game-changer for chronic conditions like fibromyalgia and myofascial pain syndrome.
We’ve observed fantastic results in our patients who’ve received trigger point injections. They note that the relief provided by the shots is so welcome, especially after a long period of persistent pain.
Your doctor determines whether you’re a good candidate for trigger point injections by giving you a thorough physical exam and manually checking your points of pain to see how they react. Some patients receive a single trigger point injection, while others get multiple injections, if necessary.
When you visit us, we ask you to get settled comfortably either in a chair or on our exam table and through muscle palpation, we determine where your trigger points are. We clean your injection site, administer the injection, and you’re done!
You’re in and out quickly and can go right back to work or home after the injection. We advise, however, that you refrain from vigorous exercise for several days after your treatment.
As for post-treatment side effects, some patients notice numbness, tenderness, and red skin surrounding the area where they received the injection, but this is only temporary.
We encourage you to schedule a consultation to see whether trigger point injections are a good option for you — at no charge. Call the Gain Wellness Center office, or reach out to us on our website.
