[proto-n]

Trigger points afaik are a widely accepted concept, my physical therapist tells me that something like 90% of the time her patients' problems are due to trigger points. Or more correctly due to cramping and tense muscles, which trigger points can help alleviate.

The trigger point is basically just a place where you can push on the muscle, and apparently when you push on a muscle that's tense, it's forced to relax itself. It's painful, but only as long as the muscle is tense. Relaxed muscles are not painful when pushed.

[frob]

I had debilitating sciatica for 4 to 5 months to the point where I could only get a few intermittent hours of sleep every night even with strong muscle relaxants. I worked with a PT for months on stretches and strengthening exercises. A few months in, they off-handedly suggested dry needling, which seems to operate on the same principles as trigger point massage. I gave it a shot because I was open to any possible treatment at that time. Literally one session cured my sciatica. Within minutes, the pain was less than half of what it had been before and by the next morning, it was over 90% gone. It was quite fortunate timing as this was March 2020 and I cannot fathom how I would have survived the fear and isolation of the early months of the COVID pandemic coupled with that pain.

[andrekandre]

  > The trigger point is basically just a place where you can push on the muscle, and apparently when you push on a muscle that's tense, it's forced to relax itself. It's painful, but only as long as the muscle is tense. Relaxed muscles are not painful when pushed.

thats interesting. after getting injured i started getting intense tension headaches from the back of my neck/head and at one point went to various massage therapists, and the best ones would find the right muscle and press real hard... which would hurt like hell but would solve my headache pretty fast in a lot of cases.

fast-forward many sessions later, i learned how to do the same for myself whenever i'd feel a tension headache coming on, just find that tense knot and press hard; works like magic many times