If you’re dealing with chronic pain and muscle knots, relief might be closer than you think. Here at Lomibao Rheumatology, we offer trigger point injections in Dallas, TX, providing a rapid and effective solution to these persistent problems.
Trigger points are painful, contracted, bands or knots of muscle tissue. They are commonly found on the neck, shoulders, and along the spine. Trigger points form due to poor posture and are worsened by stress due to subconsciously contracting or shortening the postural muscles. Trigger point injection is performed to treat trigger points that have not responded to home remedies such as massage, moist heat, stretching, oral and topical pain medications.
You will be positioned seated upright with the trigger point area exposed. The clinician will touch and feel the borders and texture of the trigger point, mark if necessary, then apply cleanser to the treatment area. The clinician will hold and lift the trigger point between the fingers to stabilize the tissue. This part may feel uncomfortable. The clinician will insert a small, thin needle into the trigger point and treat the area by repeatedly inserting and retracting the needle without completely withdrawing the needle from the muscle or your skin. You may feel your muscle spasm or twitch, which is normal. The clinician will continue the fanning motion in multiple directions until the twitching has stopped or until the muscle feels adequately softened and relaxed. The clinician will simultaneously inject the trigger point with a local anesthetic with or without an anti-inflammatory steroid. The procedure will be over and you’ll be able to go home.
When performed by a qualified clinician, trigger point injections are safe and can provide pain relief to people who have been experiencing pain associated with trigger points and have not found relief using home remedies. By lengthening and softening the muscle tissue, trigger point injections can also provide improvement in range of motion and overall muscle functionality, depending on which muscle is affected.
