Myofascial trigger points are irritated areas in tight or stressed bands of muscle. This irritated area can cause shortening of the muscle, which causes main muscle weakness and impaired movement. These trigger points can be felt as a “knot” – a hard nodule or bump on the muscle.
Myofascial trigger points are not only painful on the affected muscle and surrounding tissues. They can also affect the healthy functioning of just about every system in the body. They can also lead to problems with balance, vision and hearing, and contribute to bowel and urinary problems and even heart palpitations. If the trigger point affects a nerve, numbness and tingling can occur.
Trigger points can also affect circulation by compressing blood vessels, causing changes in skin temperature and color. Located near lymph glands, they can cause swelling and problems with the movement of lymph fluid throughout the body. Trigger points can play a role in many chronic conditions including fibromyalgia, temporomandibular joint syndrome (TMJ), sciatica, and restless leg syndrome.
How do you do a myofascial release?
Myofascial release therapy is a chiropractic care approach to relieving tension and pain in the fascia. It focuses on relieving muscle tightness and shortness in the trigger points. It is a form of physical therapy that is commonly used to treat this syndrome.
The technique focuses on pain believed to arise from myofascial tissues — the tough membranes that wrap, connect and support your muscles. Theoretically, myofascial pain differs from other types of pain because it originates in "trigger points," which are related to stiff, anchored areas within the myofascial tissue.
Trauma, inflammatory responses, and/or surgical procedures create Myofascial restrictions that can produce tensile pressures of approximately 2,000 pounds per square inch on pain sensitive structures that do not show up in many of the standard tests (x-rays, myelograms, CAT scans, electromyography, etc.)