Trigger Point Injections for Pain Management: From Tampa and St Petersburg’s Holistic Pain Doctor

Posted by Anne Hermann on Fri, May 04, 2012 @ 07:04 AM

Dr. Anne Hermann

Most adults have small, tender, damaged areas inside muscles called trigger points.  They are the size of a pencil eraser and feel like a knot when you press on them.  They can be in any muscle, including the neck, jaw, back, shoulder, hip, arm and leg muscles.  Trigger points are caused by injury or overusing a muscle.

A doctor performs trigger point injections by injecting into the trigger point.  The fluid injected can be sterile saline, lidocaine, steroid or herbal anti-inflammatory such as Trameel.  Trigger points have scar tissue inside them that prevents healthy blood flow.  The fluid breaks up the knot so that the muscle will relax and normal blood flow can return to the area.  Often, the patient will feel a muscle ‘release’ as when the knot is injected.

Trigger point injections are safe and often covered by insurance.  They can provide significant relief for many pain syndromes.  In our clinic, we also perform trigger point release with pressure or “dry needling” in which we needle the trigger point to release the knot, but do not inject fluid.

Learn how acupuncture point injection therapy and trigger point injection work together to eliminate pain at Dr. Terry Graham’s blog: http://www.doctorhermann.com/blog/bid/129100/Acupuncture-Treatments-Tampa-St-Pete-Acupoint-Injection-Therapy.  Even Dr. Oz has supports trigger point injections as an alternate cure for pain:http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/alternative-cure-biopuncture

Anne Hermann, MD is double board certified in Internal Medicine and as a Physician Nutrition Specialist. To schedule your consult, please call (813) 902-9559.

This post was written by Anne Hermann. Follow Anne Hermann on Google, Facebook, Twitter & Linkedin.