What are trigger points?
Trigger points are knots of muscles you develop when muscles don’t relax. These knots can be felt under the skin and are painful. They are most common in the neck, shoulder and back area. They can be caused by stress, poor posture or related to accident or injury.
What are trigger point injections?
Trigger point injections are small injections of medication usually an anesthetic used to break up the identified knots in the muscles and relieve pain.
How do trigger point injections work?
The medication used Lidocaine and Marcaine are anesthetics that help to provide immediate relief of pain. They cause the muscle to relax and increase blood flow and oxygen to the areas of damage. This allows the muscle to stretch more easily and can make physical therapy more effective for repair.
How long does the relief of injections last?
Trigger point injections with Marcaine and lidocaine can numb the area for up to 4 hours but everyone is different. Remember the objective is to provide immediate relief and relaxation to better work through therapy to strengthen, stretch and repair the muscles.
What are the side effects of trigger point injections?
Allergic reactions to Marcaine and lidocaine are rare. The most common side effect is soreness to the sites of injections that can be relieved by applying ice to the sites.
Are trigger point injections an option for me?
If you have tightness in your muscles, pain or knots that you can feel then trigger point injections are an option. If you have had therapy with little or no relief from your pain then trigger point injections in addition to therapy can help not only to relieve the pain but to repair the damaged muscle fibers.
