That’s the Spot!
Ouch! ‘That’s the spot’. Sometimes that is all it takes. The tenderness is gone. Trigger points are localized points that when pressed are super sensitive; outright painful and often fire into a familiar achy pattern. These points develop from a relentless demand on the soft tissue and musculature. A simple paradigm is the bones support us and muscles move us. There are only a hand full of muscles required to contract for long periods as in standing. Yet bad posture and faulty movement patterns are demanding muscles to support us as well as
move us. These muscle fibers become fatigue over time and if not attended to, become sore and knotted (Trigger Points) limiting range of motion, causing stiffness, head aches, leg pain, and back pain.
Long term sitting can be a culprit as well creating havoc in the balance of opposing muscles. Flexors of the hip become locked short. When we proceed to stand up and those shortened flexors than draw the lumbar spine forward, causing the erector spinae to spasm in order to counter the locked short flexors. Yet trigger Points unnoticed in the flexors of the hip need releasing in order to be in balance with the opposing musculature, namely the erector spinae in this case.
I often explain that when touched the nervous system pressure receptors should fire and you should feel pressure. It is a warning sign if when pressed you feel pain or referred pain. Many trigger points are responsible for pain felt at a distance from the source. Muscles of the neck are often responsible for head aches. Muscles of the shoulder are often responsible for arm and hand pain. Muscles of the hip are often responsible for leg and foot pain. In an ideal world a night’s sleep should be replenishing and we would start our day rested and full of energy. If not we carry that tension to our next day and our restrictions accumulate, ether slowly showing up or an injury ensues that is simple a peak in that accumulation phenomenon. Accumulation occurs because our poor posture and movement patterns only re-enforce dysfunctional tension producing holding patterns.
Health is our most important asset to lead a happy existence. To quote Dr. Rosen of Wilton ‘it is easier to stay healthy than to get healthy’. We all need to listen to our bodies, and if a nights sleep does not have us recovered or seven nights for that matter, you choose, you owe it to your self to seek help. Drink water for hydration, consider electrolyte replenishment, exercise, stretch, and if a week has gone by and you’re still hurting give us a call. We can help. We Have been serving the Wilton and surrounding comunities since 1994.