These findings suggest that TP altered the motor control without co-contraction patterns. No influences were found when muscles were in the non-dominant condition. Despite a similar muscle activity was observed, we found that muscles with active TP had increased weighting coefficients when labeled in the dominant condition.
The presence of latent and active TP was detected in each muscle with manual examination. The extracted matrices of motor modules and activation signals were used to label the muscles condition as dominant or non-dominant.
Electromyographic signals, recorded from the muscles of the shoulder girdle and upper arm during a reaching task, were decomposed with Non-Negative Matrix Factorization algorithm. Several studies investigating one or few muscles have shown that both active and latent TP causes an increased muscle activity, however the influence of TP on modular motor control during a reaching task is still unclear. To check availability and book and appointment please check here.Myofascial trigger points (TP) constitute a conundrum in research and clinical practice as their etiopathogenesis is debated. In my experience it has not always been 100% accurate – but it is a great starting point to begin assessment and treatment of muscular pain.ĭuring a treatment session we may incorporate trigger point therapy into sports or remedial massage therapy as an effective way to relieve a variety of pain complaints. With over 80 years of clinical experience between them Travell & Simons developed ‘pain pattern’ maps of the body which indicate where myofascial TrPs are more likely to be depending where you have pain (which I think was their original intention). The referral pain patterns may not correspond to any dermatome or neuroanatomy lines, so there must be another explanation. If in pain, pressure on the TrP will invariably recreate your pain (which maybe in a completely different place to where pressure is applied). However clinical experience makes me and many, many other professionals believe Trigger Point therapy can affect pain (relief) in a mechanical and neurological way – one cannot treat/affect one without the other – and is part of the biopsychosocial approach to successful treatment of pain and dysfunction. This is only a theory that has been strongly refuted by some researchers and clinicians claiming the effects are purely neurological and/or placebo.
Localised tension pressure in and around a nodule or ‘knot’ can create a “energy crisis” meaning starvation of oxygen and accumulation of waste products within the muscle fiber, without innervation from motor units (nerve signals). TrPs can be active (producing pain) OR latent (no pain) but will always be self-perpetuating to some degree – depending on how long the TrP has been activated. Travell & Simons hypothesized that trigger points occur when muscle fiber sarcomeres are either acutely, sustained and/or repetitively overloaded. Within muscles are thousands if not millions of microscopic muscle fibers which contract independently to make a muscle/joint move. A trigger point (TrP) was first defined by Dr Travell & Dr Simons as “a highly irritable localized spot of exquisite tenderness in a nodule in palpable taut band of muscle tissue”.