What are trigger point injections?
A trigger point is a painful knot in a tight band of muscle. A trigger point often causes pain to be felt in other areas, too. For example, a trigger point in the neck or upper back can cause pain in the head.
Trigger point injections are shots of medicine into these knots to help relieve the pain. The medicines are usually local anesthetics like lidocaine.
Trigger point injections are often part of plan that includes other treatments, such as muscle stretching and strengthening.
How is a trigger point injection done?
Your doctor first locates a trigger point by pressing around the painful area. This may cause your muscle to hurt or twitch. This tells the doctor that it's the right spot to do the injection.
The area is cleaned. Your doctor then injects the medicine into the trigger point. The doctor may inject the medicine in more than one direction within the trigger point. The doctor may change direction without removing the needle.
If you have more than one trigger point in the muscle, your doctor may repeat the process.
Your doctor may stretch the area to help the muscle relax. You may be shown how to move and stretch the muscle yourself.
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