Our office has been planning a spa weekend for a couple of months. We work long hours and we decided to reward ourselves with a weekend at Lake Lanier that included massages, facials, manicures, pedicures, scrumptious foods, general pampering, and for me a round of golf on the beautiful Pine Isle course. Everyone was excited. Babysitters were arranged for the weekend and husbands’ menus were set out for them. The girls were taking off early Friday morning for the ultimate hen party. I woke up early after being up late packing and getting kids’ things ready to go and I got a huge shock. I could not put my right foot on the floor without a horrible stabbing pain in my heel that brought me to my knees. I thought at first that I grew an instant heel spur overnight, but when I came to my senses I realized that sciatic pain was the culprit. I was relieved since I knew that I could get adjusted as soon as I got to the office to meet the rest of the gang. I got myself together and got to the office. After my adjustment I expected to feel instantly back to normal. That did not happen. My heel felt a little better but the pain wasn’t gone. I knew then that the reason I still felt pain was that I had a trigger point in a muscle that was causing my sciatic nerve to be irritated. My golf game had been planned for weeks, and I couldn’t let anything stop me. All the way from Milledgeville to Lake Lanier, I stretched, prodded, and poked my own muscles so that I would be able to play. By the time we reached the resort, I could at least walk without screaming and I was able to play golf Friday as planned. The pain returned Saturday morning and I knew I needed someone else to do the muscle work on me. I went down to the massage therapist and hired her to work my trigger points for the next hour. After her expert hands finished with me the heel pain was gone and I was able to enjoy the rest of the weekend without being miserable.
Trigger points are muscle fibers that become over stimulated most often as a result of being overworked and become ischemic, or blood-deficient. Muscles which are working properly act like tiny pumps which circulate blood throughout the muscle. This pumping action takes much-needed oxygen to the muscle and removes the byproducts of muscle contraction, especially lactic acid, from the muscle tissue. When a muscle fiber becomes overworked it sometimes holds a contraction, squeezing out blood and stopping its circulation altogether in that area. This results in oxygen starvation for that particular muscle and allows the buildup of metabolic waste in the fibers. The muscle then sends out pain signals to the brain and the trigger point is born. These trigger points can be remedied easily if one knows where they are and how to apply the proper amounts of pressure to the right places. Once the trigger points are massaged the circulation of blood increases and the tissue can relax and perform normally again. Mechanical stimulation is the only way to remove muscle trigger points effectively. Often people take medications in an attempt to free themselves of trigger point pain and it simply does not work. Pain medications work in the brain and are not site-specific. There is no way to take a medication that is only for a pain that is specifically in your foot, for example.
Many trigger points, however, cause referred pain, or pain that occurs somewhere other than where the trigger points are located. A case in point is that of my heel pain. The trigger points were actually located in my lower back and gluteal muscles and not in my heel. Had I not known about the trigger point issue I might have gone through any number of dead-end gates trying to get to the root of the problem. I see people like this every day who have been around the block looking for a solution to some odd pain that no one can seem to help. When we take a look at trigger points we often eliminate chronic problems in very short order. Trigger points have been known to cause headaches, jaw pain, heel pain, sciatica, lower back pain, carpal tunnel-like pain, and many other pain syndromes.
The possible causes of pain in the body are varied. They range from very serious causes to simple trigger points. Once you have eliminated the serious possible diagnoses as causes for your pain, consider trigger point work. Most chiropractors and many massage therapists are trained to locate and eliminate them. Don’t go around in pain any longer than you have to. It tends to cut down on the quality of time you spend on this great planet, and that is just a flicker. Treat your body and your spirit well.