Trigger point injections (TPI) can be an effective way to relieve pain and help you start moving again. The combination of a local anesthetic and a steroid compound can provide maximum relief and aid healing. Most doctors recommend an injection every eight weeks for six months for maximum pain relief. Trigger points are painful areas of the muscle that contain activation points or muscle knots that form when the muscles don't relax.
These knots can be felt under the skin and can irritate the nerves that surround them, causing referred pain or pain that is felt elsewhere in the body. Trigger point injections cause temporary pain for a day or two, and multiple injections at a time may cause mild dizziness for several hours. Rare side effects, such as bleeding, allergies, infections and nerve damage, are mainly due to clinical errors and adverse reactions from these injections. When physical therapy hasn't worked or the pain is too severe for physical therapy, trigger point injections can relax muscles and muscle groups, providing relief. If you have chronic pain, trigger point injections may be an option if other treatments haven't worked.
Injections at trigger points with anesthetics cause the pain area to remain latent and reduce the sensation of pain. Most people experience pain relief 24 to 72 hours after the procedure. Your healthcare provider creates a personalized plan based on the number of trigger points you have and your level of pain. Trigger point injection is administered to relieve muscle pain and functional bottlenecks associated with trigger points. The pain resulting from the injection is completely different from the pain associated with the trigger points. Trigger points usually form in patterns all over the body, usually in places where blood circulation is already low.
Trigger point injections usually consist of injections of local anesthetic with or without corticosteroids, botulinum toxin, or without any injectable substance (dry needling). Trigger point injections are a common and generally safe way to treat myofascial pain caused by trigger points. If you have received an injection at the trigger point and have signs of infection, such as fever or heat at the site of the injection, contact your healthcare provider. Trigger points are usually painful to the touch, so you're likely to feel some pain when your healthcare provider manually locates the trigger point before the injection.
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