Some pain doesn’t start where you feel it. A tight spot in your upper shoulder can cause a headache behind your eye, and a knot deep in your low back can send an ache into your hip. At RESPORT, our trigger point therapy targets these hidden sources of pain so you can move comfortably and get back to doing what you love. Our team will assess whether trigger point therapy is right for you and build an individualized plan around your goals.
Trigger point therapy is a hands-on massage technique that addresses pain and tightness caused by trigger points: taut, hypersensitive bands within a muscle that stay contracted even at rest. These spots are tender to the touch and can cause referred pain, meaning discomfort that shows up in a completely different area of the body. Pressing an active trigger point may even produce a twitch in a connected muscle.
Trigger points typically develop from overuse, injury, poor posture, and stress. Long hours at a desk, repetitive training, and old injuries that never fully healed are some of the most common culprits we see in our Old Town clinic.
Your session begins with an assessment. Our team examines your posture, movement, and pain pattern, then locates the trigger points responsible for your symptoms. Once identified, we apply sustained pressure using fingers, elbows, or specialized tools. The pressure is firm but manageable, and it helps lengthen the contracted muscle fibers, calm pain signals, and improve blood flow to the area.
Sessions usually last 30 to 60 minutes, depending on how many trigger points need attention. Because trigger point therapy works best as part of a complete plan, we often combine it with dry needling, physical therapy, chiropractic care, and massage therapy.
Screens, phones, and long workdays pull the head forward, overloading the upper trapezius, levator scapulae, and the small suboccipital muscles at the base of the skull. Trigger points in these muscles cause stiffness, difficulty turning your head, and pain that spreads into the shoulders or up toward the head. Releasing them helps restore normal muscle length so your neck moves freely again. Learn more about our full approach to neck pain.
Your shoulder depends on several muscles working together, and a trigger point in any one of them can throw off the whole joint. Knots in the rotator cuff muscles (the infraspinatus, supraspinatus, and subscapularis) commonly refer pain deep into the front or side of the shoulder and down the arm, often mimicking a joint injury. Trigger point therapy can ease this pain and improve your ability to reach overhead or behind your back. Pair your sessions with our guide to resistance band shoulder exercises to build strength and keep pain from returning.
Much back pain comes from muscle rather than the spine itself. Trigger points in the quadratus lumborum, a deep muscle connecting your lower ribs to your pelvis, are a well-known source of low back pain that can wrap around to the hip or buttock. Higher up, knots in the rhomboids and middle trapezius create that nagging ache between the shoulder blades. The glutes can also refer pain into the low back and down the leg. Targeting these sources directly often brings relief where general massage only helps temporarily. See how we treat back pain across our services.
Many tension headaches have a muscular source. Trigger points in the upper trapezius, sternocleidomastoid, temporalis, and suboccipital muscles each refer pain to predictable areas of the head, including the temples, forehead, behind the eyes, and the back of the skull. Releasing these points can reduce how often headaches occur and how intense they feel. If you experience sudden, severe, or unusual headaches, check with your physician first. Learn more about our care for migraines and headaches.
Both techniques use firm pressure on deeper muscle layers, so they’re often confused. The main difference is focus: deep tissue massage treats broad areas of tension, while trigger point therapy zeroes in on specific knots and the pain they refer elsewhere.
| Trigger Point Therapy | Deep Tissue Massage | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Specific knots and their referred pain | Broad areas of chronic tension |
| Technique | Sustained, pinpoint pressure plus stretching | Slow, deep strokes across muscle layers |
| Best For | Localized pain, referred pain, tension headaches | Overall tightness, stiffness, recovery |
| Session Feel | Intense on specific points, with pauses | Consistently firm throughout |
| Assessment | Traces pain back to its true source | Works where tension is felt |
Neither is better for everyone. If you have a specific pain that keeps coming back, or pain that doesn’t seem to come from where it hurts, trigger point therapy is often the better place to start. If you feel tight all over, deep tissue may suit you more. Many of our sessions blend both based on your assessment.
Trigger point therapy also pairs well with myofascial release, which uses sustained pressure and stretching to loosen the fascia surrounding your muscles. Freeing up the fascia helps trigger point work go further and helps results last.
Clients commonly experience pain relief, improved range of motion, faster recovery, better posture, and reduced stress. By addressing the root of referred pain instead of just the symptom, trigger point therapy helps you move with less restriction in daily life, at work, and in your sport.
Some soreness or tightness for a day or two is normal and temporary. Ice packs and gentle stretching help ease it, and staying hydrated supports recovery. The number of sessions you’ll need depends on your condition and how long the trigger points have been present. We’ll map out a personalized plan so you know exactly what to expect.
There isn’t a single “most common” trigger point, but some areas of your body are particularly prone to developing them. Your upper back and shoulder muscles are often affected due to factors like posture and repetitive motions. The location of your trigger points will depend on your individual activities and posture.
The best approach for trigger points often involves a combination of techniques. While trigger point therapy itself is a treatment, we also incorporate mobility work, dry needling, and physical therapy. A conversation with our team will let you know what course of action we think is best based on your individual needs.
Massage can be a helpful tool for addressing trigger points and our team uses various massage techniques, applying sustained pressure to trigger points in efforts to relax the contracted muscle fibers and reduce pain signals.
These hypersensitive knots in your muscles cause pain that spreads beyond the spot itself, limiting your range of motion. Trigger points can also disrupt muscle function, leading to weakness and hindering your daily activities.
Your initial pain can worsen, moving beyond the knot itself. Tight muscles restrict your range of motion, making daily tasks difficult, but this pain can also disrupt muscle function, causing weakness and fatigue.
