Massage therapists often work on trigger points (TrPs). One of our clients from France is receiving a massage treatment for neck pain.

One of our clients from France is receiving a massage treatment for the neck pain.

Massage therapists often work on trigger points (TrPs), or muscle knots, which cause familiar aches and pains including neck pain. Myofascial Pain Syndrome is a disorder where there is an abundance of these TrPs around the body, causing systemic, and easily triggered, pain. Therapists often use a numbered system for common areas where TrPs are found, such as no.4, and area in the scalene muscle group in the throat. This group of muscles may be responsible for a number of patients’ chest pain, arm pain, neck pain, and upper back pain, making massage an effective tool for pain relief. Unfortunately, the scalenes are also liable to produce considerable referred, or radicular pain, making the association between TrPs there and the pain elsewhere quite tricky for physicians and therapists. By relieving the pressure and tightness in this particular muscle group the massage therapist may also help alleviate conditions such as compression in the brachial plexus leading to arm numbness and poor circulation.