Trigger Points are small contraction knot in muscle tissues. It often feels like a pea buried deep in the muscle. A trigger point affects a muscle by keeping it both tight and weak. At the same time, a trigger point maintains a hard contraction on the muscle fibers that are directly connected to it. In turn, these taut bands of muscle fibers keep constant tension on the muscle attachments, often producing symptoms in adjacent joints. The constant tension in the fibers of the trigger point itself restricts circulation in its immediate area. The resulting accumulation of the by-products of metabolism, as well as deprivation of the oxygen and nutrients needed for metabolism can perpetuate trigger points for months, or even years, unless some intervention occurs. It's this self-sustaining vicious cycle that needs to be broken with trigger point therapy.

Trigger points typically send pain to some other site of the body. Most convention treatment of pain is based on the assumption that the cause of pain will be formed at the site of pain. But trigger points almost always send their pain elsewhere. Trigger points are easily located by touch and can be deactivated with treatment.

There are several benefits to trigger point therapy:

1. It breaks down the chemical and neurological feedback loop that maintains the myofascial contraction.
2. It increases circulation that has been restricted by the contracted tissue.
3. It directly stretches the trigger point knotted muscle tissues.