How do trigger points form?

Little is known about the formation of trigger points. As evidence-based providers, at To The Point PDX we understand the formation of trigger points as described in the Integrated Trigger Point Hypothesis (ITPH).

According to ITPH, trigger points are likely the product of: muscle overuse (think: lots of the same repetitive motion like typing or running); continuous muscle contracture (think: poor posture); muscle over-load (think: lifting heavy weights, or continuous reputation of movements that exhaust the muscle); or trauma (think: being hit or falling).

This means you can have trigger points even if you can’t think of a time that you actually were “hurt”.

But what actually happens in the muscle on a cellular level when a trigger point forms?

Calcium is the culprit for the formation of your trigger points. When your muscle are either overused, continually contracted, overloaded or tired from repetitive movements, your muscles cells release calcium. And calcium makes your muscle cells contract. So now your tired muscle is making itself even more tired by releasing calcium, which in turn makes your muscle cells contract even more.

And the cycle continues on and on. Eventually, the muscle is contracted for so long that the the muscle fibers cannot receive the normal amounts of blood the area needs, resulting in a shortage of oxygen and nutrients to the muscle cells.

It’s a nasty feedback loop that does not quit until you intervene with some sort of trigger point therapy—like dry needling!