Headaches and migraines are complex conditions with many potential causes. In order to be able to treat them properly, we have to be prepared to offer many different treatments that can target these causes and provide relief.
One treatment we offer for these and other painful conditions is trigger point injections. This safe, noninvasive treatment can provide relief for many people with chronic headaches, migraines and muscle pain.
Trigger Points, Headaches, Migraines & Muscle Pain
What are trigger points? Trigger points are irritable areas in a muscle. They exhibit tightness, soreness, and may even twitch intermittently or under stimulation. These painful areas can be detected if you or your dentist touches your muscles. But trigger points don’t just cause local pain at the point where the sensitive muscle is. They can also cause pain in distant areas because of a phenomenon known as referred pain.
Referred pain occurs when your brain misinterprets the origin of pain signals, so you think that pain is being caused in one place, but it’s actually coming from a completely different place. In this way certain muscles can cause headaches, migraines, neck pain, and other types of pain.
How Do Trigger Point Injections Work?
Trigger point injections address your pain by numbing it at the source, not at the site where you think it’s coming from. This means finding the trigger point that’s linked to your specific pain, and numbing it with a local anesthetic. Sometimes, the injection may also contain a steroid to help combat swelling in the affected area, as well.
We find trigger points through simple palpation (feeling) of the suspected areas. Once we’ve identified your trigger points, we’ll perform injections there. These injections calm discomfort at the source to stop the distant pain.
Many people experience relief immediately. For others, relief may take time to develop. Sometimes, multiple treatments are necessary to achieve relief. Once you achieve it, relief can last for several weeks.
Benefits of Trigger Point Injections
Trigger point injections are a great treatment for some people. Trigger point injections:
- Can help if you’re not getting relief from other treatments
- Can relieve pain at both trigger point and referred site
- Long-lasting relief
- No pills to remember
- Noninvasive with low risk of only minor complications
Trigger point injections are a great solution for many people’s headaches, migraines and chronic muscle pain. Because they give long-lasting relief and don’t require you to take medications every day, they can be a blessing for many people suffering with chronic migraine. And because they are so noninvasive with little risk of complications, they are a treatment that people can easily try to see if they will work for them.
If you would like to learn whether you might benefit from trigger point injections, please call (303) 691-0267 today for an appointment with a Denver dentist at the TMJ Therapy & Sleep Center of Colorado.
