Banish Headaches and Migraines with Trigger Point Massage Therapy

If you or someone you love is among the more than 39 million Americans who suffer from migraines, you understand how migraines can literally steal countless hours of your life. Your day may start perfectly fine and then those familiar aura symptoms start to kick in. Then the nausea arrives with the throbbing, intense headache. You retreat to a dark, quiet room. All you can think about is how long it’s going to last this time and if you’ll ever find relief.

Remarkably, this scenario replays over and over again for more than 1 billion people around the world. For a vast majority of these migraine sufferers (90% of them), migraines put them on the sidelines of living their best life. They miss work, school, and special moments with friends and family. 

But it doesn’t have to be that way, say the expertly trained licensed massage therapists at Stamford Spine in Stamford, Connecticut; trigger point massage therapy may help you find relief.

Trigger points explained 

A trigger point is a tightly stretched band of muscle fibers wrapped in connective tissue inside a muscle group. They manifest like tiny knots or bumps just under the surface of the skin, and they aren’t always sensitive to the touch. 

There are two basic types of trigger points – active and passive. Each varies by the location of the pain it triggers.

When you press on an active trigger point on one point in your body, the pain doesn’t stay localized but instead is referred or delivered to another part of the body. In contrast, a passive trigger point causes pain at the exact location of the trigger point. 

Regardless of the type of trigger point, when it comes to experiencing pain, the scenario is the same – a trigger point becomes so dense and tight that it limits blood flow to the muscle tissue, which creates a perfect storm for sustaining pain. 

Specifically, for natural healing to kick in and thereby relieve pain, oxygen and nutrients are required, but decreased circulation caused by the dense trigger point prevents that from happening.

Trigger point massage therapy for headache and migraine pain

Trigger point therapy is 1 of about 80 or so massage therapy techniques. You are probably familiar with a spa massage for relaxation or a deep tissue massage to address muscle injuries or chronic tissue, but trigger point massage therapy is much more strategic.

During your session, one of our specially trained massage therapists applies direct pressure to your trigger point with the purpose of relieving pain by loosening the contracted, tight muscle fibers, which in turn enhances blood flow to the affected area. Once your muscles are relaxed and blood circulation to the area increases, your body’s natural healing powers can take over. 

For headache or migraine pain relief, your massage therapist typically applies pressure to trigger points in your head and neck.  

While research on trigger point massage therapy is ongoing, according to one study, headache and migraine patients who used trigger point massage therapy in combination with medication experienced more effective pain relief than with medication alone.

Next steps

Similarly, trigger point massage therapy is often a great complement to treatment plans that blend well with other treatments. If you suffer from headaches and migraines, you’re all too aware that cookie-cutter treatment solutions don’t exist.

The process of finding relief can be frustrating. Getting relief becomes a matter of finding a combination of treatments that work for you. 

Here at Stamford Spine, we’ve been able to help patients banish headache and migraine pain and stop living with this pain by combining trigger point massage therapy with services like chiropractic care.

If you suffer from headaches and/or migraines and want to learn if trigger point massage therapy is right for you, call our Stamford, Connecticut, office today or book online.