Trigger Point Therapy
According to the IMTT (Interest Group for Myofascial Trigger Points), trigger points are a frequently overlooked cause of acute and chronic pain. The musculature as the primary cause of pain and functional limitations has long been neglected. Trigger point therapy aims to eliminate so-called “myofascial trigger points”. These are localised muscle hardenings in the skeletal musculature that are locally sensitive to pressure and from which transmitted pain can emanate. Around 80 to 90% of pain syndromes are said to be caused by such muscle hardening. Manual trigger point therapy was founded primarily by Dr Janet Travell and Prof. Dr David Simons from the USA.
Dry Needling
Dry needling is a special treatment approach for myofascial trigger points using acupuncture needles. Dry needling therapy is always integrated into a complete treatment and is an addition to the holistic approach.
We use both superficial dry needling (SDN) according to Peter Baldry (GB), as well as deep dry needling (DDN) and intramuscular stimulation (IMS) founded by Chang Gunn (USA). Needling has been shown to stimulate the oxygen supply to the muscle and thus alter the messenger substance homeostasis, which should lead to relief of the symptom complex (Shah 2008, Biochemicals Associated With Pain and Inflammation are Elevated in Sites Near to and Remote From Active Myofascial Trigger Points).
