Trigger Point Massage

Trigger points are small, tight bands within a muscle that are tender to touch and often refer pain elsewhere: a knot in the shoulder that causes a headache, one in the glute that sends pain down the leg. Trigger point therapy finds these points and releases them with cycles of direct, sustained pressure, held for thirty seconds to a minute, released, and repeated until the tissue softens.

It is a precise, sometimes uncomfortable treatment, and the therapist will ask you to breathe through the pressure and report the referred sensation, which helps confirm the point. It is usually combined with stretching afterwards and is often part of a deep tissue, sports or remedial session rather than booked alone.

People seek it out for tension headaches, neck and shoulder pain, lower back pain and the aftermath of repetitive strain. Sessions are 30 to 60 minutes. Relief can be immediate but tends to need two or three sessions to hold, along with attention to whatever caused the point in the first place.