Key Points

• Describing a trigger point is impossible without attempting to interpret what it feels like. It’s a bit like trying to explain laughter.

• Even after you find what works for you with trigger points, never stop searching for answers.

How do you choose your next movie to watch, book to read, or TV show to binge? You definitely don’t want to waste the precious downtime you have. But there are so many options it can be a tad overwhelming. So how do you decide? Do you do an online search? Do you read all the reviews from random people you’ve never met? Maybe you get recommendations from a friend (that said, the last time they suggested something it made you question your friendship). Maybe you dive into recent Oscar, Emmy, or Pulitzer winners. But those are intense, and you want something more lighthearted. How do you choose?

Trusting someone to guide us toward what we want to consume lands us in a bit of a paradox: We both need and loathe other people’s opinions. This happens all the time . . . and not just with entertainment. Seeking out the techniques we want to learn, and from whom, in the field of bodywork and massage is no different. On multiple occasions, I have taken a CE class suggested by an admired colleague and got nothing from it. Conversely, I have insisted that my coworkers read a profound article on a specialized topic because it changed the way I think, just to see it rejected and forgotten on the clinic floor. It’s quite a conundrum. 

Let’s say you want to learn more about trigger point therapy. This one’s a doozy. There are so many theories about what a trigger point is, and even more instructors who believe their approach to these messy muscle misfortunes is the right one. Do you use ice or heat? Do you talk through the work or stay quiet? Do you use tools? Push through pain? Use friction? Dry needling? The options are endless. Like searching for your next show to stream, how do you know who will give you exactly what you seek? The truth is, you don’t know. And worse, you can’t know. Until you try. 

Identifying a Trigger Point

Understanding the anatomy of a trigger point is a good start. Seasoned bodyworkers often assert, with good reason, that it is essential to know your anatomy. This alone can help you decide a host of decisions you need to make in any given session. But here’s the dilemma: No one really knows what a trigger point is. Dr. Janet Travell gifted us with the language around muscle knots, and our ability to talk about myofascial pain syndrome is based on this research. But what a trigger point feels like varies so much from person to person that creating a hard definition has proven to be contentious. Even now you may be thinking, “But I know what a trigger point is! It is a hyperirritable bundle of muscle fibers that creates a pain response, Allison.” And you are right. What makes a thing irritable, though, and how this is somatically perceived raises some exciting conversations. 

Searching for Answers

When the anatomy is vague—do an online search for “What is a muscle knot?” and witness some of those conversations—the approach becomes a little more slippery. And anatomy is not isolated from its partner in crime, physiology. Describing a trigger point is impossible without attempting to interpret what it feels like. It’s a bit like trying to explain laughter. Or attempting to describe the taste of salt. Why a giggle percolates, or what triggers (yes, triggers) a fit of hilarity when we find something funny, is slightly magical. And salt tastes, well, salty. 

With the vast array of trigger point experiences and advice, I return to the question of how to know where we should turn for guidance. The answer: everywhere and nowhere. Exploring all the perspectives takes a lot of time. And most of us don’t have that—or don’t have the patience for that. Or both. But that doesn’t change the way we learn. Take all the classes. Feel what works for you. Survey your clients. Find out if one technique fared better than others. And do not rest on that being the answer to all the things. Keep doing this for years. Decades maybe. You may change your mind a handful of times.

There is a video link attached to this article that includes my version of how to work with trigger points. Of course, I believe this one to be the best because it works for me, I have seen it help most of my clients, and I really enjoy being right. But there are so many other possibilities. I know many people who swear by methods that do nothing for me. That’s the beauty of it, though, isn’t it? If we were all the same, wouldn’t this whole experience be really boring? My technique tip for this article, then, is this: Be open. Stay open. Listen to everyone. Listen to no one. And never stop exploring. 

As Thomas Anderson, better known as Neo from the film franchise The Matrix, might say, be the trigger point.

Agent Smith: “Why, Mr. Anderson? Why? Why do you persist?”

Neo: “Because I choose to.”