A trigger point is a hypersensitive focus, usually located in a taut band of skeletal muscle or underlying fascia. It is painful upon compression and usually gives rise to characteristic referred pain, tenderness, and / or autonomic phenomena (e.g., tachycardia, diaphoresis).

The patient may complain of tightness or soreness in a particular muscle after an inciting event. On examination, you may palpate a point in a taut band of the muscle in question, which refers pain to a specific area of the body. Referred pain is pain perceived at a location other than the site of the applied stimulus. For example, a trigger point within the rectus femoris may refer pain to the anterior aspect of the knee and / or hip.

Please refer to the “Viscerosomatics and facilitation” learn page.

Direct stimuli, such as muscular strains or postural imbalances, may cause development of trigger points. These trigger points are a somatic manifestation of a viscerosomatic, somatovisceral, or somato-somatic reflex. For example, a trigger point located in the right pectoralis muscle may be associated with a supraventricular arrhythmia. 

A trigger point and tender point are similar in the sense that they are small and discrete taut myofascial bands that are tender upon palpation. They differ in the sense that trigger points refer pain upon palpation, while tender points do not refer pain.

Please refer to the “Introduction to counterstrain” learn page for more information on tender points.