What to Expect After Getting Trigger Point Injections

Trigger points are small areas of tenderness that develop in the muscle. As they form, the tight muscle traps the nerves around it, causing severe pain and other neurological symptoms. These knots of muscle may be felt under the skin, and when pressure is applied to them, it can be very painful.  

Trigger points can occur anywhere in the body, but they most commonly affect the neck, upper back, lower back, legs, and arms. Although not serious, they can become debilitating enough to start to affect your quality of life. Some of the additional symptoms of trigger points include stiffness in the muscles and decreased range of motion.

Fortunately, there are treatments that can help. One of the most popular is known as trigger point injections.

What are Trigger Point Injections?

Trigger point injections, or TPIs for short, are a popular treatment option for addressing painful areas of muscle that contain trigger points. These injections contain a local anesthetic, or saline, and may also include a small amount of corticosteroid. The steroid works to counteract inflammation, reducing pain and improving your mobility and/or range of motion.

When you get trigger point injections, the injections are administered directly into your trigger points. This makes the trigger point inactive, eliminating the pain that the patient had been experiencing. Trigger point injections are primarily for the treatment and release of trigger points occurring across the body, but this isn’t their only use. They are also sometimes administered to people who suffer from tension headaches, fibromyalgia, and myofascial pain syndrome.

What to Expect After Trigger Point Injections

Immediately after your trigger point injections, your therapist may stretch your muscles manually. It’s also not unusual for a heat pack to be applied to the area to help relax the muscle further.

When you return home after your trigger point injections, you will be advised to rest and refrain from vigorous activity for at least 48 hours. The area where the injection was administered may feel numb for a few hours following treatment, and some patients report some mild soreness and discomfort.

Exactly how quickly you will start to experience pain relief can vary between individuals, but most patients will notice a significant improvement in their discomfort starting between 24 and 72 hours after their injection. You will be advised when you can start following strengthening exercises, but most patients can start to enjoy exercises such as swimming, tennis, and jogging within a few days of their treatment.

The pain relief that you experience after trigger point injections will typically last around a month before the effects begin to wear off. This means that recurring injections may be needed in order to achieve long-term pain relief. While there is a limit to how many corticosteroid injections can be given in any given timeframe, if your trigger point injections only contain anesthetic and not a steroid, they can be given more frequently.

If you would like more information about trigger point injections, or what to expect after having this treatment, please speak to our team at Alicja Steiner, MD APC in San Diego, CA by calling (619) 304-1539 today.