When a muscle knot stays painful after stretching, massage, and over-the-counter medication, affecting how you sit, sleep, and get through a workday, a trigger point injection (TPI) can treat it directly. A thin needle delivers a small amount of medication, usually a local anesthetic, into the knot to relax the muscle and ease the pain. At Amazing Spine Care in Jacksonville, TPIs are part of our medical services. Because a relaxed muscle is easier to stretch and strengthen, injections here are paired with chiropractic care and exercise that address why the knot formed in the first place.
Call (904) 320-0808 to find out whether a trigger point injection could help your pain.
How Trigger Points Form and Cause Pain
Trigger points form when muscle fibers stay locked in a contracted state after an acute injury or repeated strain, such as long hours at a desk or the same lifting motion day after day. The knot is usually tender to the touch. Pressing on it can also send pain to another area, a pattern known as referred pain. A knot in the trapezius, the muscle across the top of the shoulders, can cause tension headaches, while a tight piriformis deep in the buttock can press on the sciatic nerve and send pain down the leg.
According to a Cleveland Clinic report, myofascial pain and trigger points affect about 85% of people at some point in their lives. Because trigger points typically don’t show up on X-rays or MRIs, diagnosis depends on a hands-on exam that also rules out a pinched nerve, a herniated disc, or spinal stenosis as the actual source of the pain. At Amazing Spine Care, the exam comes before any injection is recommended.
Who Are Trigger Point Injections For?
Trigger point injections are usually recommended when trigger point pain hasn’t improved with over-the-counter pain relievers, heat, massage, stretching, or myofascial release. Because the injection relaxes the muscle quickly, it can also help patients whose pain makes stretching and exercise too uncomfortable to start. TPIs are commonly used for knots in these areas:
- Head and jaw: Knots in the jaw and temple muscles can cause jaw pain and tension headaches.
- Neck: Tight muscles along the side and back of the neck can follow long hours at a screen or a whiplash injury.
- Shoulders: Tension in the trapezius and nearby muscles can radiate into the upper back and head.
- Upper and lower back: Deep low back muscles such as the quadratus lumborum often form knots that ache with bending and sitting.
- Hip and leg: Knots in the gluteal muscles and piriformis can cause hip pain and pain that travels down the leg.
Getting a Trigger Point Injection
Trigger point injections need no special preparation, although your provider needs a full list of the medications you take, especially blood thinners.
- Exam and review: Your provider reviews your health history and medications, then presses along the muscle to find the knots causing your pain.
- Preparing the area: You’ll sit or lie on an exam table while the skin over each trigger point is cleaned and, if needed, marked.
- The injection: Your provider holds the knot steady, inserts a thin needle into it, and injects the medication. You may feel a brief sting and a quick twitch as the muscle releases. Several trigger points can often be treated in the same visit.
- Heading home: You can go home right away and use the muscle normally, although strenuous activity is best avoided for the first few days.
At Amazing Spine Care, trigger point injections come from the medical side of our multidisciplinary practice. Melissa Withers, DNP, FNP-BC, our nurse practitioner, performs the practice’s medical services alongside our chiropractors, keeping injection care and chiropractic treatment within one plan. According to the StatPearls report, a clinical reference published through the National Library of Medicine, nurse practitioners are among the trained providers qualified to perform TPIs.
What’s in a Trigger Point Injection?
Most trigger point injections contain a local anesthetic, which numbs the area and blocks the pain signals coming from the knot. Some also include a small dose of corticosteroid to help calm inflammation in the surrounding tissue. The needle itself does part of the work because needling the knot interrupts the tension that keeps the fibers contracted. As the tight band relaxes, blood flow through the muscle improves. Your provider will explain what’s in your injection and why before treatment starts.
Recovery and Side Effects After an Injection
Soreness or numbness around the injection site is the most common side effect and usually fades on its own. Ice packs can limit bruising. Your provider may also suggest acetaminophen or ibuprofen for soreness. Complications are rare but can include bleeding, infection, bruising, an allergic reaction to the anesthetic, or injury to a blood vessel, according to the same Cleveland Clinic report. Call your provider if you notice a fever or warmth at the injection site.
Providers typically pair TPIs with stretching and exercise to keep the muscle loose after the medication wears off. At Amazing Spine Care, injections are one part of a plan that can include chiropractic adjustments, soft tissue work, home stretches you’ll practice between visits, and changes to how you sit and work to help keep the knot from returning.
When Trigger Point Injections Aren’t the Right Fit
Trigger point injections treat pain that starts in the muscle. When the exam shows that a pinched nerve, a disc problem, or a joint issue is causing the pain, our chiropractors build a plan aimed at that source instead. Injections also aren’t given through infected skin. Local anesthetics are avoided for patients with a known allergy to them. The StatPearls report also advises extra caution for patients on blood thinners and during pregnancy. Your provider weighs those factors before recommending an injection. During pregnancy, gentle prenatal chiropractic care remains available for muscle tension and back pain.
Trigger Point Injections at Amazing Spine Care in Jacksonville, FL
Trigger point injections relieve the knot, while the chiropractic care and exercise around them restore how the muscle moves. Amazing Spine Care treats muscle knots together with the joint and posture problems that can keep them coming back, adjusting each plan as your pain and mobility improve. Built on a 50-year community legacy carried forward through the Amunategui Chiropractic merger, our multidisciplinary team of chiropractors and medical providers offers same-day appointments and care in English, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, and Kreyòl. New patients can start with our $125 New Patient Special (offer subject to change).
In Jacksonville, patients visit us on the South Side off University Boulevard and the West Side on Ricker Road. Our North Side office sits on Dunn Avenue, while the Deerwood office is on Gate Parkway. Beyond Jacksonville, we also see patients in Orange Park, St. Augustine, and Hallandale Beach. Injection appointments are scheduled with our medical team. Our staff will match you with the office and time that work with your schedule.
Call today to schedule at (904) 320-0808, request an appointment online, or contact our team to ask whether trigger point injections are right for your pain.
Frequently Asked Questions About Trigger Point Injections
What kind of provider performs trigger point injections?
Trained physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners can perform trigger point injections. At Amazing Spine Care, trigger point injections are part of the medical services our nurse practitioner provides.
Do trigger point injections hurt?
Trigger point injections can sting or burn briefly as the needle and medication go in. Finding the knot beforehand can also feel tender. A quick jump in pain when the needle reaches the knot is normal and means the needle is in the right spot. Your Amazing Spine Care provider will explain each step before the injection begins.
How long do trigger point injections last?
Trigger point injections usually start to relieve pain within 24 to 72 hours. According to the Cleveland Clinic report, the relief typically lasts about a month. At Amazing Spine Care, stretching and chiropractic follow-up can be built into your plan to help the relief last longer. If the pain returns, your provider may recommend additional injections.
Do trigger point injections work?
Trigger point injections can reduce pain and improve range of motion for people whose muscle pain hasn’t responded to conservative care. Results vary from person to person. Amazing Spine Care uses injections within a broader plan that includes stretching and chiropractic follow-up, where they tend to work best.
Does insurance cover trigger point injections?
Trigger point injections are covered under many insurance plans when they’re considered medically necessary. The Amazing Spine Care staff can check your benefits before your visit and explain your payment options.
Where can I get trigger point injections near me in Jacksonville?
Trigger point injections are available at Amazing Spine Care for patients across Jacksonville and the surrounding area. Call (904) 320-0808 to book an injection visit at the office that fits your schedule.
