The word headache is an umbrella term that describes several types of head pain. Your head might hurt because you banged into an open cabinet door, or perhaps you’re under more stress than usual, and you have pain caused by tension. If you have migraine disorder, you know how different that kind of head pain can be!
At BioHealth Pain Management, Dr. Rostam Khoshsar, Dr. Adrian Darryll Sulindro, and our staff help people learn how to manage a variety of painful conditions.
One headache treatment that you may not know about is called trigger point injection therapy. This safe therapy is particularly effective for migraine and tension headaches.
Trigger points are painful knots deep in your muscle tissue. These knots can cause pain where they are, which is called localized pain, or they can cause pain somewhere else, known as referred pain.
Some headaches, including tension and migraine headaches, can be caused by trigger points.
Thin bands of tissue called fascia help hold your muscles in their proper places. When your muscles and the associated fascia stay in a contracted position, such as when you tense up, trigger points form. They feel like marbles when they are near the surface of the muscle and are tender to touch.
Trigger points can be caused by injury, strain, or tension. One common cause of trigger points is holding your muscles tense continually, and another is sleeping in an awkward position.
Some of the sites we often see trigger points include:
Trigger points in these areas are called myofascial trigger points, and they are frequently associated with headaches.
As we mentioned earlier, trigger points can cause referred pain, which means you may have a trigger point in your shoulder that causes pain in your head.
Even worse, if you have frequent trigger points, you’re likely more susceptible to headaches. You may either have or have a high risk of developing chronic headaches.
If you have repeated headaches, you need to investigate the underlying cause. It could be sleep-related, a food sensitivity, or several other common causes of headaches.
Keeping a daily journal where you note when you go to bed and get up, the weather conditions, everything you eat, your exercise routine, your stress levels, and other details, as well as when you experience a headache and its intensity, can help you narrow down potential problems.
However, it’s not always possible to identify the cause of your headaches. If you continue to have headaches or you don’t feel satisfied with your treatment, you may want to discuss trigger point injections with one of the providers at BioHealth Pain Management.
If you want to learn more about how trigger point therapy works, schedule an appointment with Dr. Khoshsar or Dr. Sulindro. We are happy to answer your questions and evaluate whether or not you may be a candidate for this therapy.
