Overview

Trigger point injection is an outpatient procedure designed to reduce or relieve the pain of trigger points. Trigger points are small tender knots in the muscle or connective fascia tissue that surrounds muscles. The injection procedure takes only a few minutes to complete.

Preparation

To prepare for the procedure, the patient is positioned comfortably and the doctor presses against the skin to locate the trigger point.  The doctor then cleans the skin above the trigger point and uses a topical anesthetic to numb the skin tissue.

Medication Injected

The doctor carefully inserts a needle into the underlying trigger point. Anesthetic mixture is injected into the trigger point, causing it to relax.  The doctor may need to adjust the needle’s position to give additional injections to other regions of the trigger point.

End of Procedure

When the injection is finished, the doctor removes the needle and bandages the injection site.  The patient is instructed on how to stretch and move the muscles after the injection.