{"id":3143,"date":"2021-09-20T15:10:55","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T19:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/?p=3143"},"modified":"2021-09-20T15:13:48","modified_gmt":"2021-09-20T19:13:48","slug":"what-are-trigger-point-injections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/what-are-trigger-point-injections\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are Trigger Point Injections?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tiffany
Tiffany Lin, MD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Q: What are trigger point injections, and how do they differ from other injections for pain?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: A trigger point is a tight band of muscle (or knot) that cuts off circulation to the surrounding area, causing pain. A trigger point injection is when a physician inserts a needle into the muscle where the tight bands are and does what we call \u201cdry needling.\u201d The purpose of dry needling is to cause structural changes within the muscle: to break up the knot, increase blood flow to the area, and wash away the inflammatory markers that have built up in the area.<\/p>\n

Practitioners often inject local anesthetics like lidocaine for patient comfort during the procedure, but the numbing medication itself doesn\u2019t have any long-term effect.<\/p>\n

A trigger point injection differs from, for example, a hip injection for bursitis. A bursa is a gel-filled sac that helps muscles glide over bones. When bursae get swollen, they can cause joint pain. With bursa injections, we inject numbing medication and steroids into the swollen or irritated bursa around the hip joint. With a trigger point injection, however, the needle goes directly into the muscle itself. We are not injecting therapeutic medications into the muscle \u2014 it\u2019s more about the needling and breaking up the knot.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Dr. Tiffany Lin<\/p>\n

This question was answered during the episode of Spine Time called \u201cSprains and Spasms, Pulls and Tears: Coping With Soft Tissue Conditions in Your Back<\/a>.\u201d A recording of this webinar, held on June 16, 2021, is available on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To sign up for future episodes of Spine Time, where you can ask questions of our spine specialists, subscribe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Find out more about Trigger Point Injections<\/a><\/p>\n

See more Ask a Spine Doctor<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Q: What are trigger point injections, and how do they differ from other injections for pain? A: A trigger point is a tight band of muscle (or knot) that cuts off circulation to the surrounding area, causing pain. A trigger point injection is when a physician inserts a needle into the muscle where the tight […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[15,11,24,22,23],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Are Trigger Point Injections? | Center for Comprehensive Spine Care<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How do these shots help with back pain? An expert from Weill Cornell Medicine answered this question during an episode of Spine Time. Get the answer here.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/what-are-trigger-point-injections\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Are Trigger Point Injections? | Center for Comprehensive Spine Care\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How do these shots help with back pain? An expert from Weill Cornell Medicine answered this question during an episode of Spine Time. Get the answer here.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/what-are-trigger-point-injections\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Center for Comprehensive Spine Care\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-20T19:10:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-20T19:13:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/lin_tiffany-150x150-1-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Roseann\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Roseann\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/what-are-trigger-point-injections\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/what-are-trigger-point-injections\/\",\"name\":\"What Are Trigger Point Injections? | Center for Comprehensive Spine Care\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-20T19:10:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-20T19:13:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5a2336d064a51bc63725d330285ea481\"},\"description\":\"How do these shots help with back pain? An expert from Weill Cornell Medicine answered this question during an episode of Spine Time. Get the answer here.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/what-are-trigger-point-injections\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/what-are-trigger-point-injections\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/what-are-trigger-point-injections\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Are Trigger Point Injections?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/\",\"name\":\"Center for Comprehensive Spine Care\",\"description\":\"Och Spine at NewYork-Presbyterian at the Weill Cornell Medicine Center for Comprehensive Spine Care\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5a2336d064a51bc63725d330285ea481\",\"name\":\"Roseann\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/09ac35c3f07480743008f52116db8eac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/09ac35c3f07480743008f52116db8eac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Roseann\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Are Trigger Point Injections? | Center for Comprehensive Spine Care","description":"How do these shots help with back pain? An expert from Weill Cornell Medicine answered this question during an episode of Spine Time. Get the answer here.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/what-are-trigger-point-injections\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Are Trigger Point Injections? | Center for Comprehensive Spine Care","og_description":"How do these shots help with back pain? An expert from Weill Cornell Medicine answered this question during an episode of Spine Time. Get the answer here.","og_url":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/what-are-trigger-point-injections\/","og_site_name":"Center for Comprehensive Spine Care","article_published_time":"2021-09-20T19:10:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-09-20T19:13:48+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/lin_tiffany-150x150-1-150x150.jpg"}],"author":"Roseann","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Roseann","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/what-are-trigger-point-injections\/","url":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/what-are-trigger-point-injections\/","name":"What Are Trigger Point Injections? | Center for Comprehensive Spine Care","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-09-20T19:10:55+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-20T19:13:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5a2336d064a51bc63725d330285ea481"},"description":"How do these shots help with back pain? An expert from Weill Cornell Medicine answered this question during an episode of Spine Time. Get the answer here.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/what-are-trigger-point-injections\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/what-are-trigger-point-injections\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/what-are-trigger-point-injections\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Are Trigger Point Injections?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/","name":"Center for Comprehensive Spine Care","description":"Och Spine at NewYork-Presbyterian at the Weill Cornell Medicine Center for Comprehensive Spine Care","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5a2336d064a51bc63725d330285ea481","name":"Roseann","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/09ac35c3f07480743008f52116db8eac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/09ac35c3f07480743008f52116db8eac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Roseann"}}]}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3143"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3143"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3147,"href":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3143\/revisions\/3147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comprehensivespine.weillcornell.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}