Trigger Point Injections

TPI's are intra-muscular (IM) injections of local anesthetic (like Novocain), and often an anti-inflammatory steroid, not muscle-building, into the muscle sites that are involved in your myofascial pain syndrome. Chronic muscular pain usually results from an injury to a muscle, such as from a sprain or strain. Pain can also develop gradually secondary to non-use of the muscle. When medications and time do not result in muscular pain relief, physical therapy often can improve your pain complaints. Sometimes, the muscular pain persists despite all conservative treatments. Then, TPI's may be tried to alleviate your pain. TPI's temporarily numb and relax the muscle sites involved in your pain complaints. This allows you to stretch these muscles more effectively than you would be able to otherwise, and also may increase blood flow through that muscle. Steroid is often used for only the first set of injections. It is thought that steroids may treat any inflammation present in these muscle sites. The injections may never be able to alleviate all of the pain. It will be important for you to continue with home stretching exercises no matter how much relief you obtain. Obviously, if the first set of TPI's result in satisfactorily sustained relief, then there is no need to perform any more injections. If the first set of injections provide no relief, there is no point to repeat any further TPI's. If the first set of trigger point injections result in partial sustained relief, then a series of these injections may provide you with a greater degree of sustained relief as compared with only one set of injections..

You may be sitting or lying down for the procedure depending on where the injection sites are located. The area will be cleansed with an antiseptic. The doctor will then place the needle into the muscle site and inject a small amount of local anesthetic. A Band-Aid may be applied to the injection sites. You should immediately attend physical therapy or proceed with stretching exercises at home to get maximum benefit from the TPI's.