Soft tissue/Trigger point injections
The 101 on soft tissue injections!
This past year I was introduced to soft tissue injections and it felt like a match made in heaven. First off, I love needles. I use a lot of needle-based therapies because I see them work wonders and this naturally drew me into learning more about soft tissue injections. Secondly, I love structural medicine. I grew up with my older sisters, whom are both skilled chiropractors, palpating and adjusting me, getting me through grueling competitive sporting years. I find the human body fascinating and strong.
Soft tissue injection encompasses many different therapies but purely means injections happening in muscles and fat. It is a therapy that can treat chronic muscle pain, stubborn joint restrictions, and muscle tightness. Many people that are having musculoskeletal pain will jump straight to cortisone shots, prolotherapy, or stem cell therapy. Soft tissue injections are relatively safe, much more cost effective, and have great results. Following massage and chiropractic I would consider them a starting point for pain and in many cases all that is needed.
Healing through this therapy happens in three different ways, microtrauma from the needle, increased blood flow to the area, and injection of a solution. When I inject with a needle into the area it creates microtrauma to that muscle. This in turn activates your body’s ability to heal itself. Your body recognizes the trauma and starts sending aid to the area. One part of that process is to flood the area with blood and all the goodness and healing that blood holds. After the injection with the needle I advance a solution (normally dextrose aka sugar water) into the area. Dextrose is extremely safe and has also been shown to naturally decrease pain. It has been shown to shuts off pain gates located in your spine to help your body relearn and reboot the pain it felt from that area. To summarize, when you sprain your ankle it hurts, it swells, and it gets hot. This is your body trying to heal itself and it is necessary in order to do so. With injection therapy we target the muscle and inject with a needle creating the warmth, blood rushes to the area mimicking swelling, and instead of your body recognizing this as pain, dextrose is advanced to decrease the pain. Essentially needling therapy mimics and activates your body’s ability to heal in a controlled environment.
“You are going to inject me with what?” is the common question I get as people naturally shy away from willingly getting stuck with a needle. Soft tissue injecting is an art that takes lots of skill. Once that skill is homed in on pain actually felt from the needle is minimal, the treatment is quick and the results can be amazing. All in all, this blog post was to expose this technique to patients and people alike. If this is something that you are interested in I am happy to talk to you one on one and asses if this is a good fit! Schedule an injection appointment and lets get you feeling better!