Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy

Myofascial Pain Syndrome (MPS) is a painful condition that results from the presence of sensitive areas within the muscles, referred to as myofascial trigger points (MTrP). Primary MPS, which usually occurs in an athletic dog, is caused by some type of injury. Secondary MPS is related to overuse or overloading of muscles that are working harder to compensate for a disease or injury. We usually see secondary MPS as a complication of such problems such as osteoarthritis, orthopedic injury, or neurologic injury.

Muscles constitute over 50% of body weight in both dogs and cats. Because of this, pain from MPS can easily become chronic and widespread. At the Center for Veterinary Pain Management and Rehabilitation, treating MPS is a very important part of the care of both chronic-pain patients and rehabilitation patients. Inserting an acupuncture needle into a myofascial trigger point—known as trigger point dry needling (TrP-DN), or trigger point injection (TrP-injection)—causes the trigger point to release, and so vastly reduces the pain.

By combining acupuncture with myofascial trigger point therapy, we find we can provide significant pain relief for numerous musculoskeletal and neurological conditions in dogs and cats.