You've had that same knot in your shoulder for six months. You've stretched it, had your partner dig an elbow into it, bought a foam roller you've used twice. It's still there. There's a reason for that, and it's not because you haven't tried hard enough.
Trigger points are one of the most misunderstood things I work with. Most people know they hurt. Far fewer people understand why they form, why they stick around, and what it actually takes to get rid of them.
What a Trigger Point Actually Is
A trigger point is a small, hyper-irritable spot within a muscle. When you press on it, it produces a specific pain response, often not just at the spot itself but somewhere else entirely. That's called referred pain, and it's the part that confuses most people.
That headache creeping up the back of your skull? Could be a trigger point in your upper trapezius. That vague ache running down your arm? Could be coming from your neck or shoulder, not your arm at all.
At the tissue level, what's happening is a cluster of muscle fibres stuck in a contracted state. They're not getting the signal to release. Blood flow to the area is restricted, waste products build up, and the whole thing becomes a self-reinforcing loop. The more irritated the tissue gets, the more it contracts. The more it contracts, the less it gets cleared out.
That's why stretching alone rarely shifts a proper trigger point. You're pulling on a structure that's already under tension at the fibre level. It might give you temporary relief, but the underlying problem stays put.
Why They Form in the First Place
Trigger points aren't random. They form for a reason, and usually one of these:
- Overuse. Repetitive movement patterns load the same fibres over and over. Runners, cyclists, people who spend hours at a keyboard. The tissue accumulates stress faster than it can recover.
- Underuse combined with sustained posture. Sitting in the same position all day is its own form of stress. Muscles held at a fixed length, rarely moving through their full range, become stiff and reactive.
- Acute injury. A muscle strain or impact can leave trigger points as a kind of aftershock, even after the original injury has healed.
- Compensation patterns. If one area is weak or restricted, adjacent muscles take over. Those compensating muscles then develop trigger points of their own.
I see this a lot with clients who come in thinking they have a shoulder problem, and it turns out the source is somewhere in their thoracic spine or even their hip. The body is good at compensating. It's not always great at telling you where the actual problem is.
Why They Don't Go Away on Their Own
The short answer: because the cycle doesn't break without intervention.
Trigger points reduce blood flow to the tissue. Reduced blood flow means reduced oxygen delivery and reduced clearance of metabolic waste. That waste builds up, irritates the nervous system, and keeps the muscle fibres in that contracted state. Nothing in that loop resolves itself through rest alone.
Foam rolling can help with general muscle tension. It's useful, and I'd encourage it. But a foam roller isn't precise enough to address a specific trigger point, and it can't apply the kind of sustained, directed pressure needed to interrupt the neurological feedback loop that's keeping the knot active.
What Trigger Point Massage Actually Does
When I work a trigger point, I'm not just pressing on it hard and hoping for the best. There's a method.
I locate the active spot, apply sustained pressure directly to it, and hold. The aim is to create an ischaemic response, a brief reduction in blood flow followed by a flush of fresh circulation when the pressure releases. That mechanical stimulus, combined with the neurological input of the pressure itself, signals the muscle fibres to let go.
I'll often combine this with muscle energy techniques or stretching through the range of movement immediately after, while the tissue is more receptive. That's when you get the most from it.
It can be uncomfortable. I won't pretend otherwise. But there's a difference between the kind of discomfort that means something is happening and pain that serves no purpose. I work within your tolerance, and most clients find it eases noticeably within the session itself. That release, the moment a trigger point lets go, is one of the more satisfying things in this job.
You can read more about how I approach this kind of work on the treatments page.
How Many Sessions Does It Take?
Depends on how long the trigger point has been active and what caused it.
A recent trigger point in an otherwise healthy athlete might clear in one or two sessions. A chronic knot that's been there for years, layered with compensation patterns and postural habits, is a longer project. I'm honest with people about that.
What I tell most of my clients is this: one session will give you a window, a period where the tissue is more responsive and you can make real progress with mobility and strength work. Use that window. If you come in, feel better, and go straight back to the same patterns without anything changing, you'll be back in the same place in a few weeks.
That's not a failure of the massage. It's the body doing exactly what bodies do. The treatment has to be part of a bigger picture.
Finding the Right Help
Not every therapist works trigger points in the same way, and not everyone uses the same techniques. If you're in Rotherham or across South Yorkshire and you've been carrying the same knot for longer than you can remember, it's worth getting a proper assessment rather than just booking a generic massage and hoping it shifts.
I work from Rotherham and see a lot of people who've been managing the same issue for months. Sometimes years. Usually there's a clear reason it's stuck around, and once you understand that reason, you can actually do something about it.
If you're a Sheffield-based athlete or someone with a desk job that's turning your upper back into a mess, the approach is the same. Find the source, address it directly, and build from there.
Check out the about page if you want to know more about how I work before booking.
Ready to Sort It Out?
If you've got a trigger point that's been hanging around and you want it properly assessed and treated, I'd be glad to help.
Book a session and we'll get to the bottom of it.