Trigger Point Injections in Houston, Texas
A trigger point is a taut, palpable band within a muscle that hurts when pressed and refers pain somewhere else entirely. Press one in the upper trapezius and the patient feels it behind the eye. Press one in the gluteus medius and the pain runs down the leg like sciatica.
They are common, frequently missed, and mercifully easy to treat.
What is a Trigger Point Injection?
A trigger point injection places a fine needle directly into the taut band and delivers a small volume of local anesthetic — sometimes with corticosteroid, often with nothing at all beyond the needle itself.
Much of the therapeutic effect comes from the mechanical disruption of the contracted muscle fibers. Dry needling, which uses no medication at all, works on the same principle.
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Before | You're positioned, the skin is cleaned and numbed, and live imaging (fluoroscopy or ultrasound) guides the needle |
| During | The medication is placed precisely at the tight muscle knot (trigger point); most people feel pressure more than sharp pain |
| After | You rest briefly and go home the same day — arrange a driver if you received sedation |
What It Treats
- Myofascial pain syndrome , the most common indication
- Chronic neck and upper back pain , particularly in desk workers
- Tension-type and cervicogenic headaches driven by suboccipital and trapezius trigger points
- Low back pain with paraspinal or quadratus lumborum involvement
- Piriformis syndrome and buttock pain mimicking sciatica
- Fibromyalgia , as an adjunct to broader management
- Post-surgical and post-traumatic muscle guarding
An Honest Framing
Trigger point injections give real relief, and the relief is often short. Their value lies in what they enable: a window in which stretching, strengthening, and postural retraining become possible. Injecting a trigger point without addressing why the muscle keeps contracting produces a patient who returns every six weeks indefinitely.
We treat the trigger point and then look upstream — at posture, at ergonomics, at the joint or disc that is making the muscle work overtime.