Trigger points are tiny knots that develop in a muscle when it is injured or overworked. The defining symptom of a trigger point is referred pain; trigger points usually send their pain to some other site.

Massage of the trigger point flushes the tissue and helps the trigger point's contractions to release. Trigger points are the primary cause of pain seventy-five percent of the time and are at least a part of nearly every pain problem.*

* From The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Clair Davies, NCTMB, and Trigger Points Self-Treatment of Trigger Points in the Forearms and Hands, by Clair Davies, Massage and Body Work Magazine, June 2002, Copywright Clair Davies 2002.