Motor Points Sore muscles are something that we all suffer from at some point in time. If wešre lucky the muscle relaxes and heals very quickly. There are times, however, when that doesnšt happen and wešre sore at best or incapacitated at the worst. Acupuncture is very effective with sore, tight, injured muscles and treating these problems is a big part of my practice. I like to blend western medical knowledge and techniques with my Chinese medicine training when I treat orthopedic disorders. With painful, sore and/or injured muscles there often will be tight palpable bands within the affected muscle. These points often refer pain to another area of the body and are called trigger points. It has been found that needling these points can alleviate the pain. Doctors often use wet needling and inject an anesthetic, but dry needling (acupuncture) can be just as effective. There are other points called motor points that are arguably more important in the treatment of muscle pain. Motor points are found at specific sights in the body and they most often correspond to the area where the nerve enters the muscle belly. This is also the area of the muscle that has the lowest resistance to electrical conductivity. Motor point locations are very consistent from person to person so they are easily found in most cases. Muscle Physiology There are specialized groups of muscle fibers called muscle spindles that send nerve impulses to the spinal cord when they are stretched. There is another group of cells called golgi tendon organs located at the junction of the tendon and muscle. These organs protect the muscle from too much tension by sending signals to the spinal cord when pressure is applied, i.e. weight added. When an acupuncture needle is inserted into the motor point it actually can cause the muscle to twitch, which in effect "resets" the muscle spindles and golgi tendon organs thus relaxing or strengthening the muscle. It has also been shown that by treating motor points the trigger points in that muscle relax. Acupuncture Treatment Letšs say the back of your thigh is very sore and tight after a weekend of yard work. The pain doesnšt go away for several days and youšre planning to go hiking in a week. When you come in to see me Išll do some manual muscle tests to determine which muscle is malfunctioning. Sometimes wešll find more than one. We might do some range of motion tests as well and wešll test the muscles that are opposite of the one that is sore I hope you donšt hurt yourself this spring! But if you or someone you know gets hurt, give me a call and Išll help you on the road to recovery. |
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