TRIGGER POINTS
Trigger points are tender, sensitive areas that, when pressed, stuck, heated, or cooled can be exquisitely painful. You may first discover trigger points when you are surprised by someone pressing a seeingly pain-free area. Trigger point pain may also be referred to other areas of the body. Trigger points are common in chronic muscle spasm, myalgia, myositis, fibrositis, strain and sprain, and other muscle and joint problems.

THE MEDICAL APPROACH
To standard medicine, muscle spasm, fibrositis, and trigger points are a mystery. No specific abnormality has consistently been found in the muscles or connective tissues of people with fibromyalgia and nothing is known to be awry in their body chemistry. Medical doctors have tried novocaine, procaine, and xylocaine injections; cooling sprays; muscle relaxant drugs; cortisone injections; and other drugs, with mixed results. These are temporary, often hit-or-miss solutions. The still-suffering patient is often referred to a physical therapist for heat, massage, and other modalities, again with limited success.

HOLISTIC APPROACH
A holistic approach to this condition has become very popular. Strong psychological components, - anxiety, compulsiveness and depression - have been noted: Psychological problems (ranging from being abused as a child to living with an alcoholic spouse) are issues that need to be dealt with while treating fibrositis.

Many people with fibrositis are sedentary and out of shape. Aerobic exercise can improve the sleep disturbances, fatigue, and pain of fibrositis. Plus your muscles need a chance to relax, too. This can be done in various ways: muscle stretching, massage, hot showers, hot and cold compresses, and liniments (oil of wintergreen is widely used).

THE CHIROPRACTIC APPROACH

The most common disruption of the nerve-muscle relationship occurs as a result of the vertebral subluxation complex. A vertebral subluxation occurs when the spinal bones (the vertebrae) become misaligned and irritate or damage the spinal cord, spinal nerves, fascia, meninges, and other tissues. Subluxations can alter the concentration of enzymes and other chemicals necessary for skeletal muscle health which may play a role in muscle disease. Compression of a nerve interferes with impulse transmission, causing muscle paralysis, vasodilation and trophic ulcers.

Chronic hyperactivity of sympathetic nerves is detrimental to the tissues and organs which they innervate and may be related to musculoskeletal dysfunction in the spinal area. Vertebral subluxation can cause joints to "freeze" or lose normal movement, causing damage to the involved area.

CONLCUSION
Clearly, if you are suffering from muscle spasm, trigger points, or fibrositis, you should see a doctor of chiropractic to make sure that your spine is free from vertebral subluxations. A healthy spinal column will ensure that the nerves going to your muscles are free of nerve interference and that is a necessary foundation for healthy muscle function.