What are trigger point injections and are they helpful?
Trigger points are areas of skin on the abdominal wall that follow along one dermatome, the area of skin innervated by one specific nerve root. When touching them lightly even with a Q- tip, pain is elicited that feels as if it arises deep in the pelvic organs. When these areas are injected with a local anesthetic, there is pain relief that lasts longer than the expected duration of the specific anesthetic used. After about 5- 6 weekly injections or less, the pain totally goes away. This is thought to work somewhat like acupuncture in that the pain sensation the level of the spinal cord gets rearranged to know that the pain does not actually arise in the pelvic organ where it is perceived.
