Why is most trigger point pain “referred” to another region?
This is still a bit of a mystery. Perhaps its best to examine the function of pain itself for an answer to that question. In general, pain is a message from the body to the brain that serves to protect an injured body part or tissue. For example, the pain from a cut on your foot serves to prevent you from walking on it and doing additional damage. Likewise, referred pain from a trigger point serves to prevent you from using the muscle that harbors the trigger point. For instance, trigger points in the neck and shoulders often refer pain to the head. Now if you have a headache, your naturally going to want to keep your aching head as still as possible and probably lie down if you can. The muscles of the neck and shoulders function to move the head, so lying down and immobilizing your head serves to rest these muscles and prevent further damage to them.
