The Best Massage Tools For Trigger Point Therapy Reviews
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Many people don’t realize they suffer from trigger points due to misdiagnosis and common muscle misunderstanding. But once you understand how they work, it becomes a lot easier to treat. Especially if you want to do it from home using trigger point therapy massage devices . While there are many massagers on the market, we have drilled down to find the best massage tools for trigger point therapy available in 2017.
We have listed Myofascial trigger point therapy tools, electric massagers and some unique hand held trigger point relievers to potentially offer the right solution for your painful needs. But before we dive in it’s important to know a few things about this common yet misinformed muscular problem.
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About Trigger Point Therapy
Trigger Points are small contracted areas within a muscle that can spasm causing all sorts of problems. Muscles in the body are the biggest organ, yet they are often overlooked when it comes to unrelated injuries or health concerns. Which is quite surprising considering the amount of abuse muscles cop from day to day life and how easily that can fall to dysfunction. Which is why many people have never heard of trigger points and in some cases a misdiagnosis may be formed by physicians and even massage therapists. Other critical areas like nerves, joints and bones get the attention due to the unnoticed trigger points causing problems elsewhere in the body.
Trigger Points May Refer Pain & Symptoms
Because these tight nit patches of contracted muscles can cause pain in less obvious locations, they often get overlooked as the main culprit for causing the pain. For example RSI is a common condition encountered by people with repetitive movements. Office workers are a prime example. As it’s a common condition to have while you type behind the computer for 8 hours a day, many times it can be easy to diagnosis the problem as RSI instead of a muscle condition. The trigger point could be stemming elsewhere and mimicking the conditions of RSI.
Mimicking other conditions is just one of the bad things trigger points can do. Trigger points can also assist in making other pain problems more intense/worse and even create new conditions that you previously never had. Other areas where a Trigger point may be causing confusing symptoms is in the neck, and jaw region. Trigger points in the face/jaw can cause tooth ache like symptoms while hidden trigger points in the neck region may cause head tension and ringing in the ears which potentially may be diagnosed as Tinnea. There has been studies on the referred pain cause by Trigger Points and I imagine will be a forever ongoing study.
Self Treating Trigger Point Tools
While trigger point therapy is a bit of a hit and miss kind of situation (Even for the Pro’s), it’s not all that difficult to attempt to fix yourself. Without having to hand over a fortune at the same time. The more you can learn about trigger point therapy, the better off you will be with resolving future issues. Self massaging trigger points is an often under rated skill that can stay with you for life.
While the majority of us will at one point or another encounter trigger point pain it can be a serious issue. A few trigger points every now and then may possibly be managed by the following massage tools for trigger point therapy, more serious conditions may be present such as myofascial pain syndrome.
Self Massage Trigger Point Locations
Note: Knowing which how to locate trigger points and in which direction the fibers are running are important for self massaging to be successful. There’s a really helpful and informative Ebook by Claire Davies called The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief which I highly recommend if you are not too familiar with self massage. It’s the perfect compliment to any of the tools available below as it goes into detail on trigger point locations for each part of the body.It’s the most in-depth read I have come across in regards to dealing with trigger points.
Top Rated Massaging Tools For Treating Trigger Point Therapy
The Best Foam Roller Ever!
Foam Rollers are a very popular way to get rid of trigger points. But not all rollers are built the same. Some have many pros, while some are well just rubbish. But what we have found here is what we believe to be the best foam roller for trigger point therapy.
Whats so amazing about this roller by Trigger Point Performance is the unique design. It has a multi dimensional and density exterior which is meant to replicate the felling of real hands rubbing your muscles. The idea is to roll out your knots. When you can pin point the trouble area and know which way the fibers of your muscle run, you can apply pressure on the roller to un kink the contracted nodules of the particular muscle. While rolling out the affected area which can feel like a small pea with the texture of semi cooked noodle you are also increasing the circulation of blood and increasing flexibility.
Besides the texture appeal of this foam roller what make it stand out from the crowd is it’s durability. Many rollers some and go due to their poor build or inexpensive materials. But with the Trigger Point Performance roller you really do get a strong and sturdy roller (Without the bad smell like some other rollers). While it can be practically used anywhere on your body to roll, I find it particularly helpful on the lower back and hard to reach trigger areas. After a workout and even during work, my lower back plays up. A hot shower and a roll is a quick way to get back into feeling great. The free instructional online video access is a nice touch too.
Best Neck Trigger Point Massager
Pure Wave Cm7 Review
The Pure Wave Cm-7 is one of our top rated neck and shoulder massagers for very good reason. It’s ability to reach hard to get trigger points, particularly in the neck muscles. The CM7 is cordless which I can’t get enough of. My previous hand held massager was corded and boy did that cord get in the way. Always twisting myself up in it and always getting caught on anything and everything. Such a relief to be cord free, especially when you need to twist your body in weird positions to reach those hard to reach areas.
But what makes the Pure Wave an ideal choice for trigger point therapy are it’s amazing attachments. Six different massage heads to be precise, but there’s that I highly encourage for trigger points in the neck. The hard plastic cone like massager is great for pinpointing the exact spots that need treatment in small muscles. But what may surprise some folks who have had nothing but failure from vibrating devices is that the CM-7 also has ‘Percussion’ as a massaging technique. Percussion is like a tapping motion that is great for releasing those tightened and constricted muscles. Both the vibration and percussion massage techniques have intensity levels for optimizing your desired massage requirements.
The other highlight for me is the air filled attachment. This is a softer type of massage which is one way of getting a massage into areas close to bones. For example the facial area or elbows, which may seem strange. But how times have you got sore muscles in your jaw from your job -talking a lot, smiling a lot etc. A soft gentle facial massage is a great treatment for this kind of situation. The only downside to this trigger point massager in my opinion is the noise level. Which is only relevant if you use this massager at work in a ‘quite’ zone really. The air pump gets a little noisy but is definitely not a deal breaker due to it’s amazing trigger point attachments.
Best Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy Tools
Thumper Mini Pro Review – Great For Reaching Over The Shoulders!
While the Thumper Maxi Pro Massager is a popular choice by Athletes, Chiropractors and Massage Therapists, it’s also a little bit out of my price range. Fortunately there is a cheaper option in the form of the Thumper Mini Pro. These Thumpers make good choices as Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy Tools in my opinion due to their larger coverage space. In particular shoulder trigger point therapy.
The Thumper is a percussion style of massaging, hence the name Thumper. It’s got an incredible pule rate of 20/40 per second which is almost up there with professional tools used by Therapists. Combine it’s quality Thumpers with the longer arm and you get one heck of a great shoulder massager. In my opinion this is the go to massage device for reaching shoulders and mid back region yourself without the assistance of your partner, kids or a massage therapist.
Because of the shear power of the Thumper Mini Pro, it’s not recommended for sensitive areas like your neck, face and anywhere direct bone contact may occur. However, it’s simply incredible on larger muscle groups. Being one of the more powerful massaging devices available to the public, it’s easy to see why this massager is highly recommended for deep massage on tired and tense muscles.
See The Thumper Used By Healthcare Professional
Portable Lightweight TriggerPoint Multi Tool
T-Roller Massager By Triggerpoint Performance
I love this little T-Roller tool. It’s super handy and can be packed away for easy portable use due to its size. But don’t let size fool you, this is one powerful little handheld trigger point tool. I find this tool extremely handy for Gym visits as it’s less obtrusive and distracting to other Gym goers.
As you can see form the images, its a t shaped hand held wheel roller. But again, don’t be deceived here. The actual handle has massage use as well. It can be used to drag and pull muscles by grabbing either end of the tool.
But the unique appeal to the T-Roller is the massaging wheel. It’s great for getting hard to pin point spots in the neck, arms etc. But whats really amazing is how it can follow the fibers of the muscle and find and relieve trigger points. Then you continue to keep rolling handle and wheel along the line to relieve the pain. For the price of this amazing tool, it’s a surprise to me that it’s not as well known to other trigger point sufferers.
Norman
I suffer from trigger point pain frequently. In particular, my shoulders and back of neck. I have and use some of the suggested tools to be used to relieve trigger point pain. The Triggerpoint foam roller is my favorite. I use the larger size for my lower back and quads, while I have the smaller version which is perfect for my neck pain. Plus its very portable so I can even take it to work with me as I work behind a computer all day my neck is always cramping up.
admin
Hey Norm, glad to hear that you have found the foam rollers to work a treat on your trigger points. I also love using the handheld electric massagers for digging right into the pain area. Unlocking the constricted tissues and freeing up the blood flow. A tennis ball is another valuable massage tool.