Angelic Palliative Wellness Center, in Wenonah, is now offering trigger point injection (TPI) for chronic pain. In addition to helping people with knots in their backs or necks, fibromyalgia or tension headaches, TPI can be used to alleviate myofascial pain syndrome that does not respond to other treatments and can serve as an alternative to taking medications for pain. This procedure takes only minutes and can provide patients with relief that can last from several weeks to even months. 

“This treatment can be a very good option for some patients,” says Sheila Lill, MSN, APN, ACHPN, director of palliative care services at Angelic Health. “Often patients will combine TPI along with other services such as therapeutic yoga or massage to provide a comprehensive treatment package to control stress-related pain and muscle tension.” 

For the TPI procedure, the healthcare provider injects the patient’s trigger point with a local anesthetic and may include a corticosteroid. The injection makes the trigger point inactive and the pain is alleviated. Several sites may be injected in one visit. Patients with an allergy to the medications used can opt for a dry-needle technique, which does not inject medications but uses the needle itself to release the knots causing the pain.