Trigger Point Therapy in Greenville, SC
Trigger Point Therapy in Greenville, SC. Root-cause acupuncture + functional medicine. Dr. Hendry, DAOM, NCBAHM-certified. Call (864) 365-6156.
"Excellent. I was a skeptic and informed Dr. Hendry of such. I have a broken neck from a racing accident over 40 plus years ago. The results have been remarkable and I am a believer in acupuncture."
— Michael F. McLeod · April 2015 · Google Review
The referred pain pattern is often more diagnostic than the trigger point location itself. When a patient tells me their upper trapezius gives them pain at the back of the eye, I immediately know I'm dealing with a trigger point in a predictable referral distribution that Travell and Simons mapped six decades ago. Shah's 2008 biochemistry work explains why that point is so painful: elevated substance P, bradykinin, and CGRP in a hypoxic, acidic microenvironment that perpetuates itself. The needle goes in to mechanically disrupt that microenvironment and reset the motor endplate. The local twitch response tells me when it worked.
How Trigger Point Therapy Works
Trigger point assessment involves systematic palpation of the affected muscles following Simons and Travell's trigger point maps. Each active trigger point is documented, and the most clinically significant points are prioritized for needling. Dr. Hendry uses a combination of direct needling (inserting into the trigger point to elicit a twitch response) and surrounding field needling (Chinese medicine approach of needling around the trigger point zone) for comprehensive treatment.
Conditions Treated with Trigger Point Therapy
Comprehensive Trigger Point Management vs. Trigger Point Injections with Local Anesthetic Alone
Trigger point injections with local anesthetic, typically lidocaine or bupivacaine, are a widely used procedure that deactivates trigger points through a combination of needle mechanical disruption and local anesthetic blockade of ectopic nerve discharge at the motor endplate. The procedure is effective and produces reliable short-term deactivation. The comparison with comprehensive trigger point therapy, including dry needling and manual therapy, concerns the depth and durability of the treatment effect. Dommerholt and Huijbregts (2011) note that local anesthetic injections and dry needling produce comparable immediate outcomes when performed with equivalent precision, suggesting that the needle mechanical effect rather than the anesthetic is the primary therapeutic mechanism. This is significant because it validates dry needling as a complete treatment in itself, but also raises the question of what comprehensive trigger point management adds beyond isolated injection. Our comprehensive protocols combine dry needling for direct point deactivation with post-needling manual therapy to clear the biochemical debris from the deactivated trigger point, patient education on perpetuating factors, and functional rehabilitation to restore the motor patterns that allowed trigger point formation. Local anesthetic injection addresses the trigger point in isolation; our comprehensive protocol addresses the trigger point within its broader neuromuscular and functional context, producing more durable outcomes and reducing the rate of trigger point recurrence.
Research & Evidence
Trigger point therapy encompasses the full spectrum of assessment and treatment approaches for myofascial trigger points, from systematic palpation and diagnostic mapping through manual compression, dry needling, and injection techniques. The clinical identification of trigger points relies on the classic criteria established by Travell and Simons (The Trigger Point Manual, 1983/1992): a palpable taut band, a hypersensitive nodule within that band, reproduction of the patient's familiar pain pattern with compression, and ideally a local twitch response. Dommerholt and Huijbregts (2011) provide the contemporary evidence-informed framework for trigger point diagnosis and management, integrating the classical Travell-Simons model with the biochemical evidence provided by Shah et al. (Arch Phys Med Rehabil, 2008) and the neurological mechanisms of referred pain through central sensitization. Our trigger point therapy protocols begin with systematic full-body palpation mapping to identify all active and latent trigger points before selecting the appropriate treatment sequence. The diagnostic rigor of the assessment determines the therapeutic precision of the intervention.
Your First Appointment
Describe your pain pattern and where it refers to — trigger point referred pain patterns are highly diagnostic. Bring any prior physical therapy or pain management notes. Wear clothing that allows access to the affected muscles.
Why Dr. Hendry for Trigger Point Therapy
Dr. Hendry's expertise in trigger point identification and treatment — developed through 25 years of clinical practice and his Prisma Health research on needle-based pain management — is exceptional. His dual training allows him to use both Chinese medicine point theory and Simons/Travell trigger point maps simultaneously for superior outcomes.