Trigger Point Therapy Injections with Massage Therapy and other Bodywork Applications

Trigger Point Therapy Injections, also known as a TPI, are applied when a healthcare professional inserts a small needle into a trigger point.

WebMD reports:  "The injection contains a local anesthetic or saline, and may include a corticosteroid. With the injection, the trigger point is made inactive and the pain is alleviated. Often, a brief course of treatment will result in sustained relief. Injections are given in a doctor's office and usually take just a few minutes. Several sites may be injected in one visit. If a patient has an allergy to a certain drug, a dry-needle technique (involving no medications) can be used."

To provide trigger point therapy, we would prefer manual hands-on application instead of the more invasive use of needles which risks infections, allergic reactions to injected substances or more.  However, if your client receives a TPI and then seeks manual therapy from you afterwards, the manual service such as massage therapy could be temporarily contraindicated.

Massage, trigger point therapy and any other hands-on manual service would be contraindicated immediately after a TPI because of broken skin. Skin must be whole and intact prior to manual application to prevent infection and infection causing disease. 

Please also keep in mind that there could be blood exposure on the skin on the same day as injectable application.  Blood exposure is another service contraindication, especially on the day of service when the client's skin has been punctured by a needle.

Providing massage or other bodywork services is usually acceptable depending on WHEN the TPI is provided. Services immediately AFTER a needle injection in the affected area are generally contraindicated due to broken skin, however, manual services such as massage therapy or bodywork should be acceptable to resume once the skin has healed.

If you're concerned that your bodywork or other service could interfere with the client's injections, you should contact the client's TPI provider to discuss this more with them.

To learn more, please register training with us at:  https://ceinstitute.com/collections/trigger-point-therapy

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