Neuromuscular & Trigger Point Therapy in Fort Collins.
Targeted work for chronic pain from trigger points — the tight, tender spots that form in overworked muscle.
The ache and its cause aren't always in the same place.
Trigger points are small, hypersensitive areas of contracted muscle, often from overuse, strain, or holding the same posture too long. Press on one and it can refer pain in a consistent, mappable pattern - which is how I track a symptom back to its source.
Neuromuscular therapy is the technique vocabulary for finding and releasing those trigger points. The work is precise: I hold a specific spot at a specific angle until the muscle starts to release. Often the referred symptom eases too - sometimes right away, sometimes over the next several hours.
One pattern I see constantly: a trigger point along the shoulder blade that refers pain up behind the ear, or even behind the eye. Two areas that feel completely unrelated, until you work the one that's actually driving it.
NMT is the modality I most often pair with deep tissue. The deep-tissue work loosens the surrounding muscle; the NMT work addresses the specific trigger inside it - and some myofascial release where the fascia is holding the pattern. Most clients with chronic pain patterns get a blend.
When NMT is the right call.
If the tension is chronic, refers somewhere else, or just won't quit - NMT usually earns its place.
Tension headaches
Headaches that start at the base of the skull or wrap around the temples. Releasing the trigger points in the upper traps and suboccipitals is often what makes the difference.
Neck & upper-back tension
The tight, gripping tension that sits across the upper traps and into the base of the neck and shoulders. Classic trigger-point territory - and one of the patterns that responds most predictably to focused work.
Low-back tension
The deep, nagging low-back tightness that doesn't ease up on its own. Often there's a trigger in the QL (the deep muscle along your lower spine) or glute med referring through the hip - work the trigger, and the whole area can settle.
The tension you've stopped noticing
Some of it builds from repetition - the same motion, the same posture, one side you always favor. Some of it is stress you carry without realizing: clenched jaw, raised shoulders, a back that never settles. Either way, the muscle stays switched on, and trigger points form. Focused work is how it finally lets go.
Precise, communicative, brief on the spot.
NMT sessions are often shorter on each individual point than deep tissue. The work is in identifying the right spot, not enduring the pressure.
Intake & pattern map
Where is the symptom? What's the timing? What makes it worse, what makes it better? Often I can predict the trigger map before the first palpation.
Locate the trigger
Slow palpation along the suspected referral pattern. The right spot reproduces the referred symptom on contact.
Sustained compression
Specific compression for 30-90 seconds. The body usually releases within that window. We communicate throughout - you tell me when the referred symptom changes.
Restore & settle
Light passes through the area to restore blood flow, plus a couple of self-care notes for between sessions.
What people ask before booking.
What is a trigger point, exactly?
A hyperirritable spot inside a tight band of muscle. When compressed, it produces predictable referred pain - meaning the spot you press isn't always where you feel the pain. Trigger points often hide upstream of the symptom.
Does NMT hurt?
Yes, briefly. Compressing a trigger point creates a precise, identifiable pain that should release within 30-90 seconds. If we hit one and it doesn't release, we back off and approach from a different angle. The session isn't endurance work.
How long until I feel results?
For an acute trigger pattern, often within the first session. For a chronic referred-pain pattern, plan on 2-4 weekly sessions to actually move the pattern, then taper to maintenance every 4-6 weeks.
Is this safe with fibromyalgia / chronic pain conditions?
Often yes, but the work is much gentler and shorter than standard NMT. Tell me everything during intake - the technique adapts to whatever your nervous system can tolerate that day.
Will I be sore after?
Sometimes - especially the first session on a stubborn pattern. Soreness should peak within 24 hours and resolve within 48. If it lasts longer, the work was too aggressive and we'll dial back next time.
The two most common partners.
NMT rarely runs as a 90-minute standalone - it does its best work in combination.
Book NMT work.
If there's a specific pattern you can't shake — tell me when you book. NMT is built for exactly that.