What is Motor Point Acupuncture?

Motor Point Acupuncture is a “muscle reset” technique, with the ability to instantly relax tight muscle fibers, restore flexibility and muscle activation, and ease pain. It produces an effect that is both immediate and lasting. The problem that tight muscles pose is that they are physically incapable of relaxing on their own, due to the presence of muscle knots (“trigger points”) that do not respond to stretch, heat, rest or massage. If you want your muscles to feel stronger, more supple and more flexible – and to stay that way – you would need a means of “resetting” and “reactivating” them, and this technique is the correct way to do that.

It is an electroacupuncture-based technique that involves conducting a mild electrical current directly into the belly of a tight muscle, so as to stimulate a short series of muscle contractions. These contractions effectively “wake up” an inhibited muscle – sometimes in just a matter of seconds – restoring its reflex activity and helping it to regain all four of its vital qualities: elasticity, extensibility, contractility and responsiveness. At the same time they also stimulate the release of endogenous chemicals, improve microcirculation, promote a sense of relaxation and provide a physical stretch to the surrounding connective tissues.

The “muscle reset” effect is something quite special, and it tends to leave people surprised at how good they feel afterwards, and how simple the process can be. It is not something that can be done with the hands, or with needling alone, or via the application of electricity through the skin – only the conduction of electricity directly into the belly of a muscle is able to achieve this effect. This method is so accurate and efficient that only a tiny amount of electricity is required, resulting in a form of therapy that is extremely safe, relatively gentle, and does no harm to the tissues. It works to relax away tension without the need for strong massage, medication or other aggressive forms of intervention.

Motor Point Acupuncture could be described as an advanced form of “trigger point therapy”, aimed at deactivating the painful muscle knots that cause muscle dysfunction (read the accompanying essay on this website to learn more). It is also a means of “myofascial release”, meaning a way to break up adhesions within stiff muscles and fascia, thereby restoring flexibility, improving circulation and relieving pain. And it is also a type of “functional medicine”, restoring the strength, muscle activation and muscle balance required to perform everyday movements. It is best applied using knowledge of muscle dynamics, fascial planes, trigger point referral patterns, posture and kinesiology to craft treatments aimed at restoring proper movement and correcting structural imbalance. This form of therapy functions very well on its own, and can be easily combined with other bodywork, stretching and exercise techniques. Muscle reactivation is the key to enhancing all of your training, rehabilitation and self-care activities.

Even just a few sessions of Motor Point Acupuncture can make a significant difference in the way you move and feel. People find this form of therapy to be satisfying, empowering, interesting and even fun. It may just become one of your new favorite activities.

Here is an overview of what Motor Point Acupuncture can do for you:

A) Relieve Muscle and Joint Pain

An estimated 85% of all the pain you feel comes directly from the soft tissue. Tight muscles are themselves painful and they also impinge nerves, place strain on joints, perpetuate inflammation and create tension-related pain in tissues throughout the body. So many of the terms that people use to describe their pain – things like “arthritis”, “sciatica”, “carpal tunnel”, “migraines” and “plantar fasciitis” – are really just the effects of muscle tightness in disguise. Releasing a trigger point accounts for some of the pain relief, and relieving tension in the soft tissues accounts for the rest. Remember, this is not a form of therapy aimed at temporarily relieving pain – it is about changing the conditions that are causing pain in the first place.

B)Restore Flexibility and Range of Motion

Whichever movements you are trying to regain – whether it be turning your head side-to-side, twisting and bending from the waist, raising your arms overhead, getting up from a chair, walking more smoothly or whatever else – muscle relaxation and reactivation is the way to make it happen.

C)Reduce Fatigue and Promote Recovery

When certain muscles are not activating it forces the other muscles around them to work even harder. It also puts us in a position where we are constantly exercising certain muscles but not others. Many of us are actually moving through life using only a portion of our own strength. Whether you are training for a sport, or simply trying to stay on your feet and climb stairs without fatigue becoming an issue, you owe it to yourself to regain the function of the muscles you already have. Just a few key activations can make a world of difference in your daily life.

D)Promote Healing of Lasting and Recurring Injuries

When it comes to the lasting effects of old injuries, a combination of tight muscles, trigger points and fascial stiffness is largely to blame. Healing depends on the ability of connective tissue fibers to rejoin with one another and reform into the correct shape, which is something that cannot happen when they are being stretched in opposite directions by shortened muscle fibers, or when they are all matted together with the circulation between cells greatly reduced.

E)Promote Better Posture and Structural Alignment

Tight muscles (and subsequent hardening of the fascia) is what keeps us locked into our poor postures. Pelvic tilts, rounded shoulders, forward head, abnormal spinal curvatures, foot abnormalities and much more are all related to key patterns of muscle tightness, inhibition and compensation. Muscle imbalance also leads to joint misalignment and subsequent injury of joint structures.

F)Break out of Mental and Emotional Holding Patterns

Emotions are stored in the body, with physical and emotional tension being two sides of the same coin. When we are stuck moving and holding our bodies in the same patterns, we are also suffering from a restricted range of mental and emotional expression. Performing any sort of bodywork is absolutely essential to regaining a sense of freedom and possibility in life – and Motor Point Acupuncture is as effective a form of bodywork as there is!

G)Relieve a Wide Range of Tension-Related Symptoms

Tight muscles and trigger points do much more than cause pain and immobility. They also contribute to a wide range of often poorly understood and often misdiagnosed symptoms affecting all the various systems of the body: Cardiovascular, respiratory, nervous, digestive, urinary, reproductive, endocrine and lymphatic. Do not make the mistake of thinking that Motor Point Acupuncture is only for musculoskeletal issues; it is a full fledged system of Acupuncture treatment which just so happens to also be the world’s premier method for releasing tight muscles.

H)Relax, and Be Happier!!!

Quite possibly the most important effect Bodywork can produce is the beneficial effect it has on our relationships. If you, or someone you know, is constantly in a bad mood, nervous, fearful, short-tempered, whatever the case may be… get them to come in for some Bodywork! It will make everyone happier and produce a beneficial effect that ripples outward into society. I know this can be tough, because often the people who need it most are the ones least likely to want to try something new, but… sometimes in life the problems that cause us to seek help are really our greatest blessings in disguise.

In conclusion, Motor Point Acupuncture is a form of therapy that offers substantial and lasting change in the quality of one’s muscles, soft tissues and life as a whole – and it offers to do so in just a few powerful sessions, which saves both time and money. Therapy should not be a full-time job, it should be a transformative experience, and the “Motor Point Method” is a way of helping to chisel away the hardened effects of a person’s past, one trigger point at a time, to uncover more of the beauty that lies within.