SALINAS, Calif. - When surgeries and experimental drugs don't work in relieving pain, trigger point injections are becoming a common alternative.

Trigger point injections (TSI) helped Ted Willis, an insurance broker living in Salinas.  Willis had suffered from severe headaches for about 15 years, before seeing Dr. Bradley Carpentier.  Willis has gone through three procedures and has not had severe pain for a couple months.  Prior surgeries were not as successful.

Willis credits TSI for allowing his business to thrive once again.  He says he was forced to leave during the work day when the headaches were at their worst. 

Dr. Carpentier is in private practice in both Salinas and Monterey.  He is Board Certified in both Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. 

Willis calls the treatments "a miracle."  Working from his office Tuesday afternoon, he explained, "it's a miracle drug without having to take any drugs."

Beyond treating headaches, TPI can also be used to treat extremely painful areas of muscle.  Normal muscle contracts and relaxes when it is active.  A trigger point is a knot or tight, ropy band of muscle that forms when muscle fails to relax.  The knot often can be felt under the skin and may twitch involuntarily when touched.