Extensive research has defined the characteristics of each specific trigger point, including the area of sensation and impaired activity. This is essential in connecting the trigger point to the client’s complaint. It is a starting point in a treatment plan and a checkpoint in the assessment of how effective the treatment has been. Most of …
Annie (her alias) is a Texan grandmother in her late 60s. She started working with me years ago. She has some real problems with degenerative discs in her neck. We’ve been through a lot. I’ve worked on her, literally, from head to toe. Last winter, she came to me with troubling news. They had found …
Client’s Description People complain of burning along the inside of their shoulder blade. This makes you want to rub up against a doorway or get one of those massage canes to get at it. It is my experience that people are quick to notify a body therapist (like me) to rub on it when it …
Trigger Points – Burning and itching along the shoulder blade Read More »
It’s a great question. I often state its counter part, “Other people do that and don’t have pain. Let’s work so that you can do that without pain, too.” Let’s briefly look at few things about trigger points that will answer this question: what they do, their levels of activity, what makes them more active, how …
In my post on Defining Integrative Techniques, I explored the idea that there are problems in the body that perpetuate other problems. As bodyworkers, we want to give these problems more interesting names like postural distortions, myofascial restrictions, trigger points and displaced joints. For simplicity’s sake, let’s just call them problems. Let’s call these problems …
Saturday before last, I had a new client come in. He was referred by a friend of his father who is an old client of mine and very active athlete of about 50. This new client is a baseball pitcher who is a junior in high school and being scouted by the colleges. He was told that …
In the world of Organized Pain, the trigger point is a weapon looking for a hitman. Sometimes, it is The Rogue Hitman. This hitman acts outside of The Pain Organization. This happens when the trigger point gets into a loop where it becomes self-aggravating and goes on a binge of pain. Raymond L. Nimmo, a chiropractor in …
Understanding Organized Pain – Pathological Reflex Arc – The Rogue Hitman Read More »
Muscles get testy when they’re disrespected. This is the way that most people think of trigger points as being activated – blunt trauma or strain. When it happens like this, the Disrespected Hitman appears, does his job and goes away. Blunt trauma is when the muscle is bumped or somehow takes a hit that damages the tissues. Trigger points …
Understanding Organized Pain – Injured Muscle – The Disrespected Hitman Read More »
Organized Pain can create different types of enforcement with muscles. It is for your protection. Really. We usually think of our muscles, connective tissues and bones as these things that gives us shape and move us around but they also protect us in many ways. Padding. Our muscles offer a layer of gelatinous padding that can be hardened to …
Understanding Organized Pain – Menacing Protection Read More »
Organized Pain has a system of communication. Proprioceptors are one of the most important informants in the system. Proprioceptors are sensors in our body that collect information about position and movement. They can collect information about muscle and joints. Some collect information about tension in the muscle. Some of them sense the alignment of the …
Understanding Organized Pain – Proprioceptors – Informant of Gravity Read More »
