I have always had some kind of body pain. As a child
I thought everyone had the same level of pain—that is just life. So I did not
question it or seek any kind of answer for my body pain. My parents were stoic
people whose attitude was nothing could be done about pain—just keep working.
I remember going for my first massage and the
therapist began talking about trigger points. I was so surprised and pleased to
find that by working with the trigger points I was significantly improved. I
had much less muscle tension and pain, circulation and flexibility were
improved, and my attitude was hopeful. Chronic pain saps the joy from life; I
was so happy to find I could find relief.
It took me along time to realize I could be working
with these trigger points myself between trips to the massage therapist. I
believe in being self responsible and proactive about my health. I believe in a
Mind/body/Spirit outlook to life, therefore every physical, or emotional trauma
we have creates a feedback loop between the mind and body with tension and
knotted muscles.
When you work to eliminate your trigger points use
this time to release the knotted emotions you have buried in your body. For
example, if a bully hit you when you were a child, the memory of that incident
is located in your body where you were hit and it has an associated link in
your mind. The mind-link might include associated feelings of anger, fear,
insecurity, or helplessness.
Trigger points can result from muscle trauma (from car accidents, falls, sports- and work-related
injuries, etc.), muscle strain from repetitive movements at work or play,
postural strain from standing or sitting improperly for long periods at the
computer, emotional stress, anxiety, allergies, nutritional deficiencies, inflammation,
and toxins in the environment. A single event can initiate a trigger point
causing you to suffer the effects for the rest of your life.
Trigger points can be created by a slip and fall, or a
motor vehicle accident at speeds as slow as 5 mph. Muscle injury doesn’t
even require landing a near fall is adequate to activate a trigger point. The
referred pain often feels like an oppressive, deep ache and movement can
sharpen the pain. Referred myofascial pain can be as intense as pain from
surgery. In fact myofascial pain can mimic a heart attack.
Many of us have debilitating
low back pain that has completely altered the way we live our lives. The body's
instinctive reaction to a harmful "event" was to protect itself by
altering the way you move, sit, or stand, which puts abnormal stress on your
muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints. Over time this created strength and
flexibility imbalances in your muscles, as well as postural dysfunctions
throughout your body. The most common place for a trigger point is in the
muscle of the lower back called the quadratus lumborum located just above your
hips. As the quadratus lumborum became increasingly dysfunctional the position
of the pelvis was altered. The pelvis dysfunction creates abnormal spinal
curvature thereby putting abnormal pressure on the disc, which over time begins
to bulge. As this condition progressively worsens, one’s overall quality of
life decreases often leading to Depression.
Trigger points may produce
symptoms as diverse as dizziness, earaches, sinusitis, nausea, heartburn, false
heart pain, heart arrhythmia, genital pain, and numbness in the hands and feet,
restless leg syndrome, tooth pain, workout plateau, painful menses, or
irritable bowel syndrome, headaches, neck and jaw pain, low back pain,
sciatica, tennis elbow, and carpal tunnel syndrome. They are the source of
joint pain in the shoulder, wrist, hip, knee, and ankle that is often mistaken
for arthritis, tendonitis, bursitis, or ligament injury.
Myofascial pain
syndrome is a chronic pain disorder. In myofascial pain syndrome, pressure on
sensitive points in your muscles (trigger points) causes pain in seemingly
unrelated parts of your body. This is called referred pain. (Definition by Mayo Clinic staff)
A trigger point is a hypersensitive spot in a muscle. "Referred" pain means that trigger points
typically send their pain to some other place in the body, which is why
conventional treatments for pain so often fail. A stimulated trigger
point usually produces pain referred in a predictable pattern away from the
trigger point, which can also cause contractions in muscles called taut bands.
Triggered taut bands cause the dysfunction of the joints.
"There is no substitute
for learning to control your own musculoskeletal pain," says Dr. Simons.
"Treating myofascial trigger points yourself addresses the source of that
kind of common pain and is not just a way of temporarily relieving it." Drs. Janet Travell and David Simons, authors of The
Trigger Point Manual, references
research indicating trigger points are the primary cause of pain at least 75
percent of the time and are a factor in nearly every painful condition.
A trigger point is about the
size of a mustard seed. The technique is to put sustained pressure on trigger
point for a set period of time on a regular basis. There are various techniques
that are relatively simple. The technique is to apply sufficient deep sustained
pressure applied to the "knotted-up area." By working with the
Trigger Point you will create soft tissue release that allow ins increased
blood flow, a reduction in muscle spasm, the break-up of scar tissue, and help
eliminate toxic metabolic waste. Also the body will experience a neurological
release reducing the pain signals to the brain. This neurological release
allows the neuromuscular system to remember and restore its proper function.
These factors that effect the
length of time needed to completely release a trigger point include: number of
trigger points you have, how long you have had your trigger point, how
effective your current treatment is, and how consistently you can administer or
receive treatment. It is impractical to see a massage therapist frequently
enough to get a trigger point to release.
To learn more about trigger
points and how to work with them I suggest Dr. Jonathon Kuttner
excellent educational website. Here are
a few of things you'll learn here: A. Trigger point reference chart. http://triggerpointcharts.com/ B.
An instructional Video
http://lifeafterpain.com/vault/treat-your-triggers/finding-triggers/
This website contains
charts that will help you isolate where the trigger point is and where the pain
to. This page contains 26
trigger point referral chart thumbnails. To view a single chart, position your
cursor over the image and click once. If you know which part of the body whose
charts you want to view, click on its link below to go directly to that group
of charts. http://www.webmanmed.com/painrefer_files/trigptcharts.html
Working with trigger points is not a cure all.
However with consistent attention, eliminating trigger points diminishes pain
and truly enhances one’s quality of life. Self-empowerment is essential to
mind/body/spirit well being. You can do this for yourself now.
http://www.myorehab.net/articles/article-archive.htm
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