Some confirmation needed: Trigger Points!

Dave,
That's a really great post about how you got past the trigger points. I'd also like to emphasize how important the idea of exercise is. A couple of months ago I started playing basketball after not feeling up to it for fifteen years. I didn't feel up to it when I went to the court either. It's only by doing it and realizing that I was okay afterwards that I've progressed.
 
NolaGpost: 14054 said:
I thought I had discovered the solution to my pain a couple of years ago when I learned about trigger points. "The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook" by Clair Davies helped me a lot. It really did take a lot of my pain away to press on my muscle knots, especially the ones in my neck, shoulders, and lower back/side butt area. I had to do it every day, though, or I'd be in a lot of pain. It's still better than pain medicine and muscle relaxers, but I realize now that I was still only treating a symptom.

A few months ago I discovered Feldenkrais and Hanna Somatics. By doing the very gentle exercises in those programs (which basically teach us firsthand about our own mind/muscle connection) I realized that I was tightening up at certain times of the day, and that my pain and tightening would get worse when I was stressed.

Learning about TMS has been my "last piece of the puzzle" because it's teaching me why I'm tensing up and holding my body wrong in the first place, which is the underlying reason I've gotten the trigger points and pain. I created them myself through my emotions. In the last week since starting this program most of my trigger points are noticeably smaller and not really bothering me. One in my side, sort of under my shoulder, is completely gone and the ones in my neck are almost gone. That's a huge deal to me and I owe it all to the brave few doctors who have the courage to teach this, and to the folks here on this forum. I'm so happy and thankful for this knowledge.

(Btw, I'm still doing the Hanna Somatics "cat stretch" routine every day, not as "physical therapy", but because it's a wonderfully energizing, full-body maintenance routine. I highly recommend it for folks who enjoy exercising, although the movements involved are very small. It's easier than the easiest yoga.)
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Hi I disco
NolaGal said:
I thought I had discovered the solution to my pain a couple of years ago when I learned about trigger points. "The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook" by Clair Davies helped me a lot. It really did take a lot of my pain away to press on my muscle knots, especially the ones in my neck, shoulders, and lower back/side butt area. I had to do it every day, though, or I'd be in a lot of pain. It's still better than pain medicine and muscle relaxers, but I realize now that I was still only treating a symptom.

A few months ago I discovered Feldenkrais and Hanna Somatics. By doing the very gentle exercises in those programs (which basically teach us firsthand about our own mind/muscle connection) I realized that I was tightening up at certain times of the day, and that my pain and tightening would get worse when I was stressed.

Learning about TMS has been my "last piece of the puzzle" because it's teaching me why I'm tensing up and holding my body wrong in the first place, which is the underlying reason I've gotten the trigger points and pain. I created them myself through my emotions. In the last week since starting this program most of my trigger points are noticeably smaller and not really bothering me. One in my side, sort of under my shoulder, is completely gone and the ones in my neck are almost gone. That's a huge deal to me and I owe it all to the brave few doctors who have the courage to teach this, and to the folks here on this forum. I'm so happy and thankful for this knowledge.

(Btw, I'm still doing the Hanna Somatics "cat stretch" routine every day, not as "physical therapy", but because it's a wonderfully energizing, full-body maintenance routine. I highly recommend it for folks who enjoy exercising, although the movements involved are very small. It's easier than the easiest yoga.)
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Wow you just described exactly how I came to discover tms. I thought id found my answer with trigger point therapy. Then hanna somatics came along which I think is fantastic and now im just starting tms which I hope is the answer to my prayers.
By the way I have the myth of aging series from thomas hanna book on audio if your interested and also a ton of other stuff. Just let me know.
 
I also went through the whole trigger points drama - real name muscle knots !;)

I got rid of them by visualization. I used to imagine them in my mind's eye, then see them engorging with blood and the muscle smoothing out. Same as all the other TMS stuff, ignore it for long enough and it will give up.
 
Mermaid said:
I also went through the whole trigger points drama - real name muscle knots !;)

I got rid of them by visualization. I used to imagine them in my mind's eye, then see them engorging with blood and the muscle smoothing out. Same as all the other TMS stuff, ignore it for long enough and it will give up.
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I have pressed onto them for years and Its done nothing. Always been told that Its my posture(rounded shoulders) but im trying to convince myself its not the case. Just getting towards the end of john sarnos book healing back pain. I also prefer to call them muscle knots.
 
Richsimm22 said:
I have pressed onto them for years and Its done nothing. Always been told that Its my posture(rounded shoulders) but im trying to convince myself its not the case. Just getting towards the end of john sarnos book healing back pain. I also prefer to call them muscle knots.
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All I got was a big bill and a load of bruises from "therapy". Mine were apparently caused by using my computer at work (belly laugh!) It's all nonsense and part of the fear-tension-pain-fear cycle we need to break. Have a try at the visualization thing, it really does work. :D
 
Great thanks I will do. A friend of mine suggested the same thing. The meditation on howard schubiners website mentions a warm healing globe in the centre of your body and to visualise it healing every fibre of your body. Im going to visualise it engorging all my muscles with fresh oxygenated blood.
 
Richsimm22 said:
Great thanks I will do. A friend of mine suggested the same thing. The meditation on howard schubiners website mentions a warm healing globe in the centre of your body and to visualise it healing every fibre of your body. Im going to visualise it engorging all my muscles with fresh oxygenated blood.
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I'm sure you'll find a huge improvement in a while. One thing I kept doing was poking them to check if they're gone, until I realized this was counterproductive. Never touch them again is my recommendation and they'll melt away in time like mine did. Like all aspects of TMS healing it likes practice, time and patience.

Good luck :)
 
Hello.

Great posts....appreciated...!

Like NolaGal I am v.much in the habit of pain,
almost to the point of pain being that which I
live rather than than life itself. I am constantly
searching for (& partaking in) the 'wonder release'
including extensive trigger point therapy. As previously
mentioned it would seem to have some value but
needs to be balanced against the need to truly
embrace the concept of TMS as being psychologically
based. I think this can be said of most physical
therapies and exercise programs.

In truth my search for the 'miracle cure' continues
to bring me back to this place & ultimately to myself,
my inner being. I am overwhelmed by it all. The more I
try the bigger the hole gets. Maybe there lies the truth!
Just how to surrender to that I remain uncertain.

Is there a trigger point for the soul?

With thanks.

Pete
 
Mermaid said:
I'm sure you'll find a huge improvement in a while. One thing I kept doing was poking them to check if they're gone, until I realized this was counterproductive. Never touch them again is my recommendation and they'll melt away in time like mine did. Like all aspects of TMS healing it likes practice, time and patience.

Good luck :)
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I have knots (tender spo
Mermaid said:
I'm sure you'll find a huge improvement in a while. One thing I kept doing was poking them to check if they're gone, until I realized this was counterproductive. Never touch them again is my recommendation and they'll melt away in time like mine did. Like all aspects of TMS healing it likes practice, time and patience.

Good luck :)
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I have knots all over my back particularly between my shoulder blades and down either side of my spine. Was yours the same? It always really bad first thing out of bed.
 
I had them in my scalp (ouch!), neck, shoulders, upper back and buttocks. I used to alway hurt all over first thing in the morning, because I was supposed to have fibro, thanks to Dr.Nocebo !
 
Richsimm22 said:
Wow how do you feel now
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I never give the trigger point thing any thought whatsoever. It was just one in a long series of TMS stuff that I've dealt with. I'm not totally pain free, but pretty close, I don't let it stop me doing anything. All these labels are just TMS, try not to fixate on it. If you have any books on it or any of the silly gadgets they sell for it, toss them in the trash.

Try and get some exercise too, if you're not already, just taking a walk helps to get your circulation moving and get oxygen to your knots to help them release. The more active you get the better you feel. I bit the bullet and went swimming when my upper back was killing me and it helped a lot.
 
I've known I sit too much and do almost no exercise. My leg strength is not good, so I went to Dr. Google today
and found a very good web site with exercises for seniors to strengthen the legs. I usually avoid Dr. Google,
but exercising the legs for seniors looks very good. I've begun the 4 exercises suggested and will keep at them
every day now.

It's too snowy and icy to walk outside, but I can walks in the house and I do.

I'll post that link for exercise:

 
Mermaid said:
I never give the trigger point thing any thought whatsoever. It was just one in a long series of TMS stuff that I've dealt with. I'm not totally pain free, but pretty close, I don't let it stop me doing anything. All these labels are just TMS, try not to fixate on it. If you have any books on it or any of the silly gadgets they sell for it, toss them in the trash.

Try and get some exercise too, if you're not already, just taking a walk helps to get your circulation moving and get oxygen to your knots to help them release. The more active you get the better you feel. I bit the bullet and went swimming when my upper back was killing me and it helped a lot.
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Thanks for the great advice. Much appreciated. I spent years on the whole trigger point circus. The more I learnt the less I knew. I went round in circles. I think ive read everything about them on the Internet. I shall read no more. Ignore them and concentrate on my emotions and tms.
 
Richsimm22 said:
Thanks for the great advice. Much appreciated. I spent years on the whole trigger point circus. The more I learnt the less I knew. I went round in circles. I think ive read everything about them on the Internet. I shall read no more. Ignore them and concentrate on my emotions and tms.
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Don't you feel like a weight's already been lifted of off you when you decide to ditch one of your "cures", I know I did.
 
It does feel better. I must admit my pain got worse after I discovered trigger point therapy and started to prod my back with tennis balls and other odd devices. I used to get annoyed when I would read about it and it would say press on the trigger point until the knot melts away or pain lessens like it was a given. Well I did it on and off for years and although it was gratifying to press on them I had zero success. I would get even more confused and angry when they tell you not to exercise a muscle until the knot has gone through trigger point therapy. Ridiculous.
This article makes a mokery out of the whole thing too.
MUST READ!

http://www.fmperplex.com/2013/02/14/travell-simons-and-cargo-cult-science/

"Dr. Frederick Wolfe, the director of the National Databank for Rheumatic Diseases and the lead author of the 1990 paper that first defined the diagnostic guidelines for fibromyalgia, says he has become cynical and discouraged about the diagnosis. He now considers the condition a physical response to stress, depression, and economic and social anxiety.“Some of us in those days thought that we had actually identified a disease, which this clearly is not,” Dr. Wolfe said. “To make people ill, to give them an illness, was the wrong thing.”"
 
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Richsimm22 said:
It does feel better. I must admit my pain got worse after I discovered trigger point therapy and started to prod my back with tennis balls and other odd devices. I used to get annoyed when I would read about it and it would say press on the trigger point until the knot melts away or pain lessens like it was a given. Well I did it on and off for years and although it was gratifying to press on them I had zero success. I would get even more confused and angry when they tell you not to exercise a muscle until the knot has gone through trigger point therapy. Ridiculous.
This article makes a mokery out of the whole thing too.
MUST READ!

http://www.fmperplex.com/2013/02/14/travell-simons-and-cargo-cult-science/

"Dr. Frederick Wolfe, the director of the National Databank for Rheumatic Diseases and the lead author of the 1990 paper that first defined the diagnostic guidelines for fibromyalgia, says he has become cynical and discouraged about the diagnosis. He now considers the condition a physical response to stress, depression, and economic and social anxiety.“Some of us in those days thought that we had actually identified a disease, which this clearly is not,” Dr. Wolfe said. “To make people ill, to give them an illness, was the wrong thing.”"
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That's a very interesting article, thanks for sharing it. Those of us who have developed physical symptoms due to chronic tension, caused by our unconscious reaction to ongoing stress, know only too well how much harm can be caused by so called medical experts trying to "treat" our symptoms.

The only effective treatment is the peace we get from understanding and accepting the true cause. None of this is complex or difficult to understand, our biochemistry has gone temporarily out of balance due to the continued release of "stress" hormones. We need to relax our thinking and use our bodies normally to get back in balance.

There is indeed no such thing as fibromylagia, I had chronic migraines and a mild back ache when I consulted a neurologist on the advice of my doctor. He did nothing short of poison me with meds I didn't need for a disease that doesn't exist. There is a saying that "If all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail", which explains how all the incorrect damaging diagnosees are handed out.

In a nutshell it's all a load of rubbish motivated by ego and financial greed.
 
Thanks so much Rich for sharing that previous article about Travell and Simons. I used to see a trigger point therapist who seemed to be helpful to a point and when I got no more pain relief she blamed it on my allergies and vitamin deficiencies. Reading that article hearing other people's recovery stories makes me realize more how inaccurate trigger point theory is.
 
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