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A typical experience

I had a new client the other day for an 80 minute massage. I asked him if there is anything that he wanted me to know.  He told me that he suffers from a herniated disc that he has had for a few years. He has constant low back and right hip pain that at times radiates down the back of his leg to his knee. He told me that he has had two injections in his low back and has to stay on anit- inflamtory medication.  Anything to avoid surgery. The pain is always there. I asked him if he ever saw a chiropractor for his pain.  He said yes.  But the adjustments hurt his hip so bad that he could not continiue.  So here is a guy that thinks he is on the verge of surgery. I knew that there was a very strong probubllity that was not the case. The vast majority of pain people experience is nocioceptive pain( soft tissue- muscle, tendon, ligament, facia).  MDs and Chiropractors see pain as neuropathic pain( nerve pain).  With that asumption they give the wrong treatments and therapies.  Now there is no denying that at times injections and surgery is needed. Not denying that.   But most of the time - NOT.  70% to 85% of all pain comes directly from trigger points.  Anyway I showed my client a testimonial from a client that I was able to help out of a very painful condition that she had delt with for a couple of years. I showed him that testimonial because all pain has a psychological eliment too it. I wanted him to start thinking maybe he is not on the edge of surgery.  I palpated his entire back upper torso, both hips, and right leg. I found a very painful spot on his right L5 erectors.  Another very painful spot on his right greater trochantor.  A painful spot in the middle part of his lower right hamstrings.  And also a tender spot on the right spinous of L3.  I knew that if Iwas able to eliminate all those painful palaptory spots that I would most likely eliminate his pain problem.  Because a healthy body had no painful spots even with deep massage.  Ive been hunting and eliminateing trigger points for thirty years now.  He walked out of the massage room pain free. He was pain free for the first time in years. All those other professional people misdiagnosed him because they assume neuropathic pain over nocioceptive pain.  I assume the other way around.  I'm a Massage Therapist.  

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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on March 14, 2015 at 10:30pm
It only lets me load one attachment at a time. Here is the other one.
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Permalink Reply by Gary W Addis, LMT on March 14, 2015 at 11:10pm

Yeah, I had a similar experience with a client on Saturday.  But with a different outcome.  The young lady came in wanting relaxation massage, which I proceeded to give.  During the last few minutes, however, I stumbled on (I wasn't looking for it) a very tender spot in her right shoulder, "Oh, that shoulder has been hurting me for months!--but don't mess with it! I can't take that deep pressure!"  I asked her to trust me for 30 seconds, explained trigger point therapy, said that I would stop the moment it became too much for her.  Took about five seconds to release the source of the pain, a trigger point near the insertion of the latissimus dorsi.  She left with a big smile on her face.


Gordon J. Wallis said:

I've had many successes and happy clients over the last few days. And I may comment on some of them later. But for now, this is an interesting one. A new client came in the other day. When I went out to greet her in the waiting room, I could tell she was depressed. When I got her into the room I aaked her what she needed from this massage today. She said I've had a headache for two days now and its going on three. I thought a massage might help. I asked her where she felt her headache. She told me mostly on top of her head. I told her, Here is the deal. I can give you a really good spa massage, and that might make your headache go away. However I've been doing this kind of work for thirty years, and I have learned and aquired a very high skill set. Especially when it comes to this sort of thing. So my understand is the main reason you are here today is to find some relief or end this two day going on three day headache.. She said yes. In that case your best chance of that happening is if I focus and do everything I have learned over the last thirty years with the specific intent of making that headache go away.. Now if I do that. It is not a spa massage, its an acupressure trigger point session. Its very different. But from my experience it has been very effective for the type of pain you are dealing with. Then I showedd her a 50 second video clip of me doing acupressure on a client. Then I said.. Do you want me to focus and do everything I can to make that headache go way, or do you want me to give you a very good spa massage.. She said take my headache away. So I did my thing.. I palpated from her hips to the top of her head, front, back, and sides. I found three very tender spots arond the L2, L3 area on the right side of her paraspinals. That area of the back has a direct corrilation to the neck. And most of the neck head area is inervated from C2 and C3.. So they were important. A couple Teres tender spots left and right. A coupld Rhomboid tender spots on the right. A very tender T1 spinsous on the left. And a very tender right Temporalis TP on the right side. I was able to palpate the entier upper torso of her body and eliminate all those tender spots within her 50 minute session. Durring the session I would periodically ask her her how her headache was doing. Long story short. At the end of the session, when I was finishing up some cranial work I again asked her how headache felt.. She said it was gone. I thought to myself Success, mission accomplished. However after the massage, even though she thanked me, she still seemed very depressed. I escorted her down stairs and helped her get into the changing room. Then ran back upstairs to clean up my room and get ready for mey next client. Then I walked downstairs to the front desk to check my schedule. The front desk ladies told me. Gordon, your client was very unhappy with your massage. She said that you made her headache go away but that she came in expecting a massage, not acupressure. So we did not charge her for your massage, and set her up next week for a massage appointment with another therapist.

"I've missed more then 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
MICHAEL JORDAN
Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on March 15, 2015 at 12:44am

Well done Gary...
Gary W Addis, LMT said:

Yeah, I had a similar experience with a client on Saturday.  But with a different outcome.  The young lady came in wanting relaxation massage, which I proceeded to give.  During the last few minutes, however, I stumbled on (I wasn't looking for it) a very tender spot in her right shoulder, "Oh, that shoulder has been hurting me for months!--but don't mess with it! I can't take that deep pressure!"  I asked her to trust me for 30 seconds, explained trigger point therapy, said that I would stop the moment it became too much for her.  Took about five seconds to release the source of the pain, a trigger point near the insertion of the latissimus dorsi.  She left with a big smile on her face.


Gordon J. Wallis said:

I've had many successes and happy clients over the last few days. And I may comment on some of them later. But for now, this is an interesting one. A new client came in the other day. When I went out to greet her in the waiting room, I could tell she was depressed. When I got her into the room I aaked her what she needed from this massage today. She said I've had a headache for two days now and its going on three. I thought a massage might help. I asked her where she felt her headache. She told me mostly on top of her head. I told her, Here is the deal. I can give you a really good spa massage, and that might make your headache go away. However I've been doing this kind of work for thirty years, and I have learned and aquired a very high skill set. Especially when it comes to this sort of thing. So my understand is the main reason you are here today is to find some relief or end this two day going on three day headache.. She said yes. In that case your best chance of that happening is if I focus and do everything I have learned over the last thirty years with the specific intent of making that headache go away.. Now if I do that. It is not a spa massage, its an acupressure trigger point session. Its very different. But from my experience it has been very effective for the type of pain you are dealing with. Then I showedd her a 50 second video clip of me doing acupressure on a client. Then I said.. Do you want me to focus and do everything I can to make that headache go way, or do you want me to give you a very good spa massage.. She said take my headache away. So I did my thing.. I palpated from her hips to the top of her head, front, back, and sides. I found three very tender spots arond the L2, L3 area on the right side of her paraspinals. That area of the back has a direct corrilation to the neck. And most of the neck head area is inervated from C2 and C3.. So they were important. A couple Teres tender spots left and right. A coupld Rhomboid tender spots on the right. A very tender T1 spinsous on the left. And a very tender right Temporalis TP on the right side. I was able to palpate the entier upper torso of her body and eliminate all those tender spots within her 50 minute session. Durring the session I would periodically ask her her how her headache was doing. Long story short. At the end of the session, when I was finishing up some cranial work I again asked her how headache felt.. She said it was gone. I thought to myself Success, mission accomplished. However after the massage, even though she thanked me, she still seemed very depressed. I escorted her down stairs and helped her get into the changing room. Then ran back upstairs to clean up my room and get ready for mey next client. Then I walked downstairs to the front desk to check my schedule. The front desk ladies told me. Gordon, your client was very unhappy with your massage. She said that you made her headache go away but that she came in expecting a massage, not acupressure. So we did not charge her for your massage, and set her up next week for a massage appointment with another therapist.

"I've missed more then 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
MICHAEL JORDAN
Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on March 15, 2015 at 1:04pm
This was cool. The other day a new client came in, referred from his wife whom I had helped out of a shoulder problem a short while back. His complaint was two years of low back pain that was getting worse. And a two months of neck pain when he tries to turn his head to the left. He went to the medical docs that told him he has a bulging disk in his lumbars and gave him pain meds. He was fully clothed. I asked him to remove his belt and shoes. I could see him struggle as he bent down to remove his shoes. I found an L5 , L4 trigger points on the right, and one on L4 on the left( paraspinals). He had several lateral spinous tender spots , more on the left then on the right on his lumbar spine. When I palpated his left lateral spinous area he commented that it did not feel good, but I was able to eliminate that discomfort quickly. On his neck I found an upper trap TP on one side, a leavator TP on the same side. Cant remember what side. He also had three very tender lateral neck TPs I believe on his left.. It was a couple days ago cant remember. The interesting thing was that when he was on back after a few minutes. He told me that he felt pain in his low back and hip coming back on the left side. I palpated is abdominals and found a very tender spot in the lower left quadrant. When I deactivated that, his low back pain vanished. Long story short. He left the spa pain free. With full range of motion in his neck. When he was putting on his shoes he comented that his back no longer hurt. He was suprised. I explained to him that follow ups were needed. I will see him again soon.. But that was cool. He did not complain about acupressure to the front desk either. lol
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Permalink Reply by Therese Schwartz on March 16, 2015 at 1:43pm

Hey Gordon!  It's impossible to please everyone, I suppose!  I guess she didn't want to be pain-free, just ignore actually doing better and go for something that won't solve the problem.  Hopefully you don't get too many of those!

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on March 16, 2015 at 2:27pm

Yea I was shocked. I thought we understood each other. But apparently not. The weird thing about it is... If I would have been just out of massage school. She would have liked her massage.
Therese Schwartz said:

Hey Gordon!  It's impossible to please everyone, I suppose!  I guess she didn't want to be pain-free, just ignore actually doing better and go for something that won't solve the problem.  Hopefully you don't get too many of those!

Permalink Reply by Gary W Addis, LMT on March 16, 2015 at 3:24pm

some people NEED to feel the pain-- without it they wouldn't be feeling anything at all, emotions, etc.

And by coming in for "relaxation" massage with a newbie mt who scrapes across TPs w/o knowing what the hell they are, sends a split second of pain (like the "brain freeze" from a sip of a too cold drink) which excites a momentary endorphin rush.

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on March 18, 2015 at 1:34pm
I just added a testimonial to the attachment below. Not to show how great I am. Its just to make a point. This lady had over a year of physical therapy for her shoulder pain. And it did not help her at all. Her problem was super simple. She had three TPs in her paraspinals or rhomboids between her left shoulder and spine. That was it. And her pinched nerve after surgery, was really a TP near her ASIS. WHAT IS SIMPLE, IS SIMPLY SEEN. AND WHAT IS SIMPLE IS RARELY UNDERSTOOD. It's just mind boggling to me.
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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on March 19, 2015 at 12:20pm
I client came in the other day. She has been suffering with a sinus infection and a croopy type of caugh for about three weeks. She comented that when she caughs her stomach( abdomin ) hurts sometimes. She was not real sick, just sort of half sick. Anyway I massaged her. When she turned over I checked her abdominal arae and found two very tender spots. I was able to deactivate both spots quickly. When people are sick, I always want to check their abdominal area. Because of possible internal organ stress and the tightening of the abdominals during caughing.
Permalink Reply by Gary W Addis, LMT on March 19, 2015 at 2:21pm

I could use a visit with you.  I have: a hiatal hernia, post nasal drip that's thick and causes coughing when it tries to slide down the back of my throat, intermittent abdominal bloating (and no appetite) followed by diarrhea every couple of weeks.  Oh, and my shoulders and neck are studded with trigger points I haven't had much luck trying to reach and work.

Oh, and for a week now I've had an outbreak of my psoriasis; before, the rash was always around my elbows, but this time it's covering my shoulders, chest and back...not itchy but sometimes some of the rash feels like pins being stuck in.  Wife said to her it looks like shingles, which her dad had once, lasted weeks before it cleared up.

Ah, getting old and getting susceptible to all these irritating little ills is not fun-- but, well, I suppose it's better than the alternative to getting older. ( : - / )

Gordon J. Wallis said:

I client came in the other day. She has been suffering with a sinus infection and a croopy type of caugh for about three weeks. She comented that when she caughs her stomach( abdomin ) hurts sometimes. She was not real sick, just sort of half sick. Anyway I massaged her. When she turned over I checked her abdominal arae and found two very tender spots. I was able to deactivate both spots quickly. When people are sick, I always want to check their abdominal area. Because of possible internal organ stress and the tightening of the abdominals during caughing.
Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on March 20, 2015 at 3:25am

Gary, here is the deal... I'm not a doctor.. All I do is find tender spots, hurt spots, trigger points, painful spots... whatever you want to call them... Regaurdless of whatever the problem is or diagnosis... All I do is look for tender spots on the body.. and then do what I try to do is make them go away...( 90% succsess rate ), And if Im able to do that... then most of the time I make whatever the complaiint or pain problem is.. goes away... if it does not.. Then I dont help the person...so... I wish I lived near you. If I could help you... we would know real fast....What i do is simple.. If it works it works... If not, it does not. You would not see me for six months to a year without very noticible improvement.. I fail, I fail fast... Some times things are not as they seem.. I had a client today... That had pain into her Groin are,, for months . I found a very tender spot ( to her suprise ) on her pubic bone on the same side as her groin pain.. . Right on her pubic bone on the same side as her groin pain...there was a very sore spot.. I deactivated that... So... so she will come in if it still bothers her.... Might have to release it a coupld of times.. She knows that.... Any way... As far as you go... Im not sure.. But the older one gets, ther more pain there is... You are my good friend online here.. We will hook up some time... Im sure of that.. Uhm, my right ring finger is trigger fingered.. Painful as hell. Nothing internal.. But... I know pain....So when I can make some ones pain go away... I feel good... I feel good today.. I wanna meet you in life some day..
Gary W Addis, LMT said:

I could use a visit with you.  I have: a hiatal hernia, post nasal drip that's thick and causes coughing when it tries to slide down the back of my throat, intermittent abdominal bloating (and no appetite) followed by diarrhea every couple of weeks.  Oh, and my shoulders and neck are studded with trigger points I haven't had much luck trying to reach and work.

Oh, and for a week now I've had an outbreak of my psoriasis; before, the rash was always around my elbows, but this time it's covering my shoulders, chest and back...not itchy but sometimes some of the rash feels like pins being stuck in.  Wife said to her it looks like shingles, which her dad had once, lasted weeks before it cleared up.

Ah, getting old and getting susceptible to all these irritating little ills is not fun-- but, well, I suppose it's better than the alternative to getting older. ( : - / )

Gordon J. Wallis said:

I client came in the other day. She has been suffering with a sinus infection and a croopy type of caugh for about three weeks. She comented that when she caughs her stomach( abdomin ) hurts sometimes. She was not real sick, just sort of half sick. Anyway I massaged her. When she turned over I checked her abdominal arae and found two very tender spots. I was able to deactivate both spots quickly. When people are sick, I always want to check their abdominal area. Because of possible internal organ stress and the tightening of the abdominals during caughing.
Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on March 20, 2015 at 10:06am
Another client the other day experiences pain on her tail bone when she sits for a long time. I palpated her sacrum and coccyx and found nothing. Almost gave up.. But then I palpated her right Ischial Tuberosity and found it very tender. After 20 seconds it was no longer tender to palpation. It was not sore on the left side. I don't know if that fixes her problem, but I'm sure that had something to do with it. But like Ive said in this thread.. All I do or attempt to do is make TPs or sore spots go away. And if Im successful, then often times that solves the pain problem or incoming complaint.

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