a community of practitioners

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.

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on December 30, 2015 at 1:16pm

Just a short note to add to this thread. A new client the other day told me that she has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. She has been suffering with it for years. She has had medical deep tissue massage several times, but its painful and only makes her feel worse for days after the sessions. Thats because these people are digging on damaged tissue. What other result could possibly come of that? It's like digging on a cut. I know that pretty much all fibromyalgia is trigger points. The vast majority anyway. She told me that she has 13 of the 18 diagnostic points used to diagnose fibromyalgia. And she just has to live with it. Anyway, I made all those 13 pain points go away and a bunch more. She was freaked out happy to feel noticeably better. She lives out of state but will be moving to Alaska early next year. She is going to come in for a series of sessions. I think her fibromyalgia will soon be over. I don't understand why people( medical people) don't understand its usually trigger points? And that trigger points are usually erasable.

Attachments:

image.jpg, 271 KB

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on January 5, 2016 at 1:45pm

I love working in a spa. It's a beautiful facility and I work with a lot of beautiful people. But one of the frustrations I personally have is this.... I often meet new clients that are getting " Quote" Theraputic massage in a clinic somewhere. And they just want a relaxing massage here at the spa. Even though they may have been getting this theraputic massage for weeks or months. When I hear those kind of time frames, I just can't see that as being very theraputic? But I have no choice. I will spend a tiny bit of time trying to tell them that I believe I can resolve their problem within a few sessions. Of course I can't guarntee anything like that. And I have written in here about those that have let me try to help them. All that being said. There are quite a few that insist on a relaxation massage, and being a spa massage therapist, I have no choice but to oblige them. But when that happens I leave work feeling frustraighted. Knowing you can help somebody, but not being able too. For years I never felt like that. But now that I have reached a certain skill level, I often do.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Therese Schwartz on January 7, 2016 at 12:00pm

Gordon, I'm sorry you feel frustrated at times. I would like to suggest that sometimes it really does help people to have a relaxing massage, even if it's not the kind of help you are best at/known for. I was doing a relaxation massage for a client recently and for a lot of the time, she was processing why she is so tight and what she can do about it. It was very useful for her, even though it seemed like "nothing" was happening. So don't despair! Trust that you are doing what people need, every session.

Gordon J. Wallis said:

I love working in a spa. It's a beautiful facility and I work with a lot of beautiful people. But one of the frustrations I personally have is this.... I often meet new clients that are getting " Quote" Theraputic massage in a clinic somewhere. And they just want a relaxing massage here at the spa. Even though they may have been getting this theraputic massage for weeks or months. When I hear those kind of time frames, I just can't see that as being very theraputic? But I have no choice. I will spend a tiny bit of time trying to tell them that I believe I can resolve their problem within a few sessions. Of course I can't guarntee anything like that. And I have written in here about those that have let me try to help them. All that being said. There are quite a few that insist on a relaxation massage, and being a spa massage therapist, I have no choice but to oblige them. But when that happens I leave work feeling frustraighted. Knowing you can help somebody, but not being able too. For years I never felt like that. But now that I have reached a certain skill level, I often do.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on January 7, 2016 at 5:13pm

Oh I know how good a relaxing massage is.. and it is healing in a general way.. Like something healthy to do..But what bothers me is the wrong therapy these people are often getting for their pain problem. Travell talked about perpetuating factors. Things we do that perpetuate trigger points and pain. Like holding a phone between our chin and shoulder for example. The perpetuating factor for a lot of these people is the theraputic therapy they are getting. It's mind blowing to me.. In the next couple days I have a new client coming in with back pain that he has had for years... Now I don't know if i can help him. I have not met him yet... But I can almost bet with assurance that its trigger points, and the therapy he has been getting only perpetuated them... Usually is..
Therese Schwartz said:

Gordon, I'm sorry you feel frustrated at times. I would like to suggest that sometimes it really does help people to have a relaxing massage, even if it's not the kind of help you are best at/known for. I was doing a relaxation massage for a client recently and for a lot of the time, she was processing why she is so tight and what she can do about it. It was very useful for her, even though it seemed like "nothing" was happening. So don't despair! Trust that you are doing what people need, every session.

Gordon J. Wallis said:

I love working in a spa. It's a beautiful facility and I work with a lot of beautiful people. But one of the frustrations I personally have is this.... I often meet new clients that are getting " Quote" Theraputic massage in a clinic somewhere. And they just want a relaxing massage here at the spa. Even though they may have been getting this theraputic massage for weeks or months. When I hear those kind of time frames, I just can't see that as being very theraputic? But I have no choice. I will spend a tiny bit of time trying to tell them that I believe I can resolve their problem within a few sessions. Of course I can't guarntee anything like that. And I have written in here about those that have let me try to help them. All that being said. There are quite a few that insist on a relaxation massage, and being a spa massage therapist, I have no choice but to oblige them. But when that happens I leave work feeling frustraighted. Knowing you can help somebody, but not being able too. For years I never felt like that. But now that I have reached a certain skill level, I often do.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on January 7, 2016 at 6:19pm

Those three attachments are truth. Ive posted them many times on this thread.. If 80% of all pain is trigger points. And from my experience that seems pretty accurate. And that massage therapists are best positioned of any kind of health practioner to deal with and eliminate trigger points. How come we are 3rd and lowest paid last tier providers... ?? I went to a massage school a while back.. All the students were ready to graduate. They were prepared to pass all the exams. If I took one now, I'd flunk it.. But none of them could tell me what a trigger point was. Not even the teacher. Oh I got answers like,,, Isn't it like a constriction? But no real knowledge of trigger points or how important they are in pain management. You would think that if trigger points are responsible for 80% of the worlds pain. We should be the go to guys instead of the way it is. How much money do chiropractors make compared to massage therapists? If our education system would change, and teach reality. I'm not sure if there would be any chiropractors around? My opinion only. I'm probably wrong.

Attachments:

image.jpg, 137 KB

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on January 7, 2016 at 6:27pm

Hmm, for some reason I can only load one attachment at a time.. so here is another one.. Like Ive said, you've seen them before.. But they are truth. And I think this truth needs to be integrated in a big way into our education system. This guy in the attachment is or was a world leader in pain management. I read his books. Now I don't know..But I almost think this is some kind of conspiracy theory deal or something? Like don't let this information filter down to anyone, especially massage therapists.

Attachments:

image.jpg, 26 KB

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on January 8, 2016 at 2:57pm

You have seen the attachment below before. You guys, just think on this. All the other attachments I've posted prior to this, writen by smart people, always talk about the misdiagnosis of pain. And the lack of knowledge about trigger points. Anyway, she somehow injured her shoulder. None of the people she went to knew what they were doing. The therapy they had her doing was only perpetuating her shoulder problem. She had maybe four trigger points in her shoulder muscles.. I can't remember exactly.. Infraspinatus, Deltoid and one of the Pecs for sure. When I first met her I realized we had to get ride of those trigger pints. I saw her four or five sessions, specifically working on those trigger points, before they were gone. The sessions were no longer then 25 minutes. I had her stop doing the stretching and exercising of her shoulder. She thought she had to do that.. You can not stregnthen an injured muscle. It's like streching a cracked lip. Those people did not even palpate her shoulder. Over a year!!! Now she also had a major surgery.. And after the surgery she had pain that radiated down the front of her left leg to her knee. This went on for a long time before she went back to the doctors that did the surgery asking them what was wrong. They told her that they acccidently damaged a nerve during the surgery, and that she needed another surgery to correct it. I palpated the front of her leg and found a big trigger point in her Satorious muscle. At least I think it was ther Satorious muscle, but it could have been another one. One of the Quads. No matter.. I worked it out, and her nerve pain mysterioiusly vanished after only one session. " What is simple is simply seen. And what is simple is rarely understood." - From a Kung-fu TV show in the 70s. I see this type of situation often. Thats why I write in here. We have more abilities within our license then whats being taught. And you don't need a college education to do it.. It's not rocket science. Our education system needs to change, they need to empower, not condition. Think about that lady in the testimonial. You think she's the only one?

Attachments:

image.jpg, 165 KB

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on January 8, 2016 at 3:08pm

http://www.kenthealth.com

Here is a very good basic course on trigger points. I'm sure there are others. But this is a very good start for helping those out of needless pain.