massage and bodywork professionals
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.
Views: 33691
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on
-
She has consulted with lots of others about her problem. She went out of state and got examined by leading shoulder specialist, and he found a problem in the joint itself that he says is the cause of her pain. So she is going for it. Time will tell.
- Attachments:
-
-
IMG_1808.PNG, 169 KB
-
-
-
Later on today I have a new client coming in for a fifty minute deep tissue massage. My experience, when clients come in requesting deep tissue massage, is one of two things. They want a really good massage, not just a bunch of oil rubbed on their skin. In other words they've had massages in the past that were just too soft. The other reason a client requests deep tissue massage is because they are hurting somewhere. And they associate a deep, perhaps even painful massage ,as being necessary in order to help their pain problem. No pain no gain kind of thing. In the case of the client that just wants a good massage for his hundred bucks, no problem. All my massages are going to be the right pressure because I will listen for their feed back. In the case of the hurt client, it's more complicated for me. Because I have an advanced skill set( after 30 years) where I often only need to use light pressure at a distal location in order to relieve or eliminate the pain. The hard or frustrating part for me is that the client just doesn't believe me and insists on deep and often painful pressure. When I explain to them my system, they shake their heads and say. I know my body, and this is what I need. So I'm not going to sit there and argue with a client over their service. When I'm finally working in the medical clinic, that won't be an issue. Those patients will be really hurting and will happily go for anything that might work.
I had a client the other day that came in with 7 years of left shoulder pain. She had requested deep tissue massage. She told me to go as deep as I needed in order to eliminate the pain. I asked her if that type of massage had helped her in the past. She said no not really, but she has been told that those knots need to be worked out. After determining that the reason for her massage was because of her shoulder pain, I explained to her my Holographic Acupressure procedures. And suggested that we try that, sense nothing else had worked. She then mentioned to me that the only therapy that did work, even though temporary, was Acupuncture. And that's interesting because Acupuncture is not deep and grinding.
Anyway, she had trigger points, as suspected. Her pain complaint was left shoulder pain that goes up the side of her neck and sometimes to the upper arm. She had three trigger points in the Rhomboid area. An Upper Trapezius trigger point, and three trigger points on the transverse process of her neck on the effected side. But her worst trigger points were in that Lamina groove just left of the spinouses in the T spine. She also had some mild TPs in her hips. All those trigger points deactivated, and she got up off the table pain free. She will need follow ups, because I suspect some if not all of those trigger points will return. Which brings up another problem for me. Often enough when that happens( pain returning), the client figures that what I did was only temporary and not worth spending more money on. What gets me is that many of those same people will go to a chiropractor or physical therapist for months on end with no clinical results. But insurance is paying for it. When I start working in the pain clinic a lot of that problem will also be gone. Obviously I can't help everybody. But at least these people will get a chance to really find out if I'm the right therapy for them. The client with the shoulder pain said she will reschedule? I hope so. Because I have a pretty good feeling if I can help her.
-
-
in this video I'm going to post, you will see me asses, treat, and reassess a client in a little over four minutes using my Holographic Acupressure procedures that I've developed. This is her 5th session. When she first came in she was hurting all over her back, hips, and neck. She had been seeing a chiropractor for some time prior to me, with little to no help. Her first session lasted about 40 minutes with me. She came in for the 5th session symptomatic free. But on palpation she still had some tenderness mainly in the low back. As well as a tickle spot on her right hip. That's the session you will see on the video. She will come in for probably her final session in a couple days. After that she will schedule an appointment 14 days out. If she is sympathetic free at that point, it's over. Then I will show her some self care techniques and stretches in order to help maintain her pain free life style.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afmu-QLeKwE&sns=em
The work I do looks like magic, but it isn't.
It's gentle, and highly effective.
-
Permalink Reply by Morgan Arnold on
-
Hey Gordan i have seen your youtube video. Your Work is really appreciable. Keep it up .
One thing i would like to suggest you is to add Acupuncture therapy in your list. Many client of mine come to my
Acupuncture Yonge & St. Clair center for problem like you have mentioned in your post and after acupuncture therapy they feel relaxed.
-
-
As you can see, in the above video, what I'm doing is very different than a spa massage. After having developed these procedures, that are very effective at eliminating pain quickly, and working in the spa at the same time....it has made my work day at times stressful. People come into a spa with a certain kind of massage in mind. And I see many different kinds of people, and a surprisingly large percentage of them are seeing , physical therapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, and doctors for various aches and pains. And I know I can help a very high percentage of those same people with my Holographic Acupressure. But for a whole bunch of reasons, they won't let me. Some of these other professionals they are going to have somehow reached semi guru status to them. And when I tell them that they have been seeing this person for six months, and they are still hurting. They don't wanna hear that. They will sternly say. I'm already under care. Don't try to fix me, I just want to relax.. Then complain about me later. They have complained about me showing a 20 second video, even though it didn't cut into any of their massage time. One time a client came in looking miserable because she had an on going three day headache. I made it go away with my Holographic Acupressure. Then she complained that even though I made her headache go away, she wanted a massage and not acupressure. Of course, not everyone is like that. And those are the folks I write about on here. But a lot of people, I just have to let them keep their pain.
So I will be happy when I start working in the medical clinic. There everyone will want out of pain period. That will be my one sole focus. I'm going to upload one of my very best testimonials. But you will notice when you read it. That she was a little bit disappointed at first. Like I've said, it's at times stressful for me. I see people getting the wrong kind of therapy all the time. Pretty much daily. I know I can't help every one of them, but a high percentage I can. I guess I won't post that testimonial. Someone will think I'm bragging or too much into myself.
My main reason for writing in here is because soft tissue work should be number one, when it comes to helping people out of pain. Way more then people realize. Ok, gotta shower and go to work. First massage today is for deep tissue... Hmmm?..
-
-
Gosh, lots of trigger points have bit the dust sense I last comented in here. It was a trigger point day today as well. I won't go into detail, I've done that a lot this entire thread. But there was a client recently that was told she may need rotator cuff surgery. She could not even lift her arm an inch. Just a few degrees of movement and the pain stopped her. I released trigger points in basically all the shoulder muscles. And after the session she went from maybe 5 degrees of lift to 75 degrees of lift. The movement I'm talking about I lifting your arm from the side of your body to over your head. A dramatic difference. Now she may need surgery, I don't know? But the difference in her range of motion, before and after, was so dramatic, she should explore the soft tissue option a bit more before she decides on surgery.
The excerpt written by another massage therapist, explains the truth of things. - Attachments:
-
-
IMG_2291.PNG, 362 KB
-
-
-
So many people are getting the wrong kind of care/therapy, when it comes to pain. Countless numbers of people. That's what this entire thread is about. The misdiagnosis of pain. You say the word trigger point to a chiropractor or physical therapist, and everyone knows about them. But the truth is, the vast majority don't. Even if they say they do.
I have met, worked on, and helped so many people that have been in different kinds of therapy, that's not working, for months and often years. Then I eliminate their trigger points, and they are pain free for the first time in months or years! I'm not talking about isolated cases. It's typical. He seems the name of this thread.
You can not exercise a trigger pointed muscle and expect to get it well. And adjustments? Well... Listen to what this lady says. She had trigger points from her hips to the top of her neck. Thirty of them. Gluteus, paraspinals, rhomboids, lateral ribs, traps, neck, you name it. In over a year of two therapies, they were never addressed. That happens to a lot of people.
My license allows me to find and eliminate trigger points. This lady in the video testimonial is glowing happy. You should have seen her when she first walked into the room. After the video, check out the attachments. Some you have seen before, but still.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwcnYOcDp3U&sns=em - Attachments:
-
-
IMG_0768.PNG, 155 KB
-
IMG_0168.PNG, 67 KB
-
IMG_0008.PNG, 166 KB
-
-
-
This lady came in with long term back pain. She had trigger points all through her paraspinals, both left and right. A couple bad trigger points in her neck, sacral trigger points, and Glute max, both left and right. Look at her( she's happy), hear what she says. Nobody in her years of past medical history delt with the real problem, which is/was, trigger points..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF6onxWtmbs&sns=em
-
-
Thanks for sharing...
-
-
Wow! I'm not sure how to start this paragraph? This client initially came in for a relaxing massage in hopes of some kind of pain relief, even if temporary. After all, she has had this pain for twelve years. The first video testimonial was taken immediately after her first session. The second video was recorded after her second session four or five days later. She has seen all kinds of professionals for her pain. I'm the only one that realized she had trigger points. She was hurting from low back to neck. Twelve years of pain.
I used my Holographic Acupressure procedures that I discovered and eliminated her trigger points. What I've discovered will revolutionize the soft tissue/pain industry. The other thing is. Anybody that denies the existence or importance of trigger points, is denying reality. Even without my Holographic Acupressure procedures, in time, a good trigger point person could have helped this lady immensely. Her twelve years of pain was do to incompetence, ignorance, or greed. From my perspective, she really had no problem at all. Just listen to her testimonials. The first one was immediately after her first session. The second one was a week later after her second session. She made my day. It's why I love what I do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF6onxWtmbs&sns=em
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QBH_-tSvrU&sns=em - Attachments:
-
-
IMG_0049.JPG, 157 KB
-
-
-
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantar_fasciitis
The link above is a Wikipedia definition of Plantar fasciitis. I'm not going to say its totally wrong, but it kinda is. If you read it, you will notice the word trigger point is never mentioned. I find that kinda strange because that is what causes Plantar fasciitis 99% of the time. Well I don't know if it's 99% of the time, but in the last 30 years I've only seen three people with that diagnosis that didn't have trigger points as the sole cause. They had what I call nerve pain.
A recent client told me that she had Plantar fasciitis, but didn't want me to try and help her because nothing can really be done for it, and that she may need surgery. She made it very clear that she just wanted to relax, and that she had gone through physical therapy for it in the past and it didn't help. She was very admit, and I didn't want to argue. So I gave her, her relaxing massage, and she kept her Plantar fasciitis pain.
That was not the case a few days later when I met another new client with Plantar fasciitis. He said, if you think you can get ride of this pain that I've had for over 10 years, please do it. The pain was on the heals of both feet. He had been fitted with custom orthotics. But the pain was still there full on.
I found trigger points in his Gastrocnemius and Soleus on both legs. They were so tender that he flinched when they were touched. He also had trigger points around both ankles. But the main trigger points( the ones he felt) were on the heal of each foot. He also had several trigger points on his paraspinals. I eliminated all those trigger points using my Holographic Acupressure procedures. Now he had this foot pain for over ten years. There was no need for him to suffer that long. It was just trigger points. But if trigger points aren't in the diagnosis or definition of Plantar fasciitis. That's a misdiagnosis, and you can't expect any kind of therapy based on an incorrect diagnosis to ever succeed. That's what Travell was most concerned about. The misdiagnosis of pain. In the attachments below are diagrams of some of his trigger points. And in the Link that follows, is his video testimonial. You can see that he is a little bit bewildered about not feeling his pain anymore. Few understand the significance of myofascial trigger points. Very few.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJKNsSNo2MA&sns=em - Attachments:
-
-
IMG_0883.PNG, 144 KB
-
IMG_0882.PNG, 108 KB
-
-
Permalink Reply by Gary W Addis, LMT on
-
Wikipedia articles are wrong more often than they're right; they're open to editing by just about any registered reader. The one about plantar fasciitis isn't remotely like what I've personally experienced. Felt mostly at the heel? Isn't that Achilles Tendinitis? I felt my plantar fasciitis in the middle of the foot, which in my case was caused by hyperextending the ankle while doing calf raises with serious resistance.
© 2024 Created by ABMP.
Powered by
