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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 July 14, 2014 at 9:52pm

It's always a trigger point day. It's not always someone that has been suffering for years with chronic pain.  But it's still dramatic in the sense that the client does not expect their minor pain problem to be gone after a massage.  And I feel just as good.  Like today.  A young prregnant women came in for a pregnancy massage.  She was young and healthy and eight months pregnant.  We have the Body Support System at the spa.  So most of the time pregnant women can lay on their stomach and get a massage.  The simple fact that they can lay on their stomach is relief to them.  Anyway, I told her that I could tell she was a healthy pregnant women and that I was sure she was feeling some discomfort simply from the fact of her being 8 months pregnant.  But I wanted to know if she was feeling any pain in her body.  She told me that her low back has been hurting her lately, but she is sure its because of the pregnancy.  I told her that there is a very good chance that she can leave this massage room today pain free.  She said that would be awesome.  I palpated her hips and lumbar area.  I found a TP in her right Gluteus Medius, and two Illioscoscostalis Lumborum TPs( one on the right and one on the left) at the L5 level.  I deactivated those three trigger points then carried on with her massaage( a 50 minute massage). After the massage I re-checked those areas and the trigger points were no longer there.  There was no pain or tenderness on palpation.   When she came out of the room after the massage she had a big smile on her face.  And said her low back felt light and  free, and that she no longer felt the pain and discomfort.  Her smile was so good to see.  So I wrote about it now.  I will include a couple attachments.  The Illioscostalis TPs she had were lower then the lowest one pictured in the attachment.  And the Gluteus Medius on the right was the X closest to the sacrum.   

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Permalink Reply by Therese Schwartz on July 15, 2014 at 3:21pm

Gordon, I always appreciate your posts about your clients, and the attachments are very helpful!  I've been able to more fully and more efficiently help people because of your posts.

I went to Florida a couple of weeks ago for a class on how to incorporate acupressure and meridians work into CranioSacral Therapy.  ALL of the acupressure (acupuncture really but we didn't use needles) points that people worked on on me were sore - some of them enough to get a strong reaction from me!  While I was there I couldn't help but wonder if a bunch of what you do is not just eliminating trigger points but balancing meridian points.  I almost posted to you about it, but it's been hectic here.

Then, lo and behold, you posted the story of one of your clients with the pictures of the bladder meridian and also the myofascial back lines of the body!!  This stuff is all amazing, and it's all interconnected.

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on July 15, 2014 at 5:19pm

Therese,  Glad to be of help.  I don't think in terms of Chinese medicine or theory.  I don't view meridians as some sort of mysterious line of energy force that runs through the body.  I view meridians as physical Muscle chains.   Each meridian is a synergistic group of muscles.   The pregnant client I wrote about above, with the two L5 trigger points.  I guess you could just as easily say the Acupuncture point Bladder 31 was sore on each side.  But if that pain is still there after ther treatment or session, so is the problem, reguardles if you want to call it an Acupuncture point or a Trigger Point.

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Permalink Reply by Therese Schwartz on July 15, 2014 at 8:40pm

It's amazing how what works is what works, no matter what label you put on it.

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on July 15, 2014 at 9:38pm

What meridian point was the most painful on your body?  And is it still painful?

Therese Schwartz said:

Gordon, I always appreciate your posts about your clients, and the attachments are very helpful!  I've been able to more fully and more efficiently help people because of your posts.

I went to Florida a couple of weeks ago for a class on how to incorporate acupressure and meridians work into CranioSacral Therapy.  ALL of the acupressure (acupuncture really but we didn't use needles) points that people worked on on me were sore - some of them enough to get a strong reaction from me!  While I was there I couldn't help but wonder if a bunch of what you do is not just eliminating trigger points but balancing meridian points.  I almost posted to you about it, but it's been hectic here.

Then, lo and behold, you posted the story of one of your clients with the pictures of the bladder meridian and also the myofascial back lines of the body!!  This stuff is all amazing, and it's all interconnected.

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on July 16, 2014 at 11:24am

Also, what does balancing meridian points mean?

Gordon J. Wallis said:

What meridian point was the most painful on your body?  And is it still painful?

Therese Schwartz said:

Gordon, I always appreciate your posts about your clients, and the attachments are very helpful!  I've been able to more fully and more efficiently help people because of your posts.

I went to Florida a couple of weeks ago for a class on how to incorporate acupressure and meridians work into CranioSacral Therapy.  ALL of the acupressure (acupuncture really but we didn't use needles) points that people worked on on me were sore - some of them enough to get a strong reaction from me!  While I was there I couldn't help but wonder if a bunch of what you do is not just eliminating trigger points but balancing meridian points.  I almost posted to you about it, but it's been hectic here.

Then, lo and behold, you posted the story of one of your clients with the pictures of the bladder meridian and also the myofascial back lines of the body!!  This stuff is all amazing, and it's all interconnected.

Permalink Reply by Therese Schwartz on July 16, 2014 at 1:12pm

Hey Gordon!  I can't say what was the most painful spot.  Every one of them was painful, but the ones I remember the most was probably Stomach 20.  It's not nearly as tender now.

Balancing them means feeling whether they are (my words) undercharged, overcharged or flowing correctly.  Because they put out an electromagnetic field that is slightly higher than the rest of the body (as is the temperature of the meridian points), they can be palpated and the electrical flow can be felt by the practitioner.  Balancing them is the process of draining excess energy, adding energy (from the universe, not from the practitioner) and making sure the meridian is flowing evenly.

I have done a bit of meridian work before this, but I'm a novice so I hope people can forgive me sounding like one!

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on July 17, 2014 at 9:44pm

One of my clients today came in for her fourth session.  Prior to seeing me she had been going to physical therapy for weeks and it was not helping her.  Her complaint was very bad  left shoulder pain that was interfering with her work and sleep.  They were giving her strengthening exercises for her therapy.  The exact wrong thing to do sense her problem was trigger points. After her first massage session she quit going to physical therapy.  When I first met her she had a lot of trigger points.  Mostly on the left side of her body.  All the shoulder muscles,  up and down her para-spinals. Even several lateral spinous.  Today she came in symptomatic free.  However on palpation she still had three latent trigger points.  One on the paraspinals on the left at L3, one in her area of initial complaint on the left para-spinals on the left at T3.  And another Trigger point on the left lateral posterior neck about the C5 level.  Sense she was symptomatic free I suggested she schedule another appointment in ten days, but she could come in sooner if symptoms return.  On thinking about this, I might call her tomorrow and have her come back in five or six days , sense she still has three latent trigger points.

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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on July 19, 2014 at 3:08am

It was a ten trigger point day.  Five hours work.  One client, when I asked her what she needed from this massage, said she just needed to relax.  After I showed her one of my testimonials she then told me that from time to time she has low back and right hip pain.  But its not all the time.  I asked her if she feels that pain now.  She said no,she feels fine.  So I'm thinking, latent trigger points. Inactive at the moment.   When her body is stressed in a certain way, those trigger points become active. Just depends.  I was sure that on palpation there would be tender spots that would explain her on and off low back and right hip pain.  And sure enough there was.  She had a painful( on palpation) PSIS and L5 TP both on the right side. I deactivated both those TPs, then carred on with her massage.  Near the end of the massage I re-checked those two areas and there was no pain on palpation.  She was non symtomatic when she came in.  So I did not bother to ask her how her low back and hip felt.  But she was there when I re-palpated both those areas.   It's always a trigger point day.

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on July 20, 2014 at 10:58am

Had a new client the other day with back pain.  Prior to seeing me she went to a chiropractor three times a week for six months.  He kept telling her that its going to take time.  Finally she quite on her own because it was not helping and getting to expensive.  She had six trigger points on her paraspinals.  She left the massage room pain free.  Give me a break.

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on July 21, 2014 at 2:10pm

I had another new client the other day.  After she read one of my testimonials she told me that she does have sciatica thats coming from a pinched nerve.  She told me that it hurts in her knee all the way up to her hip. I did not ask her if some one told her that its sciatica,  or if that's just what she thinks.  But I hear the word pinched nerve and sciatica a lot.  But more often then naught, its a trigger point.  Whats interesting is that when I assume in all other aspects of my life, Im usually wrong , except when it comes to trigger points.  And because the pain radiates down the leg its assumed by the client as well as everyone else that its sciatica from some sort of pinched nerve.  And weirdly enough its often backed up by some sort of xray or diagnostic proceedure.  Anyway she had one trigger point in her Gluteus Minimus that I deactivatted quickly before continiuing on with her massage.  In the middle of her massage she commented that her hip no longer hurts.  And she said it with a question mark in her voice.  I did not ask her how long she had this pain.  But I could tell she was suprised that it was gone.  I wasn't.  I suggested that she come back in within a few days for a 15 minute follow up in order to make sure that trigger point stays gone long enough for the tissues to heal.  And solve her pinched nerve sciatica forever.

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Permalink Reply by Gary W Addis, LMT on July 21, 2014 at 2:47pm

According to my textbooks and software, the sciatic nerve is formed outside the spine from several smaller branch nerves stemming from vertebrae L4 to S3; one sciatic nerve for each leg.  So, it stands to reason that pain in only one leg and hip is due to muscular compression by one or more of the lateral rotators, or (rarely) compression by one of the hamstrings before the nerve separates into tibial and peroneal nerves.  

I just do not think that pain in only one leg and hip can be caused by spinal misalignment. 

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