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Massage for fibromyalgia

Does anyone have input about using massage to successfully relieve symptoms of fibromyalgia?

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Permalink Reply by Beth Kendall on December 25, 2016 at 12:05am

I have a client who has been very much enjoying massage, but is uncertain as to whether it is really helping the problem, and I'm wondering if there is something specific I could be doing to make it more effective.

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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on December 25, 2016 at 3:26am

There is no simple answer to your question. That being said, I have been able to help everyone that has come to me with that diagnosis. Two people I totally cured. The others, about a 40% to 50% improvement. Trigger points were greatly involved with all of them. All of them had an up-regulated( hyped up) nervous system. They would flinch almost before I even touched them, they were so hyper sensitive. On the second page of my thread "Typical Experience " I talk about one of the clients that I was totally able to cure of that diagnosis. She was challenging, but a lot easier then others I've met with that diagnosis.
Im convinced that most with that diagnosis have trigger points as the cause. The problem, I believe is that they did not get the right care early on( trigger point therapy). And because of that, the long term trigger point pain has sent their sensory nervous system into hyper sensitive mode. And you can hardly touch them without their bodies flinching in pain.
When you have someone that sensitive, you need to down regulate their hyper nervous system before you can work on eliminating trigger points. You want to read up on the Gate Theory of Pain. You can actually block intense pain by stimulating the tactile sensory receptors in the skin. You do that by lightly caressing , tapping, and brushing the skin. That light tactile touch travels on large diameter nerve fibers as opposed to narrow nerve fibers that pain travels on. As a result the light touch sensations travel at a much faster rate to the brain then the really painful sensations. There is more to it then that. But read up on The Gate Theory of Pain. Now back to your client. If your client can take a fair to firm amount of pressure, then it's a lot easier. Look for trigger points. And do whatever you can to eliminate them. Another problem with these really hypersensitive people is that they have a trigger point every square inch on their bodies. Some even worse. The trigger points are connected in chains. One barely ends where the other one starts. Anyway. If I was there and actually able to touch your client. I could tell you what I would do if I was her therapist. But I'm not there? It's really hard to tell anyone what to do by just typing, especially when every fibromyalgia client is different. The fact that she enjoys your massage is a good thing. Check for trigger points.

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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on December 25, 2016 at 4:39am

Here is an interesting article on fibromyalgia and myofascial pain syndrome. The only part I disagree with is ,any point that's tender reguardless if it radiates a pain pattern or not, is a trigger point. And I'm in the camp that says myofascial pain syndrome and fibromyalgia are different names for the same thing.
http://pain.com/archives/2011/09/13-myofascial-pain-fibromyalgia-pa...

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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on January 1, 2017 at 5:10pm

ABMP s latest Massage & Bodywork magazine has an article on fibromyalgia. No surprise to myself I pretty much disagree with it. Now this is all my opinion but, There was not one mention of trigger points. Not one. The dominant word I hear all the time from our profession is FASCIA. Our profession is run by Rolfers and To a lesser degree( I think ) Chiropractors. Those people do not mention the word Trigger Point. But when the worlds leading researchers on pain( Melzack and Wall ) say that the majority of pain on the planet is from trigger points, I shake my head. That's why our profession remains last tier, lowest on the totem pole of health care providers.

"In many schools, teachers and students alike are lead away from the door through which I believe they must enter. Consequently, they grow enamored with the landscape along their paths, and many stay there and consider it right. Thus one sees them making a great uproar over the most insignificant educational theories and arguing among themselves over what is right and what is wrong. The landscapes along the way are merely appearances fashioned within the framework of the mind. As reguards to the landscape, details could be discussed without end." - CHOZAN SHISSAI, 17th-CENTURY SWORDMASTER