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Recent Posts
- Confusing the benefits of salty and non-salty baths
- “I’ve tried to interpret the findings of the best physiologists and translate them into sound practices. That’s made me a radical.”
- Dr. Tim Taylor has contributed a new chapter to my book, Save Yourself from Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome!
- And again! More muscle knot squishing science, different experiment, same results
- (Newer than new) evidence that squishing trigger points works
- Jedi mind trick turns a muscle relaxant drug into a stimulant
- Wishful thinking does not get much more wishful than this
- A trigger point is almost mistaken for a tumor
- WARNING! Traumeel contains .00000000000000001% pure death!
- The three most common words in massage therapy are pointless
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Category Archives: treatment
And again! More muscle knot squishing science, different experiment, same results
Odd! Just a couple days after posting about a not-yet-published study of trigger point squishing — quite a rare subject for research — I came across (via @massagetherapy) an almost identical study that is published. They also reported news that makes massage therapists smile:
…using ischemic compression on shoulder trigger points may reduce the symptoms of [...]
Also posted in evidence-based medicine, massage, massage therapy, massage tools, placebo, research, science, self-massage, self-treatment, therapy, trigger points Leave a comment
(Newer than new) evidence that squishing trigger points works
An upcoming issue of Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies will include a new study of trigger point squishing. I was lucky to get a look at a final draft, thanks to connections at The Pressure Positive Company, the massage tool manufacturer that supplied the tools.
This experiment has the simple elegance of a good science-fair [...]
Also posted in massage, massage therapy, massage tools, research, self-massage, self-treatment, therapy, trigger points Leave a comment
Do Epsom salts go up your bum?
Epsom salts supposedly relieve aches and pains, especially muscle pain, but there are many problems with this idea, which I have written about in truly ridiculous detail (believe it or not). It’s not at all clear how salts can get through the skin barrier, which is pretty substantial. But a simple 2006 experiment showed that [...]
Also posted in evidence-based medicine, humour, pain, science Leave a comment
A flicker of hope for platelet-rich plasma injection as a treatment for muscle strains
PRP is the injection of a concentrated preparation of your own blood into irritated or injured tissue to stimulate healing … hopefully.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection isn’t having a great year. The best PRP research to date was published recently, showing that it was no better a treatment than injecting saline solution into inflamed tendons.
The evidence [...]
Also posted in injury, platelet-rich plasma, research, strain Leave a comment
New short article about “psoas work”
Manipulation of the psoas major muscle is over-rated: it just isn’t needed for most people, most of the time.
Psoas, So What? Massage therapy for the psoas major and iliacus (iliopsoas) muscles is not that big a deal
Also posted in anatomy, debunkery, low back pain, manual therapy, massage Leave a comment
Muscle relaxants: still not very relaxing
Most people — both patients and many professionals — assume that muscle relaxants are effective, especially for injured necks and backs. This does not appear to be a safe assumption.
A new study in the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medical Care compared ibuprofen and a muscle relaxant (cyclobenzaprine or Flexeril) for patients with serious soft-tissue injury [...]
Also posted in injury, medications, neck pain, pain, research Leave a comment
More about Vitamin D, much more
Looks like someone’s already done all the looking into the connection between Vitamin D and pain that I’d like to do. Thanks, Stewart Leavitt. (Link via Diane Jacobs).
Vitamin D for Pain: Update of Research Evidence
Also posted in nutrition, pain, self-treatment Leave a comment
Your chronic pain may not have a solution
Recently a reader asked for my opinion on a website about a miracle cure for some serious, chronic muscle pain — one of the most common kinds of requests I get. It was one of the most extreme example of a too-good-to-be-true cure I have seen in a while, and that’s saying something. I’ve been [...]
Also posted in debunkery, manual therapy, massage therapy, quackery Leave a comment
The Graston Technique®: Magic steel massage tools that supposedly scrape the pain away, and “resonate” in the therapist’s hands
Dr. Harriet Hall, the SkepDoc, recently criticized The Graston Technique® in some detail. At the same time, I was responding to a reader request for more information about Graston for plantar fasciitis (“tendinitis” of the arch of the foot), a common treatment offering for that condition. It’s also commonly prescribed for iliotibial band syndrome (runner’s [...]
Also posted in debunkery, massage therapy, massage tools Leave a comment
Dr. Tim Taylor has contributed a new chapter to my book, Save Yourself from Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome!