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- “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: trigger points
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, treatment 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, treatment Leave a comment
A trigger point is almost mistaken for a tumor
Trigger points (muscle knots) can causes surprisingly severe symptoms. A physician sent me her own interesting story:
I narrowly escaped a breast biopsy because of trigger points in the pectoralis major. I’d had bad chest pain for a month. I was on the table, permit signed, draped. The doctor wasn’t sure: she said she wanted another [...]
Also posted in diagnosis Leave a comment
New article: The Trigger Point Symptom Checker
I interviewed creator Jeff Lutz about The Trigger Point Products Symptom Checker, a unique online reference tool to help both patients and professionals visually identify the “muscle knots” that may be causing pain, stiffness and other symptoms, and appropriate massage tools to assist in self-treatment.
Read the interview.
Visit The Trigger Point Symptom Checker.
Also posted in diagnosis, massage tools, self-massage, self-treatment, tips Leave a comment
New directory of trigger point therapy and muscle pain resources
I have finally published a list of resources relevant to trigger point therapy and muscle pain. I avoided this for many years, because I am generally not impressed by what’s available (to both patients and professionals), especially online resources. I remember a slightly testy conversation with someone from an American organization a couple years ago [...]
Also posted in finding help, manual therapy, massage, massage therapy, massage tools, pain, regulation Leave a comment
The evolution of muscle pain: does muscle “burn out”?
Muscle tissue is probably full of evolutionary compromises, just like the rest of biology. It has probably evolved to as high a level of function as possible in youth, at the price of a loss of healthy function as we age — which may be a plausible (if rather non-specific) explanation for why muscle pain [...]
Also posted in New Category, pain Leave a comment
What are the worst case scenarios for myofascial pain syndrome?
This post is an excerpt from my book-length tutorial about trigger points (muscle knots). I heavily revised these sections over the last couple months, inspired by comments made by Dr. Mark Crislip at the Science-Based Medicine conference last July, and by a growing awareness of the importance of pain system dysfunction — the idea that, [...]
Also posted in diagnosis, pain Leave a comment
Vitamin D supplementation reduces falls in the elderly by 19%: could it help with muscle pain as well?
Can taking vitamin D prevent falls? Apparently so: these researchers set out to “test the efficacy of supplemental vitamin D … in preventing falls among older individuals” and found that a “high dose” (700-1000 IU a day) actually reduced falling by a whopping 19%. That’s quite a significant effect! It’s also a [...]
A study of ultrasound therapy shows a clear effect on trigger point sensitivity
The clinical usefulness of ultrasound seems to be poor, after decades of showing little or no therapeutic effect in one experiment after another. So it was quite a surprise to find this year-old paper from the journal Pain: Canadian researchers treated trigger points (muscle knots) in 50 patients with either ultrasound or a sham, and [...]
Also posted in pain, research, treatment, ultrasound Leave a comment
Dr. Tim Taylor has contributed a new chapter to my book, Save Yourself from Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome!