Healing Through Trigger Point Therapy - 9781583946091

Trigger point therapy is crucial to the treatment and cure of fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, migraines, back pain, irritable bowel syndrome, plantar fasciitis, osteoarthritis, chronic pain symptoms, mental confusion, impotence, incontinence, loss of voice, pelvic pain, muscle weakness, cardiac arrhythmia, menstrual pain, TMJ, shortness of breath, and many other kinds of disease and disability. Yet although trigger point therapy has been used for decades, trigger points are often misdiagnosed and misunderstood.

Devin Starlanyl is a fibromyalgia medical researcher and fibromyalgia patient who has provided chronic pain support to thousands of people around the world. John Sharkey is a physiologist with more than 27 years of anatomy and dissection experience. Together they have written a comprehensive reference to trigger point treatment for fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, and a number of other conditions. This guide for both therapists and laypeople facilitates communication between care providers and patients, empowering patients who struggle with all kinds of chronic pain symptoms.

Part 1 explains what pain trigger points are and how they generate symptoms, refer pain to other parts of the body, and create a downward spiral of dysfunction. The authors look at fibromyalgia causes and pain causes; identify stressors that perpetuate trigger points such as poor posture, poor breathing habits, nutritional inadequacies, lack of sleep, and environmental and psychological factors; and provide a list of over 100 pain symptoms and their corresponding trigger points.

Part 2 describes the sites of muscle trigger points within each region of the body and provides pain relief solutions for fibromyalgia patients and others suffering from debilitating symptoms. Pain treatment plans include both self-help remedies for the patient--stretching, postural exercises, self-massage--as well as treatment protocols for care providers: palpation, therapeutic massage, myofascial release, acupuncture, and injection therapy.

Part 3 offers guidance for both patients and care providers in history taking, exams, and treatment and offers a vision for the future of fibromyalgia treatment and fibromyalgia cure, asserting that patients have a vital role to play in the management of their own health.