Trigger Point Therapy
Dr. Janet Travell, a heart doctor to both Presidents Eisenhower
and Kennedy, developed Trigger Point Therapy. She developed a sharp
pain in her chest and over some long period had some of the best
diagnosticians in the country attempt to diagnose her pain. None
could. One day, in a colleagues office, she accidentally backed
into a coat hook. The instant it poked her shoulder, the pain in
her chest flared and she made the connection that the pain in her
chest was caused by a ball of irritated tight muscle in her shoulder
that had lost its ability to relax. The fact of the cause of the
pain and the sensation of where the pain was felt being in different
places is called referred pain. Referred pain is the classic symptom of Trigger Points.
When a segment of muscle becomes very tight, whether due to splinting
(making immobile) to protect an injury or due to overt over-usage,
the muscle becomes oxygen starved and the circulation fails to bring
new chemicals to relax the muscle. The resultant cramping causes
pain signals to be sent to the brain. The brain sends signals back
to just relax and let the blood flow. Pain signals travel faster
than relax signals and the muscle is not hearing the relax signal
from the brain. When the muscle repeatedly fails to respond, the
brain many times will simply stop listening to the pain signals
because the brain has better things to do than argue with uncooperative
knots of muscle. The pain is still there so the knot of irritated
muscle tries other ways to get attention from the brain such as
referring pain. These knots of very tight muscle are Trigger Points
and when they are full-blown they cause pain on an ongoing basis.
If left untreated, they tend to get worse. Ida B. Rolf said, "where
you think it is, it aint". She was talking about referred
pain and finding the Trigger Points. Pre-trigger points can be very
painful to the touch and are easy to find and painful to treat.
The good news is the very earliest symptoms can be detected by a
skilled, sensitive therapist and stopped before they become painful
to treat.
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is in one of two states i.e.
sympathetic (fight/flight/fear response) and parasympathetic (relaxation
response). Trigger Points stimulate the sympathetic ANS response
which include: increase in heart-rate, constriction of blood vessels
(the reason pain raises the blood pressure), inhibit defecation,
tighten anal spincter, dilate the pupils, stimulate "goose
bumps", increase epinephrine (adrenaline), increase sweat production
and decrease digestion juices. Depending on the extent and severity
of Trigger Points and pre-trigger points, the effects result in
what we call "stress". When the body can no longer tolerate
the effects, the exhaustion phase begins. In long-term sympathetic
stress, tension builds until the body basically wears out. Cardiovascular
problems, upper respiratory and gastrointestinal problems tend to
develop. The body begins to break down.
Trigger Point Therapy can stop this process. There will be discomfort
involved but finding the source of and relieving the pain will activate
the parasympathetic system allowing the body to heal and restore
homeostasis or balance.
|