A Needling question

[KFCA]

A little background on "trigger points". The term itself was first coined in 1942 in a medical paper written by Dr. Janet Travell, who was the first woman graduate of Cornell Medical School, President John F. Kennedy's personal physician both before & during his White House years, & who died a few years ago at age 96.

At some point in the 1970ties/1980ties she teamed with Dr. David G. Simons, who was an aerospace physician/researcher, & Barbara Cummings, a medical illustrator, to put out a two-volume, approximately 1600 page "physician's desk reference" entitled "Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual" on this subject.

Drs. Travell/Simons, in this publication, define trigger points as "a highly irritable localized spot of exquisite tenderness in a nodule in a papable taut band of muscle tissue'. They believed that an active trigger point (or points) was the cause of pain in about 75% of all cases,and at least a component in the rest. Apparently, their first attempt to break down trigger points was by needle injection, & then they went on from there. However, "injections" are still a popular way to go.

I, myself, often use the "deep massage" part of trigger point therapy for pain relief, & found it extraordinarily useful for the throbbing pain of a badly sprained knee last year (which was where I first got interested in the subject).

So no, trigger point diffusion has nothing to do with "killing nerves".

Perhaps your mother's physio (whatever that is) was familiar with Travell/Simons' work & knew just where to insert that needle.

 

[TeaBag420]

Check out Felix Mann's book for the most scientific theory of acupuncture, or do a search for "dermatome" (I think, it's been years since I looked into it).

 

[Donn]

KFCA: Perhaps your mother's physio (whatever that is)

As in my previous posts a physio is a physio-therapist.
Thanks for the info about trigger points, am collecting info to read during the week.
One question; I gather trigger points refer pain somewhere else so you feel pain in your hand, but it's your back that pinching a nerve (roughly). She had a single needle pushed directly into her sore hand and this stopped the pain - is that a trigger point?

Teabag: Check out Felix Mann's book for the most scientific theory of acupuncture, or do a search for "dermatome" (I think, it's been years since I looked into it).

I will look around, but I am a trifle confused; I thought 'science' had double-blinded and thoroughly tested acupuncture and found nothing in it? If that's the case, what's the point of coming up with theories about how it works?
Am I off base?

Another observation; when you massage someone's back (for pain relief) you will feel these little 'bumps' or 'knots' of flesh around the edges of bones (mostly) like the shoulder-blades. These cause sharp pain and when you can pin one down, you press it firmly until the pain subsides and that knot seems to deflate.
My mother has told me that those knots are what the physio(therapist ) would sometimes resort to poking needles into.
Does this mean anything to you lot?

 

[KFCA]

Donn: If the pain in your mother's hand was ONLY in her hand (& the pain was caused by TPs), those would likely be situated somewhere near the point of the pain. If the pain extended up her arm, or alternatively down her arm to her hand, the TPs would likely be located in her arm. So yes, the pain is almost always "triggered" from elsewhere...sometimes in the more immediate area; sometimes farther away.

For example, with my sprained right knee pain last year, I actually had accupuncture done in two extended sessions of an hour & half each without the tiniest result. The accupuncturist had inserted probably a dozen needles all in my knee where the pain actually WAS. However, some weeks later, after studying up on TPs, I determined the source of the still-ongoing pain was likely coming from my right Vastus Medialis Muscle, which is located on the inner side of the thigh, just above the knee, (which the accupuncturist never went near). The 'spot' turned out to be VERY tender, which is the prime I.D.of a TP. (I believe you said your mother felt great pain in her hand when that needle was inserted).

In the end, after several short, deep & somewhat painful self-message sessions over a couple hour period one Sunday morning, all pain was gone & I was out doing gardening for the first time in almost two months that afternoon (what a mess!)

If you want to study Trigger Points on the internet, the site to go to is "triggerpointbook.com. I've purchased Mr. Davies' book for myself & several relatives who suffer from chronic pain. His site is quite informative, & likely your library would have a copy of his book if you don't care to purchase it. He does an excellent job of identifying the location of TPs in each muscle by illustration.