Trigger Points Technique - countering the no pain no gain philosophy There’s a certain kind of trigger treatment I really don’t recommend. It’s called ‘killer’ trigger point treatment. It’s when someone is so irate at the knots in their muscles that are causing them pain that when they find them they want to kill them. This means: pressing as hard as possible, drilling in, squashing the point, murdering the tight spot. Now, this is not recommended for a variety of reasons. Firstly, attacking the muscle may bring temporary emotional relief (like a ‘gotcha’) feeling. But when you press hard into your muscle, this creates pain, which leads to muscle tension. So you’re actually working against the muscle release. This is like the guy who tried to lift a chair while he was standing on it. Difficult. The second thing is that triggers are a neuromuscular problem. That means nerves and muscle. And nerves are intimately connected with our brain, and thus connected with your thoughts and feelings. John Donne wrote that ‘no man is an island, entire of itself.’ Well, we’d like to propose that no problem in our bodies exists in a vacuum. Everything is connected. Emotions cause chemicals to be released, breathing out creates an autonomic relaxation throughout your body, and patting a dog lowers your blood pressure. So venting anger and frustration into your body as you squash a trigger is not the best approach for relaxation of the muscle. What I recommend? ‘Sneaking up’ on the trigger point using ischemic pressure. Gently increasing pressure while staying below the pain threshold. Picture in your mind the release of the muscle knot as you gently switch off the trigger. Because as anyone who’s ever tried to coax a scared horse into a horse truck knows, gentle words work better than a whip. - Jonathan Kuttner
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 22:40:14 +0000
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