These include “sciatica”, “carpel tunnel”, and many of the “pinched spinal nerves” syndromes in the neck or lower back. As with the gluteus minimus TrP, there are a great number of other TrP’s that have similar referral patterns to that of nerve compression syndromes. It is due to the fact that TrP pain symptoms can, and quite often are, at a region of the body distant from the TrP, that they go largely undiagnosed. This is quite often mistaken for “sciatic” pain. The muscle fibres involved become taut & rope like, with a hard tender nodule that is painful when pressed and often causes referred pain at a sight quite distant from the trigger point itself.Īnother example is the gluteus minimus muscle in the hip, which can cause pain on the outside & back of the leg down to the ankle, (See diagram left). There are approximately 200 paired muscles that can develop trigger points, the trapezius muscle in the upper shoulder is an example of a very common TrP. Unfortunately, TrP's do not show up with almost all of the current imaging methods, including X-ray, MRI, CT & Ultra-Sound, add to this the fact that many Doctors and even specialists know little about MTrP's, leads to many patients suffering needless ongoing symptoms.Ī trigger point (TrP) can be defined as a hyperirritable point within a taut band of muscle, (a tender “knot” in the muscle tissue). Untreated TrP's frequently result in persistent symptoms, over many years. Unless you have undergone treatment specifically aimed at deactivating underlying Trigger Points (TrP's), you will find most treatments including Massage, Physiotherapy, Chiropractic, Osteopathy, Acupuncture, even Cortisone Injections, will only support short term results or no results at all! This is because, once activated, TrP's are self-perpetuating and will only respond to specific targeted treatment to release them. Even spinal disc and neurological pain can have underlying TrP's that can greatly increase their symptoms if not treated. People who suffer from, Head Aches, Back Pain, Neck Pain, Shoulder or Arm Pain, Hip or leg pain, Tendonitis or any other musculoskeletal pain, are almost certain to have MTrP's as either a major causative factor or a secondary factor contributing to much of their pain. So highly regarded, she was the White House physician over two presidencies starting with John F. Dr Travell spent her whole lifetime studying & researching Myofascial Trigger Points (MTrP's) up until her passing at 95 years' old, she was regarded the world over as the foremost expert in this field. This was stated by the foremost expert in the field of Trigger Point Therapy research, Doctor Janet Travell.
#Travell and simons forehead pain manual
Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual (2 vol. It may surprise you to know that, "around 75% of pain clinic patients have a trigger point as the sole source of their pain", (Travell, Janet Simons David Simons Lois (1999).