A few months ago I had two female clients with the same issue. They were both in their 50's, and they each had pain in one of their breasts. One had had breast augmentation many years ago and recently had that checked out by her doctor who said that everything was OK, no problem as far as the operation was concerned. The other thought the pain may have been there becuase she needed breast reduction. The outcome for each lady after one treatment each was no pain. The solution for each was actually quite easy. Upon assessment, in both cases, I found that there were Trigger Points on the side of the shoulder...the same side as the painful breast. When I would press on the side of the shoulder near the underarm, the pain in the breast would become activated. In the world of therapeutic massage, that's an AHA. So in each case, I simply used Trigger Point Therapy and Myofascial Release techniques to gently dissolve the tightness in the muscles and connective tissue. The result in each case was no pain. And three months later they are still both pain-free. One commented how nice it is to not think about it! It still amazes me how simple these solutions are when trigger points are involved. A trigger point is a place in the muscle or connective tissue that refers pain somewhere else. Trigger points can cause pain that seems very serious, and masquerades as all kinds of maladies and prognoses. I've had people on my massage table actually cry with relief that the pain they had been experiencing was not cancer, but just a place in a muscle that was causing the pain. JFK's doctor in the White House and the creator of Trigger Point Therapy, Dr. Janet Travell, used to say that 75-80% of all pain is due to trigger points. When I do my work I am the "pain detective", always wondering where the pain may actually be coming from. And when I find it, AHA!
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It never ceases to amaze me that pain in the neck, shoulders and back could be coming from a trigger point in the area of the tailbone. Just this last week I worked with a lady in her 50's who was experiencing both hip and neck pain. I did all the usual treatment protocols, but she still did not get any relief. When that happens I ask more questions. It turns out that when she was a teenager she fell hard on her tailbone. Nice clue! So very gingerly I got her permission to check her tailbone. All nice and proper of course, through the sheet, and to the touch she did experience discomfort on the tip of her tailbone. Not surprisingly, at least to me, when I touched her tailbone she felt intense discomfort in her hip right where it usually hurts at night. Bingo! A trigger point on the tailbone with referred pain in the hip. I continued the treatment for another ten minutes, and after the session she felt loose and free. "I feel like I'm floating...." This is a perfect example of an old injury wreaking havoc for 40 years, and getting taken care of within just a few sessions. |
Robert Sherman
Robert is a Licensed and Certified Massage Therapist with over 23 years of experience. Archives
June 2024
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