Upper back/shoulder/neck triggerpoint release chart! Ahhhh!......

In pain?

This Shows two methods of relief, stretch and trigger point areas:

If a certain stretch does nothing, its not the right muscle thats tight.

I do release some of these trigger points laying on a golf ball as directed.

I found one I did not know about - teres minor trigger point.

www.pressurepointer.com/pain_reference_chart.htm

(edited to make your link clickable)

Post Edited By Moderator (Mister Mike) : 4/2/2015 5:13:38 PM (GMT-6)

I used to see a trigger point specialist. He tours the country lecturing on how to do trigger point release. He recommends using a lacrosse ball in a sock for the points in your back and two tennis balls in a sock tied together in a sock for your neck. Start with the the ones on your neck very gently or you could send yourself reeling.
With the lacrosse ball can vary the length of the sock so you can throw the sock over your shoulder and then press against a wall where you need it. I also find I get a lot of relief using a foam roller on the ground with pillows to support my neck and then laying any direction that I need to release. There are a lot of areas under the arm at the lower end of the armpit. That is a big trigger point that people are unaware of. The biggest one that comes as a surprise is gluteus minimus, That works almost like a puppet string for our bodies. Releasing that pulls us back in alignment and stops a lot of leg burning. It's shockingly painful and you need to stretch after but it helps tremendously.

The charts you found Astroman are great. There selling their product but the best known and most used product is the theracane. It's a handy tool for about $35. It allows you to get to places you wouldn't be able to on your own.

There are lots of trigger point charts online, I knew I had found the right pain doctor years ago when he had trigger point charts on his walls versus anatomy charts. It was 8 months post CT Mylogram that showed my Cervical fusion had failed. The Dr who ordered it told me there was nothing he could do to help me (Stanford Neurosurgeon) and I had questioned my internist multiple times over the report. This Dr took one look and said I can help you but not until you have your surgery redone.

Garden Peace-your daughter's muscle memory returns.

Astroman if your muscle damage is long term your muscles are in fight mode. Botox doesn't interfere with Lyme treatment and should allow the muscle to rest and retrain. That's the direction I need to go since my back supported my neck for at least a dozen years before it was fixed and than I got Lyme.

I think this site is excellent and for people who are visual learners there is a youtube video for every body area.
http://www.athletestreatingathletes.com/

I was working with the trigger point therapist and the pain doctor who referred me to him. The therapist was mapping where he wanted the Dr to give me injections. They were very similar to acupuncture in that the injections purpose was to release the tension in the muscle. It was fascinating. He would put the needle in and the muscle would spasm or leap. The more it reacted the more effective the injection was. My trap muscle is very damaged. It's like a boulder on my left shoulder since that side of my neck was crushed. I was seeing both the trigger point specialist and my physical therapist and my pt was stunned at the difference.
Unfortunately I had to stop the treatment because I got a SLAP tear on my left shoulder, rotator cuff was obliterated and I needed surgery. That happened because of the TOS. I got Lyme 3 months post surgery.

Botox has been used for over 15 years now, likely more. I'm a lot more comfortable having it injected in a muscle than in my head. It's been used for migraines for a really long time. They inject somewhere along the cervical spine I believe. Yikes. I'll look into the other product. Thankfully cost isn't an issue. I'm not at a place yet in terms of how I feel to commit to a series of appointments but I need to stop the nerve damage from my neck referring into my face and head.

I had never heard of trigger points prior to going to that pain doctor. Now I'm seeing treatment available pretty routinely.

Astroman, I think it's good to repeat this info. now and then so new people can learn it too. I have a Thera Cane that I had completely forgotten about, so I'll have to get it out again. I don't think my daughter can use it since her pain tolerance is low. She'd to better with tennis balls.

My dh got novacaine shots when he was having some bad back pain from muscles tensing up so much and that helped him quite a bit. I had never heard of that before or since then. He doesn't have Lyme.

Thanks astroman, I've had the tense muscles and funny noises when I move them. I will definitely do this.

Simela1-

Once you find a trigger point and release it , immediate relief can follow. More aggressive = more relief.

If only done once in a while- they will return.

I followed the advice of a chiro that does trigger point release. Be aggressive every other day, then twice a week ect. After a month it might be gone!

This is way easier if someone else (needs strength) does this with some sort of 1/2 to 1 inch wide tool. AA battery, 5/8" wide end, held protruding is someone else s hand is a great trigger point tool.

Yes, deep knots just need more pressure to get there.

Larger areas that are tight but dont really have a knot can be loosened by myofacial release. This takes a larger diameter pressure "tool" (ball of some sort) and longer time like five minutes for it to melt away.

I can release my psoas by laying on a 4" diameter play ball accessing from the side (the intestines slowly move over). Weird, yes, feels great though after a few minutes. You tube shows this.

The psoas's hold a lot of tension, and are forgotten since people assume you cant access them.

"instrument" - by yourself- a golf ball, or thera cane. I actually made something better.

There are trigger point tools available on the net. Some that you lay on, trigger point "boards" with pegs.

A thumb works good, but youll wreck you hand/thumb doing triggerpoint release from the pressure required.

http://www.triggerpointbook.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7&Itemid=148

http://www.triggerpointproducts.com/self-treatment-tools/the-knobble.html

Thanks for this thread, astroman! I am going to try this today. I keep forgetting, but this is the worse symptom for my son--constant neck pain. My sister also said to put a few drops of alcohol on a cotton item and wrap it around the neck. It helped him a little but not much. THis is an old home remedy that they use in Europe for neck pain due to colds but it probably doesn't work so well with Lyme.

My 5 yr old is also suffering from neck pain and I haven't been able to figure out a way to help them so far with this. Massages don't help either. I tried a heating pad but doesn't do much.