A practical guide to at-home pain relief with trigger point therapy
Whether you’re recovering from an injury, dealing with a chronic condition, or experiencing daily headaches―trigger point therapy can provide pain relief. Those hidden, tender knots in your muscles―also known as trigger points―may be small but they can cause a huge amount of pain. Trigger Point Therapy Made Simple puts healing in your hands so you can stop living in pain and get back to thriving in your life.
Learn the ropes of trigger point therapy with an overview of what causes trigger points, how trigger point therapy works, and what to expect. Organized by muscle, the illustrated, step-by-step instructions will help you find relief from injuries, fibromyalgia, and other myofascial pain conditions with gentle, easy motions and massage techniques. At-home treatment should be simple and effective―and now it is.
Trigger Point Therapy Made Simple includes:
- Beyond massage―Treat your muscles and your nervous system in 4 easy steps for maximum long-lasting pain relief.
- Anatomical aids―Handy anatomical illustrations let you pinpoint where your pain is and show you how to perform the gentle movements that will help you heal.
- Mind and body―Retrain your brain with a holistic approach to treatment, including helpful habits, breathing exercises, and stress-relief tips.
Move better and recover faster with Trigger Point Therapy Made Simple.
I like them because you don’t have to be a trainer to know what you’re looking for. It is easy to explain to clients. I recently ordered another one for my mom.
Trigger points, if done correctly are a life saver. $5 lacrosse ball and a $13 book can change your life. I highly recommend. Especially for beginners.
But I liked this book better for its step by step approach. The author gives a picture of where it hurts, a description of the same, what could cause the pain and what the pain could feel like. Then he gives where to treat the muscles in the spine, how to treat the nerve, how to treat the trigger points, then done gentle moves to do and other muscles to treat.
The kindle has links to all these other places in the book so you can quickly go there. Then just use the back button to return. It’s very user friendly.
The opening sections are helpful in explaining the method and the expectations. Then it is organized by body sections (head and face; neck and shoulders; etc). I spent most of my time in 'head and face' because my interest was on headache relief options and I did find some relief. I think the main relief is slowing down and following the steps. It is almost meditative. The other section that I spent time in was lower legs and feet. That ended up being my favorite surprise of the book. The instructions are simple and methodical which I like. There are illustrations that help guide the reader through the steps.
The book was well worth the read for me.
When I got this book I was excited to try it. It gives you step by step processes to see relief for pain in a variety of locations on your body. Some did help, others we couldn’t manage to do correctly. But what we did figure out and we did use we still continue to use even months later!
I chose to receive this book from the publisher because it was an interesting topic I knew nothing about, and I was intrigued to learn more. I and writing this review because I choose to.
This book is laid out almost like a recipe book for parts of the body experiencing pain. It focuses on each part of the body and common pain related ailments in descriptive detail to help the reader zero in on their specific pain type/ailment and describes exactly how to try to manage it. This goes beyond a book of simple physical therapy. I personally would have liked more diagrams but the written descriptions are very detailed for the reader that can sit and take their time to do these exercises.
The dialogue is fairly to very clinical so it might be a heavy read for some but for a pain sufferer looking to self treat/manage, it's not too heavy to digest. There are numerous safety tips and warnings for the reader to prevent further injury or pain. Definitely read the disclosures in chapter one!
Would highly recommend this book for a chronic pain sufferer in my life, especially one that depends on treatments that are not currently available to them due to COVID such as chiropractor services and massage, PT, etc.
The author takes things one step at a time, beginning with the admonition that "nothing is so irritating as the loneliness of pain with no hope of help".
He then explains what trigger points are and provides and overview of the various forms of trigger point therapy, techniques and tools. It's thorough, but not difficult to read. The author rightfully cautions that it must be read before attempting thue therapy techniques described in the book.
He then goes on to provide specific advice for 70 types of pain.
Each therapeutic technique is clearly explained and very clearly illustrated.
There are short lists of references and resources and, more importantly, a thorough symptom index.
Because of underlying conditions, I have to be careful: a swollen calf, for instance, may not be something to be treated with one of the techniques in this book. But, on the other hand, the techniques in this book can be very effective in dealing with dozens of different kinds and locales of pain.
A very worthwhile book, in my opinion.
Jerry
Trigger Point Therapy Made Simple explains how to help pain sufferers find relief in four easy steps. I have suffered with chronic pain for about nine years from a progressive spinal cord disease called syringomyelia. Basically, cerebral spinal fluid has formed (noncancerous) sac-like tumors inside my spinal cord, the areas of my spinal cord that are effected by the fluid have extensive nerve damage. The result is widespread pain, numbness, tingling, and sensory loss.
I have tried countless forms of therapies for pain relief. Some have given slight results, but never anything substantial. The main areas of my pain are the neck, back of head, and back. The muscles in my back and neck are very tight, you don't have to look hard to find a trigger point (a tender spot or knot in muscle).
This book is a great resource for pain sufferers, as it offers an organic method to treat your pain. While you should seek your dr's advice regarding pain (and the book recommends this) and any other problems you're experiencing, you don't have to be a dr. to understand this well-written book. It's written in layman's terms and uses direct language. Every topic discussed is well explained with images to highlight the areas of the body they are describing. Each chapter is focused on a part of the body, so there is no need to skim through the whole book to pick out specific information.
I haven't had much time to determine how helpful this book is with my pain, but I can say that my husband and I both refer to it (he suffers with low back pain) and are both finding some relief. I have used the books advice for my upper back, neck, head, face, arms, shoulders, and feet. It feels good, even when it hurts a little... it's that "good pain" that tells you it's working and I love it! Highly recommended!!
The information and guidance is top notch and the illustrations were easy to understand. As a person who gets hurt at work, and just normal life body aches, I do self treatment daily. I have not approached self treatment quite like this and in this order. I will now!
The wealth of information on treating the pain area, and each step laid out accordingly was great. This book is for everyone who wants to get better. You will learn something as a person getting pain relief at home or a professional practitioner. There is something for everyone. He listed books and other resources such as different treatment modalities and self help tools, it is very helpful and needed.
We needed a self help book that had it all. Thank you for taking the time to write this.
This is a book I will keep many copies of for gifts and to sell at my business. Well done! Excellent book!
The Chapters:
Introduction
Part One: What to Know
Chapter One: Trigger Points 101
Chapter Two: Essential Pain Relief Techniques
Part Two: What to Do
Chapter Three: Head and Face
Chapter Four: Neck and Shoulders
Chapter Five: Arms and Hands
Chapter Six: Chest, Back and Abdomen
Chapter Seven: Hips and Upper Legs
Chapter Eight: Lower Legs and Feet
Resources
References
Index
Symptom Index
Muscle Index
Let me state some general information. Trigger Point Therapy may not work for everyone. I have a daughter who is a therapist and she gave me an hour treatment that was the most painful treatment that I have ever experienced. I was in agony for a week after this and I will never allow her to touch me again. When the "cure" is worse than the pain, that says something.
But on the opposite side, sometimes the "pain" of using this therapy is a good pain. If that is the case, then by all means go for what works for you.
Another thing to consider is if your pain is in areas that you can't reach by yourself (your back and areas that you just cannot reach comfortably), then you will need someone to help you. That was my problem. My pain is in my back and I have no one to help me, so this book is of little value, other than to gain the knowledge of how to help others.
One of the good things about the book is that it has diagrams to show what areas of the body you are treating. I would have posted pictures, but there was no link to post pictures in this review. There are not many resources, but there are places to order tools and find a trigger point therapist.
Being a nurse and former massage therapist I realize the value in this book and it was good to learn a bit more about trigger point therapy. It can benefit you. I will be interested to try the methods as I experience pain in the future in the possible areas that I can reach.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. I would recommend this book to those are experiencing chronic pain.
I am very impressed with this book. I have chronic pain-primarily soft tissue-and this book is a game-changer. I feel instant relief using what I have learned from this book, and I imagine this relief will become more long-term as I practice the techniques provided in this book.
The book is informative and well-organized. The index is organized both by symptom and muscle so it is easy to access what you wish to focus on. The book is full of valuable information and includes useful pictures. You do not need to have any background in anatomy or related fields to be able to use this book effectively. That said, I do have a moderate background in the subject and I feel this book expanded my knowledge. Therefore, it is a user-friendly book and valuable for anyone who is dealing with chronic pain.
Chapters include: triggerpoints 101, essential pain relief techniques, head and face, neck and shoulders, arms and hands, chest, back, and abdomen, hips and upper legs, lower legs and feet.
This is a practical and useful book for body pain, and gives helpful information about how to get relief.
I really like the attitudes in this book, putting the power of healing back into the hands of the patient, instead of relying on doctors who don't give any answers or solutions other than prescription pain medication. The writing is so encouraging and gives good information about using techniques to heal yourself and find relief from pain and tension.
The information is organized in sections for each area of the body, with clear instructions and good advice for each type of pain. There are suggestions for simple tools that you can use to apply pressure, but you can also just use your hands. I love how the author gives a lot of other tips related to where you are holding tension, and how to use stress relief and general self-care to relax those muscles in addition to the trigger point therapy.
The illustrations are excellent, demonstrating where the trigger points can be found on the body, and how to do some of the stretching techniques.
This is such a great book for anyone dealing with chronic pain, or pain that pops up repeatedly with muscle strain or injury.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.