Trigger point therapy making me worse...

[sam5935]

Hello!

I've read AHIP several times, and seen Tim Sawyer several times in the past. For me, working on trigger points in my hips and abdomen make things WAY worse for a while. Then, I usually forgo the trigger point stuff, concentrate on relaxation and, over a period of weeks to months, pull myself out of a flare-up....although standing for long periods never stops hurting.

I know that TP therapy tends to make people flare-up for a while....but how long? At what point should I just not do it? It never seems to help me, although I've never pursued it for more than a couple of weeks.

Has anyone else here just given up on TP therapy and concentrated solely on relaxation due to exacerbation of symptoms?

In other words, am I right to stop working on the TP's and just do relaxation, since that's helped in the past? Or should I keep working through the pain?

Thanks,
S-

[The Komrade]

I stopped trigger point release therapy after a course of about nine months, thinking since I was only getting worse that the SP wasn't working. I wish I hadn't. I wasn't practicing the TP release right for one of several things - I sort of "chased the pain" rather than focusing on the muscle release, was stretching WAY too much, was evidently more severe by the time I started treating my condition than average, etc. (and was also led astray by some anti-SP people in the medical profession, but that's beside the point here.)

I spent the next three years trying to relax my way out of things along with several other drug therapies that ultimately didn't fix anything, and now I'm back to trigger point release, already seeing good results after only a short period of time. During my years of "relaxing it away," I did manage to get great control over holding pelvic floor tension, and had much improved results on a biofeedback machine, but my pain was steadily growing worse with symptoms spreading to even more areas!

You might just have a really bad case, or be starting too aggressive for your level of pain if you're having such bad flare-ups. I know both were/are true of me. I had to start with a single ab TP, without any stretches because that region is so reactive for me; anything more and I guaranteed myself a flare-up for at least five days when I started more aggressively.

Of course, that's just my anecdotal evidence, but I wouldn't advise anyone stop trigger point release because of bad flare-ups. I know I'd be in a lot better shape right now if I'd tweaked my methods toward what my body was telling me and kept up the TP work.

PS- The 5th Edition of "A Headache in the Pelvis" benefited me greatly, as the one I originally had didn't have the diagrams or the discussions of working with other conditions like hyper-irritability, IBS, esophageal reflux, and for the skin rolling technique.

[neue01]

I strongly believe TP release is the only way to get over this condition. I can say for me it took a long time and a lot of work to soften up the effected muscle groups and start to break down the trigger points in the area. I also had this condition for many years before pursuing TP release. It might be that if you caught it early you could relax your way out of it but I highly doubt that's really possible.

Relaxation seems to help in conjunction with TP release because as you loosen up and release muscles they want to move back into their prior congested position for some time depending on how bad they are. If they have been long standing the neural pathways are very hard to break. Relaxation is a great technique to help break the cycle. Stress and anxiety bring the congestion back again much quicker. As you are releasing TPs it's a constant battle between these forces. You have to be diligent and proactive, massaging the area 1-3 times a day.

I have flared myself up pretty badly many times when doing TP release in the beginning. Now I have to do the release improperly or too quickly to get a bad flare up. It takes time to sort it all out and figure out what your body is telling you. Now I know I've done the release properly because I get instant relief that lasts a good part of the day until the TPs start to congest again. Once this happens I simply release them again and go to bed and start the whole thing over again in the morning. I'll just continue to do this until the last most major TP I'm working on finally breaks up. I can say though that it's been over a year and I have never felt better then I do these days and that would not have happened with out TP release. I can honestly say that relaxing alone would not have produced these sorts of results. I also advise people to explore further up in their rectum to see if this is actually where the problem generates from. This was absolutely the case for me. These deeper rectal muscles are where 80% of my trouble steamed from. I can't advise enough the use of a slim 8 or 9 inch tool to reach these muscles and loosen them up.

[sam5935]

Hello,

Thanks for the input. I'm trying to get in touch with Tim S. to get re-evaluated. He told me that I had no internal trigger points. Also, my symptoms have always been a little different than those of most on here. However, overall, my general condition corresponds with what many here are experiencing.

I will continue to experiment and hopefully find something that works for me. I've never completely understood the whole TP thing as I feel that whenever I work on them, I get much worse. So I stop, only do relaxation, and get better over time, only to flare up again in the future. I've gotten to where I have almost no symptoms when sitting. However, even at my very best, standing for more than 15 minutes or so causes me severe back and hip pain. Right now, sitting hurts, standing hurts, everything hurts. I will keep working at it though.

Any more thoughts are most appreciated, and thanks again for the help!
S-

[JoVoChicago]

I'm not very experienced with the Trigger Point work - but my Physical Therapist said that in most cases the Trigger Point work will make you feel worse for awhile afterwards, but I should not confuse that with it making my condition worse - pain is a sign that the Trigger Point therapy is healing the root cause.
She also told me that when I'm doing the stretches & PT at home - that I should always gauge how I'm feeling before I begin self treatment - and only do about half of what I can "handle".
And she is adamant about taking the hot bath or shower before and after I do any work on myself.
Recently I had an experience where I felt better than I've felt in years from the TPT and then an experience that caused a flareup so bad I was unable to walk for 2 and a half days.
But - that was because I overdid it - I mean - I severely overdid it.
Hope that helps...
Joseph