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Paul
Jan 12, 2009 - 8:03PM
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Trigger Point Injections
Hello everyone and i hope you are improving. I am fortunate to have been pain free 100% for weeks now. Before it was 80-95% and now even the leg tightness is gone. I am just out of condition.
I will go over what has worked for me. Remember, i was injured for 2.5 years before i did anything besides gut it out and try to workout my way through it. Doing this made all my imbalances and trigger points all the more prevelant. I am fortunate in a sense that all my MRI's are normal.
Here is what worked for me and if you are early on LTBP maybe what it takes to get to 100%
1) LTBP - got the ball rolling
2) Al Meilus - got me pain free and convinced me how painful muscles can be.,.,,,in fact i thought the muscles in my inner leg were bones...that is how hard they were.
3) after returning from Al i went for trigger point injections which got all the pain away....but eventually re-tightened.....However, this doctor's diagnostic tools were second to none.....He identified my adductor magnus and pectineus as major offenders...
4)returned to Al to have adductors and pectineus worked on and have been pain free since....(except anterior tibilis (shin) tightening.
5) Egoscue has eliminated shin tightening.....
**90-100% pain free since early december....
Here is what i would do if i had to do it over:
1) LTBP - great foundation
2) Al Meilus - A+++++++ can not say enough about this man!!!
3) Would NOT undergo injections again....very very painful....22 total and very deep.....(i would see Al instead...although painful it only lasts 3 hours and no bruising).....
4) Egoscue
***the most important lesson i learned from Al, Dr. Marcus and Egoscue is this. Our bodies are 1 unit.....It is not 1 offending muscle. It is a whole chain. Believe me....I had more therapists stop working on me because i was rock hard in the quads, calves, hamstrings, and shins....with no relief....
I suffered tremendous pain at:
1) sacrum
2)hip
3)groin
4)testicle
5)psoas
6)abdomen
7)hamstring
8)calf was the worst
9)both feet
10) quads
11)shin
**I also had a huge FTP.....
but healing myself was like peeling layers off the onion.....
the body is a whole unit and can not be looked at as anything different...
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Jesse
Jan 12, 2009 - 11:15PM
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Re: Trigger Point Injections
Awesome... thanks for sharing Paul.
What we have found when it comes to trigger points is that manual pressure is often as effective or even more effective than the injections... plus manual pressure is less painful, less expensive and can even be done by yourself.
I want to stress one point you made...
The body is one complex unit... and the reason most treatments fail is they do not address (or even acknowledge) all of the areas.
And as you mentioned, it was a combination of things that worked for you and that's what we see with almost everyone.
Thanks again for sharing.
Jesse
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Paul
Jan 12, 2009 - 11:41PM
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Re: Trigger Point Injections
Jesse-
I have to admit the lidocaine injections were the first thing to get into my pectinues and magnus. Manual efforts by NMT's, Rolfers and others failed due to the tightness and deepness of these. The injections did work, however the robot was more effective. There are certain muscles when in crisis for as long as mine were that human hands can not provide sustained pressure as the robot can.
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Weight Training Paul
Jan 13, 2009 - 6:34PM
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Re: Trigger Point Injections
Hi guys
Great news Paul, I think the 4 things you mentioned are the ultimate things when it comes to back pain or other pains as well
I know exatly what you mean with you thinking your inner leg muscles were bones, it's quite unbelievable how hard a muscle can get, my right iliacus is still buttet proof, at the insertion point with the psoas and iliacus in the main
I told my massage therapists to really gave the the hip flexors a proper going over this time, he also held his fingers there for around 5 mintues on the spot, much better this time, my right iliacus is way harder than the left
I guess it's a subjective one with trigger points injections over manual pressure, I know Dr. Marcus would probably say injections, I can see manual pressure is great if the therapists really goes to town, but perhaps buttet like muscles need injectioning
You know when you say, it's not 1 offending muscle, it's the whole chain, it could be just one muscle which started it off though, then the whole chain is an issue, do you think
Thanks
Paul
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Paul
Jan 13, 2009 - 8:09PM
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Re: Trigger Point Injections
hmmm.....that is a good question. I think our bodies operate in a RED ZONE for a while and then gets pushed over the edge and then we really feel it. I know i had always been tight (although pain free).....but that should have been my warning sign. However, there was one episode that pushed me over the edge and then the fun began...
PT made it worse....you can not stretch or strengthen a Trigger Point...
THen i kept working out in hopes it would just go away and i believe i just tightened more things....
I believe like Al says there is 1 main area that is the main culprit that has a chain reaction....how else can it not.
If you own a car and 1 tire starts to go flat pretty soon it effects the balance of the other tires as well and the suspension wears unevenly and it goes downhill from there. I think the body is the same way. Some of us have been patching ourselves together piece by piece and it is not an easy road. Some of it is due to stubborness......(i like to lift weights)....anyways, i think the body MUST be looked at as a unit
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Paul
Jan 13, 2009 - 8:39PM
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Re: Trigger Point Injections
Weight Training Paul,
I can assure you that a human hand can not replicate what the robot can do. There is now way a human can apply consistent pressure so concentrated so long.
Also the injections were immediate relief also, but i viewed that as a diagnostic tool more than anything I would not go through that again. Dr. Marcus says most people after the injections with excercise do not need more injections. I agree for most people that may be okay but i tightened back up after about 2 months of working out hard.
I am thankful that i have gone through all of this because i assure you i will never let myself get like this again.....unless i get in an accident.
I have learned alot about my body. I have also learned i am not as tough as i used to be body wise but my spirit is much more resilient.
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Weight Training Paul
Jan 14, 2009 - 1:52PM
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Re: Trigger Point Injections
Hi Paul
I agree with you, I know what you mean with red zones or danger zones ect, I know my right groin was locked but I was pain free, that should have been my warning sign, I just didn't think anything of it at the time
I hear you with stretching trigger point, I had an almighty pop and release in my groin a while back, felt great at the time but later on my leg was colder, I reckon more scar tissue was put down
The thing I don't get with the injections is that it's the needle it's self which breaks up the muscle as well as the trigger point, it just seems a violent way of deactivating a hard muscle, a violent way of breaking it down, I would have thought more scar tissue would be put down, although this can't be the case because of Marcus and all, ie folks wouldn't do it would they if it didn't help
Personally, I have to dissagree with Jesse here, I can't see how, manual pressure is as effective or more effective than the injections, it appears to be impossible with manual pressure, hell it helps, but it's not enough, it never is
Cheers
Paul