The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self -Treatment Guide for Pain Relief: Your Self-Treatment for Pain Relief Paperback – 2 Aug. 2004

After picking up and carrying small children for a few years (my own...not other peoples), I developed an incredibly painful shoulder problem. Just lifting my arm above my head would often induce the most incredible pain. I tried an osteopath...they did some manipulation which didn't help and recommended I tried a different computer mouse. I was then referred by my GP to the physical therapy dept which over several weeks, there was some improvement but still not really solving the problem.In desperation I bought a few books on self help pain relief. This book has been, frankly, life changing. Following the advice in the book, I was able to locate some trigger points in exactly the places they said they would be. Within a few days my shoulder was 90% improved.I still need to do the odd 'fix' every few months but I'm able to go about life without any worries. I can pick up my kids (who are now significantly bigger and heavier) as well as heavy digging and all that stuff!My mother in law has great difficulty walking at times (bad knees). The following day after I worked on a few trigger points, she was walking around virtually pain free...she was amazed at how quick and effective it is.If you're struggling from any form of nagging pain, I highly recommend you buy this book. It looks a little intimidating when you open it, but stick with it and you'll find it's actually very easy to use. There are lots of anecdotal stories which help to correlate your pain with the appropriate trigger point to work on.In the past I've spent a fortune on Chiropractic and Osteopathic treatments - since getting this book I haven't needed any at all. I'm not saying that it will fix all ailments but it's certainly an excellent starting point...or worth a try if you've not had any success with doctors or therapists.

Everybody needs to be aware of trigger points and their profound importance on pain and health.Clair Davies has written a very important book on this based on his experience as a therapist and inspired by Travell and Simons's original book on myofascial pain. I found this book recently as I was researching my hip problems. I had suddenly developed pain in my buttocks, hip and knee for no obvious reason. I rapidly became unable to climb stairs and walking just a few yards had my bum muscles screwed up so badly I could not walk further. My sciatic nerve was firing with any movement causing me a great deal of pain. My GP thought it was tendinitis and it would probably sort itself out... After six weeks of misery I found this book, diagnosed myself (piriformis syndrome) and started self treatment. The book is so easy to use: I found the offending trigger points in my gluteus muscles and worked on them all day. By evening I had cleared them well enough to walk and use the stairs. I was ecstatic. Over the last six weeks I have been getting better and better, but I am left with the inescapable thought: WHY THE HELL DON'T THE MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS KNOW ABOUT TRIGGER POINTS? (It appears that 80% of all muscular pain is related to trigger points.) Isn't it time they got on board? Excellent book: cannot recommend it enough!

Great book for dealing with Trigger points. Covers all trigger points in all muscles, from you neck down to the soles of your feet. Each muscle starts out with the trigger that would most likely cause the pain, then moves on to the others that may be causing it, e.g. front of shoulder pain - Infraspinatus then anterior deltoids then scalenes ect Although some trigger points can be hard to find ( I find the neck trigger points difficult to find) but once you find them you will know haha.The information is pretty simple to follow, locate the trigger point, use deep stroking massage, massage slowly, aim at a pain level of 7 on a scale of 10, limit the strokes to 6-12 per trigger point and work the trigger point 6-12 times a day.A few things to be said though. The trigger points listed in the book may not be in the same place on you, so you my have to search, which can be frustrating.Secondly, this book will not deal with what caused the trigger points. Example, if you're using muscles incorrectly and not bio-mechanically how they were made to move, that said muscle will develop trigger points. You work on them and get rid of the trigger points but still using the muscle incorrectly the trigger point will come back, so you may need to work along side a physiotherapist.Finally, it can be time consuming when starting out and trying to find those pesky trigger points that hide, but once found you will already be on the path to recovery.

Once you flip through the pages of California-style introduction and background this is a straightforward, detailed, guide to the things that go wrong with muscles and how you might be able to fix them. But unless you are already familiar with muscles (I wasn't) be prepared to put in a lot of time and effort to locate the trigger points causing problems, and then to treat them. And to think about the original cause of the problem (eg computer use) and how to stop the problem recurring. I also agree with another reviewer who noted that the author too readily gives the impression that any problem can be cured by trigger point massage. However, as it costs nothing and is very unlikely to do any harm, give it a go. I found several trigger points which are undoubtedly giving me pain after the first few hours of reading the book. If you can work with a partner, it's better, but if, like me, you have weak and painful hands and wrists, do pay attention to the author's advice on how to avoid making them worse by doing massage the wrong way.