I'm not trying to bring you down, but when I had the trigger points all over I almost worked my fingers down to the bones trying to get re;ief.
And it seem like when I would get rid of them they would just pop up somewhere else. If I just have a few, like a few in my rib cage I can handle that.
But when I get them all over usually am hurting so bad that the and I just curl up in a ball.

I stayed like that for several years. I started acupuncture about a month ago and the trigger points in my body have diminished greatly.

There are many other people on this forum who have dealt with trigger points much more successfully than I.

I'm sorry you're dealing with the S. I think I have a lot of trigger point that I have never even dealt with and that k ifeeps me in pain.
Pauli

I agree with Pauli. If you have them all over you, it is best to see a professional that can go through your entire body to deactivate them. Acupuncture can be helpful. Have you tried a trigger point therapist or a John Barnes trained myofascial release therapist? Let us know if you need websites for trained therapists. It seems to be trial and error as to what therapy helps, since each person is an individual and responds differently to the various modalities.

Also, you could find a doctor such as an osteopath or physiatrist who has been recommended to you for trigger point injections. If this doctor can inject the worst ones, then the therapist can work on the others. Injections are very tricky, so you must find a good doctor that is skilled at pinpointing them with the needle. My doctor told me that it is like "finding a needle in a haystack", because they evidently can slip away as the doctor is trying to inject them. If he/she doesn't nail them, it isn't going to help. Also, they should stretch you afterwards. Addtionally, I have had dry needling by the same doctor, and that worked too.

When I have the TrPs in isolated places like my hamstrings, quads, or adductors, my husband works on them using the book Pain Erasure The Bonnie Prudden Way to guide him. If you don't have the book The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Claire Davies, you might what to buy it to help you in treating smaller areas. Kat

Hi,
I have a more positive outlook on self treatment. I have been at it for about 10 weeks and have made tremendous progress. I have over that period encountered 15 active and another 20 latent TPs. I have gotten rid of about half of the at this point and am working on the rest. I have gone from pain that most days brought me to tears to a state where the pain is tolerable and I can slowly return to my former life.

Dealing with MPS is not for sissy's. When I first began working on the TPs it hurt so bad that I had to take breaks to avoid puking. I found a new one last week and it reminded me of the cycle that one must go through to deactivate them. At first the pain is "exquisite." You are over joyed when it eventually becomes merely excruciating because you know that you are making progress. I don't think I will ever forget the happy feeling I had when I got the first TP to stop referring pain.

Understand that I would have loved to have some experienced professional help. It just was not available to me. If you have access to and can afford to get professional help, by all means take advantage of it. If you can not access professional help, get the Davies book, a theracane, some hard rubber balls and get to it. Read the first 45 pages of the book 3 or 4 times, and then pick out a couple of the most painful spots and begin to treat them.

You will be at this for months, so learn what to do and how to do it. As Clair Davies wrote, "Plan to be good at it."

You will need also to figure out what caused this and what is perpetuating the TPs. If you don't then the TPs will come back just as fast as you deactivate them.

Good Luck

Masrea, BATW has given you excellent advice. Even if you do have access to a professional trigger point therapist you will improve faster if you self-treat the TrPs, because they are continually returning. I self- treat daily and my husband works on the areas that I can't reach. His elbow works better on my hamstrings and adductors than I can with the theracane.

Also, he mentioned that you need to find the perpetuating cause or causes of your myofascial pain. This is challenging, especially if you have multiple causes like I do.

Check out Jessie's Threads for New People posted by tiredgurl. You will find this on past posts around page 6+. Lots of good advise from Jess too.

As I've said before, I'm not a fan of the "trigger point hunt" at all -- in my personal humble opinion it's not a holistic way to approach your body. I do think reducing pain is key, and manual therapy -- which could be overall trigger point or deep massage, or the John Barnes Myofascial Release which I do and has been a godsend, or something else like acupuncture or energy work -- can be an amazing way to reduce pain. But your trigger points will remain, worsen or keep returning if you don't address why they come up in the first place. Sometimes I get the feeling people think MPS is a disease where mysterious trigger points just appear with no cause. That's not true -- trigger points come from somewhere, whether it's postural issues, poor body mechanics, muscle weaknesses and imbalances, hypermobility, whiplash, trauma, etc. Without addressing those causes, you'll be playing "whack-a-mole" on your TrPs for a very long time.

I think finding the perpetuating factors or causes of the continuation of the trigger points is the hardest aspect of myofascial pain. I'm a good example that chasing the trigger points is futile as far as eliminating myofascial pain, but I continue to do it as I look for the perpetuating factors. I know that hypermobility is a major problem so I'm working on strengthening my core. I need to address the fact that my feet pronate and I have rounded shoulders. I think these play a role too. It is complicated.

I agree, it is complicated. Extremely. VERY! Sigh...:)
And in the meantime, we all want pain relief, obviously. I just think it's important for "newbies" to understand that within all the MPS info about trigger points, it's not all about trigger points. Trigger points are the symptom and they must be "battled," so to speak, but they aren't the real ultimate enemy, IMHO.

I totally agree. If it isn't on Jess' thread for new people, maybe it should be added. I think we get lost in chasing those trigger points because they cause us so much pain and forget that according to Devin Starlanyl, myofascial pain is the result of "mechanical failures".Thus, we must also focus on the "ultimate enemy", as you so aptly describe the perpetuating factors, as we put together our healing team.