Throughout life - thanks to the exigencies of bird, active childhood, and the traumas, diseases, alii occupational stresses of adulthood - our muscles tend to accumulate tender, irritable spots (trigger points). The ancient Chinese were aware of them 3,000 years ago, but it has taken Western physicians until the 20th century to come up with a successful therapy to relieve trigger points.

Dr. Janet Travell devised Trigger Point Injection Therapy (TPIT) during the 1940s, after she had published her study of muscular pain caused by trigger points. Later, the physical fitness expert Bonnie Prudden adapted this standard medical procedure so that it could be applied manually, using the pressure of thumbs, hands, or an elbow.

Elements of Therapy

The client lies on a table for the myotherapy session. Sustained, firm pressure is applied for about seven seconds at a time to the highly irritable spots in abnormally taut bands of muscle. Once the trigger points have been relieved and the muscles released, the client is encouraged to undertake some passive stretching exercises to retain the flexibility created during the course of the lesson.

Tagged under:bonnie prudden elbow Herbal Medicines medical procedure muscles physical fitness traumas trigger point injection trigger points western physicians

Share This

Filed under: Herbal Medicines