Beyond-Brawn-2nd-Edition

BEYOND BRAWN
so mild that they go unnoticed, they are dangerous. Given the right combination
of physical and emotional stresses, they can magnify into a massive tearing
spasm that has the capability of ruining a career or even costing a life.
Relief from pain is achieved by interrupting the spasm-pain-spasm cycle. Conventional
medicine does that with medication, etc. [Trigger point therapy] does
it with pressure.
18.107 Trigger point therapy is not something for just treating long-term injuries,
but for preventing minor niggling aches and pains from developing into serious
injuries.
18.108 Some physical therapists and chiropractors use trigger point therapy as part
of their arsenal of tools. But it is kept within closed doors, so to speak.
Chiropractic
18.109 Trigger point therapy cannot substitute for chiropractic (thrusting-type
manipulations of the vertebrae) because there are injuries that only chiropractic
or another manipulative therapy can treat. I am biased toward chiropractic
because I have first-class experiences of its benefits, and because
I know that chiropractic has standardized training for licensed chiropractors.
e same cannot be said of osteopaths, however, where the lack of
standardized training in all of its schools has produced major problems
of inconsistency among practitioners—from the excellent to the bogus.
(Physiotherapists, by the way, work under a doctor and are not qualified
to diagnose, unlike chiropractors. Neither are physiotherapists trained in
adjustments, though some “illegally” perform them, and some have produced
severe damage in patients, and made problems much worse.)
18.110 ere are injuries that are not usually in the territory of general practitioners
of chiropractic. But chiropractors who have added adjunctive therapies
(including trigger point therapy) from post-graduate training specifically
for sports injuries will be able to help, e.g., a certified chiropractic sports
physician. Examples of areas that may not be in the territory of a general
practitioner of chiropractic are toe, shoulder and knee injuries.
18.111 In April 1993, before I was using a contoured pillow, I woke up one morning
with my neck in a mess, and tilted. I could not get relief using the trigger
point therapy I tried, but upon visiting a general practitioner of chiropractic
I had an adjustment. I felt 50% improvement immediately. e other 50%
took place over the next two days. is was a graphic reminder of how pow-
378