Begin your journey of relaxation with a chocolate peppermint foot soak. Then let the stresses of your life melt away with a 90 minute Swedish massage. Finally, rejuvenate with a custom facial using our organic skin care line. $215
Let holiday shopping be easy and enjoyable!
Need a break from the shopping craziness? Come visit The Dragontree, get a spa treatment, and then treat your friends and family to Dragontree gift certificates or spa products for the holidays. It’s a win/win for everyone!
Or if staying home and relaxing is more your scene, you can order all your gift certificate, gift packages, and spa products online, in your pajamas, sipping tea, and listening to Frank Sinatra (or whatever you are into).
Holiday gift certificate special:
Buy 3 gift certificates for $50 or more and receive a free foot bath (value of $25+). Offer expires 1/1/09
We’ve got beautiful new gift cards to give to your friends and family that come in a gift card "cozy" that present your gift with style!
Holiday Gift Packages:
Peace - Fizzy Peace foot bath gift card, small Relax aromatherapy bath salts, 3 oz soy Spanish Amber candle, and 4 Dagoba Chocolate tasting squares. $50
Chocolate Bliss - 30 min. neck massage gift card, Chocolate sugar scrub, Chocolate Cinnamon bath fizzy, 5 Dagoba chocolate squares, Mexican Cocoa pillar Candle. $75
Joy - Fresh Feet Package gift card, Thai Lemongrass pillar candle, small Uplift aromatherapy bath salts. $100
Rejoice - 90 min. Swedish massage gift card, Holiday candle set, Love aromatherapy bath & body spray, Cardamom Ayurvedic lip balm. $150
Relax - 60 min. Swedish massage and Daydream facial gift card, Tibetan Mountain Temple pillar candle, Lavender milk bath, Lavender neck & shoulder pack, small Relax bath salts. $200
Holiday Harmony - Shakti spa package gift card, Chocolate Cinnamon bath fizzy, Holiday candle set, small Love aromatherapy bath salts. $250
by Peter Borten, L.Ac.,
Acupuncturist and Herbalist at the Dragontree
Many times in human history, major discoveries haven’t been immediately appreciated for just how significant they were. Sometimes the ones who made these discoveries died before the world recognized their achievement. One such discovery, still lingering in its "waiting period," is the topic of this month’s newsletter.
Janet Travell was born in 1901. She graduated with honors from the medical college at Cornell University in 1925. In the following decades, she became interested in muscular pain, and began to develop new techniques for treating it. In 1955, she was called on by John F. Kennedy (a senator at the time) for help with debilitating back pain due to injuries he sustained in World War II. Travell cured Kennedy’s pain, and after he won the presidency, he made her the first woman to hold the post of personal physician to the President. He later credited Travell with saving his political career, which he and his family felt would have otherwise been derailed by his pain.
In 1983, Travell and colleague David Simons, MD, published the first volume of an opus on the subject of muscular pain. In this book, Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction, Travell and Simons explore the phenomenon of trigger points. (Not to be confused with acupressure points or "pressure points," though they do share some locations.) They define a trigger point as a highly irritable nodule of tissue that occurs in a tight band of muscle. Trigger points tend to occur in predictable places and produce predictable patterns of pain. The fascinating thing is that a trigger point produces a pain pattern that is much broader than the irritable region itself. Even more fascinating is that in most cases the pain occurs at a different place than where the trigger point is located.
In my experience, the vast majority of chronic pain is due to trigger points. Besides pain, trigger points cause a wide range of other symptoms which usually aren’t suspected to come from our muscles. Trigger points in the back, shoulders, and neck frequently cause numbness and tingling in the arms and hands. Trigger points in the neck can cause nasal and sinus symptoms that mimic allergies or a sinus infection. They can also cause migraines, earaches, jaw problems, vision changes, hearing loss, and coughing. Frequently, the symptoms of trigger points are misdiagnosed as problems with the internal organs. For instance, trigger points in the chest muscles can produce pain like a heart attack, and trigger points in muscles of the abdomen or lower back may appear to be problems in the intestines or reproductive organs.
Trigger points form as a result of muscle abuse, and there are many ways to abuse muscles. The most common are repetitive motions (such as typing, driving, and other occupational tasks), accidents, playing sports, poor posture, overwork, tightening due to stress, and carrying bags. Immobility could also be considered a form of abuse, as a lack of stretching and exercise makes our muscles more prone to damage.
Travell and Simons mapped out all the major sites where trigger points occur and explained what kinds of symptoms each one produces. It’s been over 25 years since their first book was published, yet this information has mostly been ignored by the medical mainstream. I have seen hundreds of patients with chronic pain who have taken painkillers and have gone to pain specialists, surgeons, and sometimes even chiropractors and massage therapists, without getting significant improvement in their pain. When I do acupuncture on them, I invariably find many trigger points. In about nine out of ten cases, when the trigger points are released there is profound relief. I don’t mean to imply that these other practitioners aren’t good at what they do, just that they either didn’t consider trigger points or didn’t know how to treat them.
As Dr. Simons points out, despite the fact that muscles comprise so much of the human body and have so many functions, there is no field of medicine that focuses specifically on them. This honor is left mostly to acupuncturists and massage therapists. Travell and Simons initially deactivated trigger points by either injecting them with a small amount of a numbing agent (like novocaine) or spraying them with a coolant and then stretching the muscle. However, it was later discovered that a trigger point can be mechanically released by poking at it a certain way with a needle, even without injecting anything into it.
This practice, termed "dry needling" (since no liquid is injected) was readily adopted by acupuncturists, who use smaller and finer needles which can be maneuvered with great precision. Travell and Simons also discovered that certain massage techniques are highly effective at releasing trigger points. While most acupuncturists and massage therapists are familiar with trigger points, if you decide to see someone for trigger point release, ask if this is something they specialize in.
Much of the work of managing trigger points can be done by you at home. Balls are my favorite tool for self-treatment of trigger points. You can lie on a ball in just the right spot, or you can stand with a ball between your body and a wall. The idea is to exert pressure on the trigger point and roll across it with sort of a "milking" motion. Tennis balls are okay, but I usually prefer a solid ball, such as a baseball, high bounce ball, or lacrosse ball. There are also a number of tools, such as the Body Back Buddy
and the Thera Cane
that can make it easy to access areas which are otherwise difficult to get to. While I own some of these tools, I feel there’s no substitute for getting worked on by another human being, so I also recommend acupuncture and massage.
The only drawback to using balls, tools, and massage to release trigger points is that it’s somewhat painful work. When I do it to myself, I sometimes bring myself close to tears. But in my opinion, a few minutes of pain in order to alleviate a persistent problem is a very reasonable trade-off. A small number of my patients also find acupuncture for trigger points to be uncomfortable, but this discomfort usually fades very quickly after the needles are inserted.
The key to lasting relief from trigger points is using our bodies in a smart way. Pay attention to the ways you perform motions repetitively or utilize muscles unevenly. If you’ve ever worked with a trainer, you know how important good form is when exercising. Poor form is the main cause of injuries, and the same is true in everyday life. Our daily activities frequently constitute an all-day workout. Yet few of us stay conscious of maintaining good form when we’re, say, talking on the phone or carrying a purse.
While perpetual awareness may seem daunting, the good news is that as you work out your trigger points and return to balance, you also become more conscious of when you’re using your body in an unhealthy way. If your business offers a consultation with an ergonomics specialist, take advantage of it. Adjusting your work station to minimize postural stress can make a huge difference in how you feel at the end of the day. There are lots of resources on trigger points available online and also many great books. As with JFK, trigger point treatment may be the key to resurrecting a life that seems doomed to be painful.
With love,
Peter and Everyone at The Dragontree
