Rolfing

[Guest guest]

Thought this was interesting for those of us with horrible trigger

point trouble:

Trigger point work is valuable when working with Fibromyalgia

patients. Because of the chronicity of the pain, there are often

numerous trigger points.

People who are suffering with FIbromyalgia, are in a constant state

of heightened stimulation. They are in a sympathetic state

(neurologically overstimulated) most of the time. Therefore, their

brains are constantly on the go.

An anology is with cars. A normal car will idle at a fairly low RPM.

This prevents excessive wear and tear on the car, plus allows the car

to be put into gear with minimal stress on the components. A person

with Fibromyalgia has a much higher idle speed. Thus, there's a

greater strain on the body and mind, with less opportunity for

repair. They are in a constant state of near exhaustion. It may only

take a slight exertion for them to become exhausted. If we use the 1-

10 scale for exhaustion where 10 is exhaustion, then for a normal,

healthy person, we may be, on a daily basis at around the 1 - 5

range. This gives us a tremendous store of energy before exhausting

ourselves. Patients with Fibromyalgia, may, on a daily basis, be

running between 4-8+. This means that as MT's, we need to be very

conscious of the ability of massage improve this range, but also be

aware that the work may literally exhause the client rather than

relax them.

Chronic hypertonicity, such as that found in people with

Fibromyalgia, results in higher degrees of toxins in the tissue. When

body work is applied to someone with Fibromyalgia, the sudden surge

of toxins into the blood stream can literally make a Fibromyalgia

patient feel exhausted and possibly even sicker than when they came

in. Of course, with proper hydration, the effects of the toxins will

pass, but this must be a very important consideration with working

with a Fibromyalgia patient.