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Many people suffer from myofascial pain (a fancy word for pain originating in muscles or other soft tissues). They have visited doctor after doctor finally to be told "We can't find anything wrong with you." The solution is often medication, which works until the medication wears off. Sometimes operations are performed when the problem can be addressed, and possibly eliminated, by massage.

I started this blog to educate people about what massage can and cannot do. Here you'll find articles about conditions that can be improved or addressed with massage. You'll find information about different types of massage, their benefits and limitations. I'll address how you can use massage on your own to improve your performance in exercise or sports (or in other repetitive motion activities such as playing the guitar or working at a computer).

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Disclaimer

DISCLAIMER: I am a massage therapist, NOT a doctor. This blog is NOT intended as medical advice. No information herein should be used as a substitute for the advice of a licensed physician. The opinions expressed here are my own. The author will assume no liability for use of the information contained herein.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Trigger points and Carpal Tunnel

Trigger points in many muscles can cause symptoms that are often misdiagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome. The scalene muscles are at the top of this list. (Scalene Trigger Point Diagram)

The scalene muscles can cause a lot of problems for their size. The three scalenes (sometimes 4) are located in your neck. They run between your top ribs and your spine. The nerves of the arm, the brachial plexus, run between your scalenes, under the clavicle and down your arm. When the scalenes become tight they can pinch the brachial plexus in two ways. First, the nerves can be pinched between the scalenes. The nerves can also be pinched between the first rib and the clavicle when the scalenes become tight. When pinched, pain, numbness, tingling and swelling are likely to occur. If trigger points in the scalenes are released, these problems can often be solved.

Although the scalenes are the number one culprit the nerves of the arm can also be compressed in other places by other muscles such as the serratus posterior, teres minor, pectoralis major, triceps, coracobrachialis, brachialis, supinator, pronator teres, as well as some flexors and extensors of the wrist.
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