Sessions With Melissa

A great book for understanding self-myofascial release.

Source of Pain
We generally think that if it hurts “right there” that is the source of our pain. Collectively, a lot of research has been done to change our current approach to pain relief, and for those of us who study the wisdom behind this work, it becomes more accessible to everyone.

“I love puzzles and the way the human body is put together is the greatest puzzle of all. I enjoy helping people make a mind-body connection to their physical self. I often hear: ‘I didn’t even know I was tight there!’ Being in tune with our body is the health and wellness education we never received in school.”  – Melissa

In my work, I use referred pain manuals researched and documented by Dr. Janet Travell (President Kennedy’s personal doctor) and Dr. David Simons to hunt down discomfort or trigger points in the body, and then use release techniques that increase blood flow in the muscle and fascia, often called trigger point therapy and myofascial release.

Myo = Muscle. Fascia = Connective tissue. 

The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook
A great resource to help anyone willing to invest time to research and locate pain patterns and their sources. The book is divided by parts of the body. Each section has line drawings that refer to potential muscles that may contribute to pain or discomfort. Each muscle has a short relatable story about real people and their pain scenario’s to help you understand if the symptom and location is what you are experiencing.

The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook is basically a reduction of information from the classic red books written by Dr. Travell and Dr. Simons and uses non-medical language. The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook is a great addition to anyone’s medical library for soft tissue pain and restricted range-of-motion. Better than Google, IMO.

The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook is a great addition to anyone’s medical library for soft tissue pain and restricted range-of-motion.

By identifying and learning about causes of acute and chronic musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction we can help relieve underlying causes of muscular pain and prevent recurrence.

Your healthcare providers have great skills and understanding within their specialties yet they may lack knowledge about how to resolve myofascial pain and dysfunction or give you very basic instructions with no referrals other than physical therapy. Your PT can also be very siloed in their approach and often does not address the body as a whole moving system.

Buy The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook on Amazon: https://a.co/d/j2AUqPT

Although trigger points and an unbalanced musculoskeletal system are not life-threatening, if left untreated, they can lead to chronic pain that significantly reduces quality of life and may result in hardship due to medical bills related to diagnosing the problem. Lost time due to pain affects our ability to work, exercise and enjoy quality of life.

Schedule with a Myofascial Release Practitioner
I often recommend this book to clients, but they still find the exercises difficult. That’s why working with a myofascial release practitioner is important; it helps them feel the intense sensations and learn how to practice on themselves at home.

Experiencing a myofascial release session helps you understand how doing at-home self-work should feel.

So, buy the book, it’s a great resource. And come see me for a Myofascial Release session. I can teach you how to perform the exercises in the book.

By Melissa Osgood
BA, CPT, CES

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_Footnotes:

Read about Dr. Travell and Dr. Simons and their contributions to wellbeing. https://www.janettravell.org/blog/travell-and-simons-true-medical-pioneers

Buy The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook on Amazon: https://a.co/d/j2AUqPT