Isnt a Headache just a Headache?
When your client says they have a headache, how do you figure out what to do with it? Aren’t all headaches just the same thing in a different place? No – there are some key differences and understanding those difference makes working with a headache successful or unsuccessful.
In Pain Patterns and Solutions Training, there are a 3 main Headache patterns and they can be all by themselves or grouped together. I would like to teach some visual skills about headaches that you can immediately apply to your hands-on work.
Problems: Headache #1 – SCM Headache Headache #2 – Trapezius Headache Headache #3 – Occipital Headache
Have you seen this #1 headache pattern?
How about #2?
And #3?
How about this one (combo of #1 and #2)?
Or this one (combo of #1 and #3)?
Or how about all of them together #1, #2, #3 (the VISE around the head)?
These images are examples of what we call “Mapping” and “Layering”.
Mapping is term unique to PPS Seminars and it refers to the ability to see patterns, what we call “Pain Patterns”, using Trigger Points and Trigger Point referral patterns. Our goal once we see the pattern is to find the “Solution” to the pain patterns. (That’s why we refer to our seminar company as Pain Patterns and Solutions Seminars)
Layering is where you put Trigger Point Referral Patterns together or on top of one another.
Anyway you look at it, Headaches are different and unqiue for different people. BUT there are only so many ways a headache will show up. If you understand those ways, then you can apply the correct work to the headache pattern you are working with.
Please join us for a FREE Webinar about the 3 headache solutions Monday, July 11th at 12:00 pm. Register for this webinar at:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/f57117fc3926cef37c24e00bf0acd2b8
The Solution for the SCM Headache Pattern:
For a basic idea, we are going to use an “X- marks the spot” to guide you in pattern finding and show you the answer for a SCM Headache.
Since Trigger Points are a consistent way of gauging pain and radiating pain, once you know where the “X” is, then you can figure out which muscles are involved that are either active Trigger Points or referral pain from a Trigger Point. Then we take it ONE STEP FURTHER.
In PPS, we train you that Trigger Points are a just a clue to a different problem.
Each Trigger Point and referral pattern are paired to a specific area of the body that is bound and stuck. Those areas are consistent and repeatable, just like Trigger Points, and we call them Scar Tissue Platforms.
The tissue that is bound and stuck is Scar Tissue. Scar Tissue forms for injury repair but also for balance. It is the balance part of Scar Tissue formation that creates many of the unresponsive pain patterns in the body that you see on your table.
Once you know where the “X” is then you can pair it to the Scar Tissue Platform it works with and work the Scar Tissue area to relieve the Trigger Point pressure.
Muscles in pain are really just experience incorrect pressure and are reacting to it- either by over lengthening or hyper-constricting. If you take away the pressure, the muscle naturally returns to its preferred state of contraction.
This concept is called Reverse Trigger Pointing. It means that you find the Trigger Point and then go opposite to find the bound areas of Scar Tissue that releases the muscle in pain.
Does it really work that way? You bet! And it works brilliantly.
For fun, because most Massage Therapists are visual manual learners, let’s do some Mapping in picture form:
X = SCM Trigger Point Headache Referral Pattern
Muscle involved = Sternocleidomastoid (see how it attaches to the head and the clavicle)
Scar Tissue Platform(s) associated to SCM Headache Patterns = Cranial Fascia (back/sides of the head) and Clavicle.
By working on top of the Clavicle (yes, on top of the bone) and the back and sides of the scalp, you can release the pressure on the SCM.
Join us for a FREE Webinar Monday, July 10th, 2017 at 12:00 pm for our “Lunch ad Learn” series for 3 kinds of Headache patterns and how to work more successfully with them at the table.
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/f57117fc3926cef37c24e00bf0acd2b8
In this training, we will go over how to work with each of these headache patterns, individually, and then as layered patterns. You will be fascinated by how simple and easy these techniques are and how well your clients respond to them.
You CAN make a greater difference for your clients in PAIN!
Have a great day and get a MASSAGE!