Friday, September 18, 2009

Thinking about Trigger Point Therapy and Fibromyalgia

Last weekend I went to a nearby church for Sunday Service. While there, I kept hearing of members in this church that suffered from Fibromyalgia. I've heard a lot of good news about Fibromyalgia recently. Specifically having to do with how diet and massage can effect it and even get rid of it's symptoms completely.
The four gates are supposed to help this condition (li4 and lv4--the large intestine point located at the web between your thumb and forefinger, and the liver point located between your big toe and second toe) link here

Also, Gallbladder 20, 30, 31, and 34, liver 3 (which quiets the nervous system and relaxes spasms), Pericardium 6 relaxes the mind, chest and upper digestive tract, and the combo of Spleen 6 and Stomach 36 enhances nutrient absorption. Link here.

Here's a link on how to diagnose whether you have Fibromyalgia.

Here's a good site that discusses liver qi stagnation, qi and blood deficiency, qi stagnation and blood stasis, kidney deficiency, and special points for fibromyalgia pain. It does not however look to rejuvenating the spleen-heart deficiency, which another page mentions as a possibility.
Liver qi stagnation points:(dusky or puffy tongue) yin tang, LI 4, LV 3, GB 34, an mian, ren 17, ren 12, ST 25, SP 6, UB 18, 19, and 20 (with ear points shen men, liver, sympathetic)
Qi deficiency points: (white tongue w fur) LI 4, ST 36, ren 12, SP 6, 10, PC 6, HT 6, 7, Kid 3, and UB 17, 20 (w/ ear points: adrenal, endocrine, heart, spleen)
qi stagnation points: (purple dusky tongue) DU 20, LI 4, 10, ST 36, SP 9, 10, LV 3, PC 6, UB 17, 18 (w/ ear points: shen men, adrenal, subcortex)
and Kidney deficiency points: (pale or dry tongue w cracks) ren 3, 4, 6, LI 11, LV 2, GB 39, Kid 3, 6, 7, SP6, and UB 23, 31 (w/ ear points: adrenal, endocrine, kidney)

These are the special points listed on this site:
the fibromyalgia diagnosis points, or ashi points in this image

for frontal headache-GB 14, tai yang and yin tang; vertex headache: Du 20 and si shen cong. Occipital headache: UB10, DU17 and GB20. Neck pain: UB 11, GB 20 and bai lao. Shoulder pain: LI 15, and two experienced points: point A, 2 cun anterior to LI 15 under the clavicle, and point B, 2 cun posterior to LI 15 on the back (half way between SJ 14 and LI 16). Arm pain: LI 11, SJ 5 and LI 4. Upper back pain: UB 11, UB 17, SI 12, Lower back pain: UB 23, UB 25 and UB 52, Leg pain: ST 36, SP 6, GB 30, Thigh pain: SP 10, SP 11/ST 31 and ST 32

And in general, for any tight muscle: release the muscle with three needles or pressure points - one at each insertion and one in the middle of the muscle.

What the Piko?

Eh, so what does Piko mean already? Like most Hawaiian words, Piko has lots of subtleties and meanings. Your piko is your bellybutton. Piko's are also, even more simply, holes--like if you got piko's in your clothes, you got holes, if you got piko's in your car, it's got lotsa saltwater holes or some kinda dings. In old times, and maybe some nowadays too, when a Hawaiian baby was born, the parents would cut the cord and put the dried up umbilicus in a small lava rock piko that the father would go and find. He'd put the umbilicus in the piko hole and cover it with a rock. Another use of the word "piko" is found in the center of a Hawaiian Quilt. Hawaiian quilts look something like this or like this. The center, or piko of the quilt,is thought of as the root and grounding point in the theme of the quilt. It's also a space that's thought of as a kind of portal. Bellybuttons-or piko's, they work the same way for Hawaiian Lomi-Lomi practitioners, by the way. Your piko, is your center. It is where you started to grow, and the dried up umbilicus is the first part of you to die. It is your connection to the world, and it is where you get your first wound. Hawaiians believe the soul is in the gut, and in Hawaiian Lomi-Lomi massage, healers are always rocking and sweeping into the center of the person they're working on, either to push together there, or to make space there by pushing tissue away from the center. They're also always looking to their center, taking energy from their root, and breathing into their belly as they work. In Lomi-lomi, as in Hula, your piko is where all your movements begin, and by breathing into it, and doing a little bit of hula movement as you work, the person's going to get the best manna energy possible, and you and your client are going to have the best connection.
So Piko is the best of all places for this blog to start, eh? E Komo Mai, and Welcome to this space!
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