PHYSICAL THERAPY CAN RELIEVE HEADACHES
neat thing about all of this is the work that Dr. Travell has done led to trigger point dry needling (TPDN) and a friend that worked with her, Jan Dommerholt (a guy). Jan is a physical therapist fromDenmark with a company called Myopain Seminars in Bethesda Maryland who my BFF met online when performing her doctoral work on trigger points. This BFF is still my BFF as I asked her to partner with me to start Appalachian Physical Therapy in 1986 and married her in 1988. Colleen is indeed my BFF still to this day.
(continued from outside) For instance, I remember having a patient referred to me that came in complaining of severe jaw pain. She had seen an eye, ear and nose physician who referred her to an oral surgeon that referred her to me. Like the others, I evaluated her jaw and face and came to the conclusion her jaw and face were fine. I really did not know what was causing her pain and told her so. I actually stated I would send a letter to her oral surgeon stating I found nothing wrong with her jaw and felt I had let this person down. As she was walking out, I noticed a slight limp in the way she walked and stopped her asking how long she had had the limp. She stated she was not limping and I informed her I would be the judge of that. I asked her to perform some simple testing of her calf musculature and found a very active myofascial trigger point (MTP) in her calf on the same side of her jaw complaint. AHA! I remembered reading about this in Dr. Travell’s book and quickly turned to the appropriate page showing the patient what I had found. She was pretty skeptical until I started working on her and within 30 minutes, her pain and symptoms were completely gone. To say she and I were both amazed was an understatement! Now we all know about referred pain as we are familiar with the symptoms of a heart attack. They are pain in the neck, jaw, arm, and chest. Dr. Travell was the one who educated us with this referral of heart pain as she was a cardiologist. This led to her interest in referred pain from other muscle origin. I remember first coming in contact with Dr. Travell’s work through a best friend forever (BFF) in 1985. This really got my attention and I began to start putting things together that had been a mystery beforehand. The
So you probably got more than you asked for regarding referred pain and HA’s. It is not simple however with trigger point (TP) manual work as well as TPDN, we have come a long way in successfully treating a multitude of HA’s. So if you have been diagnosed with HA’s and take medication or injections on a regular basis, it just might be helpful if we evaluated you to see if we can help in your case just as we have many who have been seen beforehand. What do you have to lose except your headache? 1: Travell Janet, Simmons David: Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction, The Trigger Point Manual, The Lower Extremities, Volume 1&2, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, 1983. 2: Travell Janet, Simmons David: Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction, The Trigger Point Manual, The Lower Extremities, Volume 2, page 430, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, 1983
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PATIENT SUCCESS SPOTLIGHTS
“I was able to begin performing tasks I thought I would never be able to do!” “This is the most wonderful place I have ever taken therapy. The people treat you like family. They gave me the best therapy I could have asked for on both my shoulder and hip. When I first started, I could only walk with help but now I can walk on my own with no assistance. Each therapist has the most up to date knowledge and I believe that this really aided in my strength and healing. Annie was most caring and kind and has a wonderful personality. With Annie’s creativity and knowledge I was able to begin performing tasks I thought I would never be able to do again. From the front office, Connie, Robin and Vicki to the techs Dan and Lauren, to all the therapist this place is truly amazing!!” - Elaine C.
“I was able to quit taking my pain medications!” “This is the second time Colleen has helped me get back on my feet. She is patient and kept working until I had significant improvement in my pain and ease of movement. Over the course of several months, I was able to quit taking my pain medications and resume my activities. I am very grateful to Colleen and the kind staff at Appalachian Physical Therapy for tirelessly helping me to recover. They never gave up on me.” - Mary Jane R. “They helped me meet my goals!” “I suffered from a broken hip and had to have therapy. My family doctor referred me to Appalachian Physical Therapy. Since that time I have been referred to physical therapy for my shoulder and knee replacements on both knees. There was never a question for me as to where I would go for physical therapy. I had seen Karen, Ray and Jon and they are absolutely professional. They helped me meet my goals. By having exercises at home and at the facility, I am able to resume my normal daily activities. I am thankful for the people who work at Appalachian Physical Therapy.” - –Helen B.
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