The first edition of this workbook is regarded as a classic in its field, and was the first book to introduce trigger point therapy to the general public as a self-care tool for alleviating chronic pain caused by a variety of conditions, including arthritis, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, headache, muscle ache, and repetitive strain injuries. As the author makes clear, all such conditions are related to lack of oxygen in exhausted or injured muscle tissue. Trigger point therapy has been used for decades by doctors, pain specialists, and massage therapists to quickly stimulate the flow of oxygen and promote rapid pain reduction. This book makes the same techniques available to the general public with instructions that are easy to follow, and abetted by an extensive collection of charts and corresponding illustrations.

This Book Changed My Life

I have never bothered to take the time to write a review for a book before, nor have I ever made the claim that a book has changed my life. This book quite literally did just that.
For all of my adult life I have had terrible chronic muscle pain in my upper back, on the outside of both shoulder blades, and in my neck. For over 20 years, not only did I suffer from the pain, but spent a small fortune trying to get help with it. I have been from doctor to chiropractor to osteopath to anyone I thought could help me. I HAD to have at least several massages a month, or I could not function. After reading this book and discovering the information on trigger points, I have been able to resolve the pain myself!! It truly is nothing short of a small miracle in my life. I will still have an occasional massage from time to time, but I don't have to because I am suffering so much I can't function. In fact the first time I visited my regular massage therapist after I had been using the trigger point therapy for a while, she knew right away something was very different before I ever said a word. I was disappointed she didn't seem to take the trigger point therapy approach a little more seriously after I explained how I had transformed my neck and shoulders with it. I try to tell everyone I know about this book in the hopes that maybe it can benefit even one other person the way it has me. The simple solution to a lifetime problem was in my own hands the whole time! Wish I could find the same kind of easy solution for life's other problems...like controlling my weight :)

Just with a tennis ball!!

This is for anyone doubtful about the information in this book, I would like to say from my own experience that my chronic lower back pain was cured and yes! just by massaging against the wall with a tennis ball. I found it an excellent guide to relieve all the tensed and stressed muscles in the body.

Excellent Self Help Guide, doctors need to own this book!

This book has absolutely been a life saver for me. I think doctors should own this book. Patients that suffer from back pain that cannot be diagnosed by MRI, CT, and other tests are probably suffering an active trigger point. I use a tennis ball as they refer to in the book to apply pressure to my trigger point in my left hip and shoulder. I also purchased the Thera-Cane that they discuss in the book and I absolutely love it! Words cannot describe how relieved and excited I was to find this book. It's fantastic. I took mine and showed it to my doctor, he was so impressed that he was planning to get himself one.