The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief [Paperback]

Clair Davies (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2001

This is a useful book for anyone in chronic pain. There are few resources like this one, which empowers the reader to understand the problem and offers the tools to manage it.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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.

The author’s interest in trigger point therapy began when he used it to successfully treat his frozen shoulder. Since that time, he has dedicated himself to teaching others the same techniques. That dedication is obvious throughout his writing and the care he takes to make the therapy understandable to the lay public. Also included in this new edition is updated information that should be of great interest to pain specialists and bodyworkers, as well as useful instruction in a variety of relaxation techniques. Overall, this book is an excellent self-care resource for anyone interested in pain relief.--Larry Trivieri Jr. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

There has been a great need for a comprehensive and easy-to-use resource to help patients identify individual myofascial trigger points and treat themselves. Clair Daviess Trigger Point Therapy Workbook fills that need. I believe this book will help end a great deal of needless suffering and prevent a great deal of unnecessary surgery.
—Devin Starlanyl,author of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Myofascial Pain and The Fibromyalgia Advocate

This is a splendid self-help book for people with persistent musculoskeletal pain. It tells you how to identify the problem and carefully guides you through the process of self-treatment. The principles of treating myofascial pain and myofascial trigger points developed by Drs. Janet Travell and David Simons form the basis of this book, and are well presented for use by individuals with pain.
—Robert D. Gerwin, MD, neurologist and author of Myofascial Pain: An Integrated Approach to Diagnosis and Treatment (video series)

I have long been a believer in and practitioner of trigger point therapy. I certainly recommend this book to the general public and health care practitioners. It is truly an excellent resource and provides the tools that induce self-healing and empowerment.
—Bernie S. Siegel, MD, author of Love, Medicine, and Miracles andPrescriptions for Living and former student of Janet Travell, MD, author of Travell and Simons Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual

This is . . . a well-organized, easy-to-use handbook that will indeed help sufferers of myofascial pain learn to treat themselves with effective self-massage techniques. The detail and clarity of the book's format will also make it invaluable to pain physicians who want to be able to teach their patients useful, simple strategies to manage soft tissue pain problems.
—Joseph F. Audette, MD, instructor at Harvard Medical School and director of Outpatient Pain Services at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Medford, MA

This is a useful book for anyone in chronic pain. There are few resources like this one, which empowers the reader to understand the problem and offers the tools to manage it. The approach to managing pain described in this book will help many take control of a significant part of their health and will become a valuable lifelong reference.
—Scott M. Fishman, MD, chief of the Division of Pain Medicine in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of California, Davis and author of The War on Pain

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 267 pages
• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications; 2nd edition (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572242507
• ISBN-13: 978-1572242500
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #367,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

248 of 252 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book (not Quackery), January 27, 2004

By 

David A. Lessnau (USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief (Paperback)

I was really worried that this book might have been a standard new-age, make-a-buck, quack title. Thank goodness that turned out to be a groundless worry. This is an excellent book (with medical references) that does a very good job of helping you get rid of pain. I had hurt my lower back by performing the arduous task of putting on my underwear. The doctors and physical therapist couldn't really come up with a reason for it. After a month, it still wasn't getting any better. Searching the web gave me references to this book. Within three days of reading it and poking around in my UPPER (not LOWER) back, my thighs, and my abdomen, the pain has faded to just a reminder. I'm still not able to bend and reach like I used to. But, I'm exercising and stretching again, so hopefully that'll change. Best of all, it no longer hurts just to SIT (or lie down or stand, for that matter). After showing my wife that her lower body has just about every active trigger point known, she's also reading the book and working on her points. Hopefully, her pain will reduce in a couple of days, too.

The only reason I gave this book four stars instead of five is that it's kind of hard to find and reference ALL the trigger points associated with a specfic pain FOR THE FIRST TIME. The book does have a diagram for pain locations at the start of each chapter. But, in many cases, the pain will be caused by multiple trigger points in multiple body locations. It takes quite a bit of paging through the book to figure out what you're supposed to do. Once you figure it out, though, the book is great. Of course, in the author's defense, I can't come up with a better organization method outside of having some kind of software with an anatomical display using hyperlinks.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book if you suffer from any kind of chronic pain. Even if your doctor has pronounced judgement that he/she knows what's causing things, try this book. As the author says, trigger point therapy should be the first course of treatment: it's easy and cheap.

255 of 260 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arthritis and other pains, March 29, 2002

By 

John Austen "knightly" (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief (Paperback)

I was in so much pain that I couldn't sleep at night. I was diagnosed with arthritis (hip, back, etc), but I was not satisfied that this explained my pain. Then I found Davies' book and started to work on trigger points with the rubber ball he recommends. It didn't solve all my problems, but it reduced my pain to the point where I could sleep without pills (and demonstrated that my pain was at least partly muscular)--and all for the cost of a ... little ball! And now (several other therapies later), I still keep the book and the rubber ball by my bed, and still follow its directions to massage key areas on a daily basis.

This book is terrific--the best "self-help" book I've seen. It is clearly written, well organized, mostly well illustrated, and contains a wealth of really useful detail. It is definitely not one of those "glossy" books--all photos and no useful information. The author really does take the approach of someone who was himself helped by this therapy and who wants to make it as clear and accessible to his readers as possible. Very highly recommended.

182 of 187 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I tell everyone about this book., December 1, 2001

By 

Bonny French (East Syracuse, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief (Paperback)

Mr. Davies has created a very useful reference for my practice as a registered nurse and a massage therapist. I like to show the book to all my clients and most of them end up buying it. Trigger points and the self massage therapy for them are explained in an enjoyable manner. The author's writing is so down to earth that it seems as if he's right in the same room talking to you as you read. It's well organized and based on the works of Travell and Simons. It's easy to look up a particular muscle. The detailed therapy instructions for each site have helpful illustrations and the author explains the usual causes for specific trigger points. I tell my friends, fellow massage therapists and clients that this book is the best resource for self-treatment of muscular pain I have discovered. All health care providers and receivers will benefit from this book and it's not unrealistic to say it will reduce health care costs. The book is a treasure.