Let me tell you
about Mary Biancalana and the value of myofascial trigger point therapy. A
lifelong fitness expert and personal trainer, in her early thirties Mary found
herself with chronic headaches. First, she was told they were ‘psychological,’ then
a manifestation of a little understood term called “trigger points” and another
condition she’d never heard of called Myofascial
pain syndrome (a lesser problematic, distant cousin of fibromyalgia). She
wanted to use holistic medicine, so first she consulted me as a patient in 1993
and started her personal quest for wellness. That lead her to study and become
an expert in the treatment for eliminating myofascial pain syndrome and
fibromyalgia and we have referred patients to each other ever since.
In 1999 she discovered
myofascial trigger point therapy and knew her life would never be the same.
After just a few myofascial trigger point treatments and simple lifestyle
changes her headaches were gone! Mary worked for 7 years at the holistically
oriented Fibromyalgia Treatment Centers of America with integrative physician
Dr. Mike McNett but soon saw her mission was not only to treat patients but to
teach physical therapists and massage therapists how to expand their
professional skills by learning myofascial trigger point therapy. So, she has been teaching advanced
courses one weekend per month all over the country since 2007.
In 2014 she founded
The Chicago Center for Myofascial Pain Relief incorporating wellness education,
personal training, and myofascial trigger point therapy on the far northwest
side of Chicago.
Since opening
WholeHealth Chicago in 2000 (initially named Chicago Holistic Center in 1993),
I realized I am now reaching my third
decade of referring patients to Mary Biancalana. Then, when I published my
own books on fibromyalgia, “The Triple Whammy Cure” and “Healing Fibromyalgia”,
that kept a steady flow of traffic between Mary’s office and WholeHealth
Chicago. We are now especially happy to have found a myofascial trigger point
therapist of her skills to now be on our staff. But it’s not just Mary
Biancalana, she has brought with her two of her highly trained colleagues, Mike
Pilney and Sue Dimbert. Together they make up one of the most highly trained
and skilled group of practitioners ready to eliminate muscle problems and
restore full, pain-free function.
What Are Trigger
Points And What Is Their Relationship To Fibromyalgia And Chronic Pain Or
Muscle Problems?
By themselves, myofascial trigger points are a very common cause of pain and usually localized to one or
two areas of the body. They have an interesting property in that they can refer
pain to an area not necessarily where they are located, a trigger point in your
neck can refer pain all the way down your arm or to your upper back. Picture
Myofascial Trigger Points as a tight, highly contracted area in your muscles
and fascia stuck in a feedback loop of pain which tries to protect itself by more
tightness, the result being more pain. As you can imagine, Trigger Points are
not only painful, but the efficiency of muscles nearby are impaired. A golfer
notices a change in his swing, a dentist has difficulty using her hand, a
professional violinist starts worrying about his career. The list goes on and
on, and the pain can be every day. Just to clarify; “myo” means muscle, and
“fascia” is the three-dimensional connective tissue matrix that surrounds and
interpenetrates all soft tissue areas of the body. This modality is not
myofascial release per se. This modality addresses the fascia as well as the
muscle. The two cannot ever be separated nor can one be treated without the
other, thus the name Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy.
Myofascial Trigger Points Are A Message From The Rest Of Your
Body That Something’s Not Quite Right
In addition to
treating the actual ‘stuck’ Trigger Points, a good myofascial trigger point
therapist will review your lifestyle, stresses, nutrition, posture, how you
once held your violin in comparison to the way you are holding it now, the
weight of that backpack (or that child you’re carrying), the posture in which
you sleep or drive and any number of other “perpetuating factors” or things we
all may do that keep the muscles in this “stuck” state.
Fibromyalgia is
definitely real. We’re learning more about Fibromyalgia every year but there
are several things we do know for sure, including that there is a direct
relationship with myofascial trigger points.
- Its main manifestation is PAIN, the slow but steady appearance
of myofascial trigger points over your body spread equally above and below your
waistline and on the left and right halves of your body.
- Although for years, patients were told “not a disease, no blood
tests”, indeed there is a blood test to measure inflammatory cytokines which
are very high in fibro patients.
- Virtually all the prescription medications (antidepressants,
muscle relaxants, Lyrica, pain meds) are “Band-Aids” improving symptoms but not
curing.
- To reduce dependence on medications, myofascial trigger point
therapy, massage, home-care activities and acupuncture as well as Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy and diet changes have all been shown very effective.
- At this point, we don’t have a cure for Fibromyalgia, but
treatment can bring your level of pain from a 9-10 to a 1-2.
Now That We Know Trigger Point Therapy Will
Help Both Trigger Points And Fibromyalgia, What Exactly Is It?
The Team: Mary Biancalana, Mike Pilney and sue Dimbert.
