Re: Itchy feet! Arghhhh.
- From: "Janey Pooh" <janepooh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 24 Oct 2005 13:07:59 -0700
Gigglz wrote:
> Gumby...thank you for this information! It makes total sense. Since
> nothing has been working...it pretty much says it all!
YUP! At least I thought so.
>
> Last night, I used my ice packs on these damn feet and I got some
> relief. Also, I used my Biofreeze. I had to sleep with the fan on my
> feet so I could rest...so what Dr. Devin said is the truth. I will
> try massaging my ankles today, too! DAMN FRUSTRATING!
Good girl! Unfortunately, ices packs and your fan will both dry your
feet out (not sure about Biofreeze). I'm serious about dipping in ice
WATER, y'know. Get 'em moisturized. Some cool ointment before using
the fan might work.
But what I really wanted to say was - do you know what a Trigger Point
is, as opposed to a Tender Point? They're different and it would help
to know before you give yourself that ankle massage. It has to do with
Myofascial Pain . . . excerpts from
http://www.sover.net/~devstar/define.htm
"The understanding of myofascial TrPs will actually make things
simpler. Myofascial trigger points (TrPs) are well documented and can
cause the peripheral stimulation that is sustaining the central
sensitization of FMS.
The white, translucent covering you sometimes see on a chicken breast
under the skin is fascia, pronounced "fass-she-uh." That is only
part of the fascia story, however. Fascial is not facial, although you
do have fascia under your face. Fascia is almost everywhere in the
body, and its boundaries are hard to define.
Trigger Points (TrPs) are extremely sore points occurring in ropy bands
throughout the body. You can feel them as painful lumps of hardened
fascia, like nodules or like hardened peas. TRIGGER POINTS ARE NOT
PART OF FIBROMYALGIA! The bands are often easiest to feel along the
arms and legs if you stretch your muscle about 2/3 of the way out. If
your muscles are tight so that you can't feel the lumps, or even the
tight bands, that doesn't mean that the TrPs aren't there.
That's why it's important to know the pain patterns so you can find
the TrPs and work on them. Many common TrPs have referred pain or
other symptom patterns that are carefully documented. The first time I
opened the Trigger Point Manuals ("Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The
Trigger Point Manual Vol I & II" by Janet Travell, M.D., and David
Simons M.D.) I was dumbfounded. After being told for so long by
medical experts that the pain patterns I described did not and could
not exist, seeing them illustrated in a medical text brought a flood of
emotions. I felt so relieved I cried. Then, as the truth started to
hit home, I started to get angry. Why didn't these "experts" have
knowledge of Travell and Simons' work? Why hadn't I learned about
these texts in medical school! Most localized pains commonly
attributed to FMS are actually from myofascial TrPs. TrPs seem to form
throughout life as a response to many things that happen to our bodies
- overuse, repetitive motion trauma, bruises, strains, joint
problems, etc. Pain creates a neuromuscular response, and the muscle
around the pain site tightens, "guarding" the hurt area.
When muscles are in a state of sustained tension, they are working,
even if you're not. A working muscle needs more nutrition and oxygen,
and produces more waste, than a muscle at rest. This creates an area
in the myofascia starved for food and oxygen and loaded with toxic
waste - a TrP. Dr. Janet Travell, in her autobiography, "Office
Hours Day and Night" explains how dizziness, ringing of the ears, loss
of balance and other symptoms can all be caused by TrPs in the side of
the neck, in the muscle group called the sternocleidomastoid (SCM)
complex. Receptors in the SCM complex transmit nerve impulses to
inform the brain of the position of the head and body in the
surrounding space. With TrPs, the receptors lie. What they tell the
brain is not what the eyes tell the brain. When head movement changes
the SCM message - when you turn or look up from changing kitty
litter, you get dizzy. This, coupled with poor balance, can make it
seem as if the walls are tilting.
Proprioceptors are receptors that tell your body and brain where parts
of your body are in relation to the world around you and to each other.
Proprioceptor dysfunction is associated with TrPs. When we take
corners while driving, we get the impression that we're "banking" the
turn at a steep angle, as if we're on a motorcycle. Cold drafts alone
can bring on TrPs. Be careful how you move in bed. When you turn,
roll with your head flat and use your arms to help. Don't lift your
head and "lead with it" as you roll. That puts a great strain on the
neck area and electrically "loads" the SCM TrPs, just as climbing steps
or walking uphill "loads" the muscles of the thighs. This means that
the electrical potential of the muscles is changed. A common symptom
of SCM TrPs is a "drunken" walk. Every TrP has perpetuating factors,
and identifying these and controlling them will help you control the
symptoms.
An active TrP not only hurts when it is pressed, like an FMS tender
point, but it "triggers" a referred pain pattern locally or elsewhere
in the body. This pain pattern is usually similar from patient to
patient. These TrPs often produce other symptoms, also usually in the
referred pain zone. Such a TrP hurts whenever you use the involved
muscle. When the point becomes very active, symptoms occur even when
the muscle is at rest. A "latent" TrP doesn't hurt at all, unless you
press it. You might not even know it's there. It weakens and prevents
full lengthening of the affected muscle. If you press on the TrP, it
refers pain in its characteristic pattern. Latent TrPs may be
activated by overstretching, overuse or chilling the muscle. People
who get little exercise have a greater chance of developing latent
points. This is important, because some people feel that by
restricting their range of motion, they are getting rid of their TrPs.
Nothing can be further from the truth. Physical stress isn't the only
thing that can cause TrPs. Tension TrPs can occur. These are not
psychological results of tension but are physiological biological
affects of long-term emotional abuse or mental trauma. If you are
constantly holding your muscles tight in a "fight-or-flight" stress
response, this changes your body patterns. TrPs can be caused by a
surgical incision, as is often the case with abdominal surgery. TrPs
may form as a result of other medical conditions. A case of arthritis
may be otherwise well managed, for example, but the accompanying TrPs
are overlooked. The pain load of that patient could be substantially
lessened if the secondary TrPs were treated successfully. Where
muscles and tendons, bones and ligaments, come together, there are
areas of attachment. Cellular membranes in these areas can become
extremely convoluted, which increases the surface area and changes the
angle of force. This increases the potential for adhesions and causes
tissue there to become more easily torn (Simons, Travell and Simons,
1999). In these areas, Attachment TrPs (ATrPs) can develop.
When you have TrPs, muscle strength becomes unreliable. Your grip can
fail. TrPs cause muscle weakness and dysfunction before they cause
pain. You may have also noticed that if one part of your body rests
over another, the compressed part goes numb. TrPs can cause
restrictions to blood vessels, lymph vessels and nerves. Remember that
these structures pass through the fascia. Other associated symptoms
may include stiffness, muscle tightness, localized sweating, tearing,
salivation, poor balance, irregular heart beat, dizziness, pelvic pain,
diarrhea, impotence, nausea, tinnitus, goose bumps, runny nose,
buckling knees, weak ankles, illegible handwriting, headaches and
muscle cramps."
--------------------------------------------------
'Kay, if you made it this far (or even just skimmed through all that
stuff) - NOW you can check for TrPs in your legs, ankles, feet etc. and
try to "break them up", as Devin suggests in the "itching" quote I sent
you.
>
> LOL @ you walking through the grocery store with ice cubes on your arm
> pitts!!!!!! ROFLMAO!
>
> Thanks, Gumby!
Y'er welcome, Pokey. Hope it helps. If you have a really good doctor,
you could try discussing this idea of Trigger Points and Myofascial
Pain with them.
>
> Pokey, in desperated need of new feet!
Sorry - we only get one set, just like we only get one one brain. And
remember, Pokey's have a pokey wire just under their rubber skin. If
you scratch through the rubber skin, you'll have a pokey wire sticking
through. Hard to walk on a pokey wire, Pokey!! ;o)
TGC,
Gumby
>
.
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- Re: Itchy feet! Arghhhh.
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