Repetitive Strain Injury/Expert Profile

Expertise

I can accept questions that relate to chronic or acute pain caused by muscle spasms and contractions. Repetitive Strain Injury is actually Cumulative Trauma to muscles. Releasing the spasm &/or contraction will relieve the strain that is felt at the insertion point on the bone.

Past/Present Clients

Privacy prevents me from filling in this section without prior consent from my clients.
Life Experience: I began to get interested in the treatment of muscle spasms and contractions while I lived in Honolulu, HI. A sailing friend had severe pain following raceing each week. He would lie on the grass, bearly able to breathe from the pain in his back. I would rub his back, feeling "bumps" that I would "smooth out", and his pain would completely go away. This intrigued me, until I eventually went to school to learn how to be a Massage Therapist. I went to work on a cruise ship and had the experience of working on approximately 3000 people in one year - a great opportunity to really feel muscle spasms and contractions! I concentrated on thoroughtly learning one muscle every day, locating it on each client, and feeling "what hurts & what doesn't hurt". A six month stay in St. Thomas, USVI, was beneficial because I worked with an Osteopath who taught me excellent release techniques that I still use. Next I moved to Hawaii and worked in a clinic that only treated chronic pain patients. It was in Hawaii that I wrote my first book "Massage Therapy Healing Techniques Workbook". It was written for massage therapists and was a compilation of treatments for very specific painful conditions. The book was revised in 1996 and a companion video was added at that time. In 1995 I suffered with Frozen Shoulder - an incredibly painful condition. I was told I'd never be able to regain full range-of-motion in my shoulder. I did deep muscle therapy on myself, while a friend work where I couldn't reach. The condition healed 100%. In 1997 I developed carpal tunnel syndrome that put me out of business. Surgery was recommended, I refused because of my awareness that scar tissue from the surgery could be more detrimental than carpal tunnel syndrome. Using the knowledge I had gained through the years, especially what I had learned through the Frozen Shoulder episode, enabled me to work out what was REALLY causing the carpal tunnel condition. I worked each affected muscle, and eventually regained 100% use of my hand, completely pain free. I quickly began to treat my clients using this new knowledge, and soon afterward began teaching them how to do the self-treatment techniques. It worked everytime, except a person had already had surgery! I began clinical trials at a medical facility, where I still teach the techniques with incredible success. In 1999 Zev Cohen, MD, who was working with me developing the carpal tunnel treatment, joined me in the business. We wanted to bring this effective technique to the world, not limited to only our town. In 2000 I published my second book "How To Be Pain-less...A Beginner's Guide To The Self Treatment of Muscle Spasms". In this book, using 114 photographs, I show how to self-treat muscles throughout the body. In the summer of 2000, Dr. Cohen and I produced an instructional video teaching the carpal tunnel self treatment, and in March 2001 we opened a web site (www.aboutcts.com) to teach people about the muscular component of carpal tunnel syndrome, and to share the self-treatment system with the public.

What do you like about this subject?

I love working with people! My personal experience with conditions such as frozen shoulder, sciatica, and especially with carpal tunnel syndrome, has shown me that muscle contractions are the primary cause of most joint pains. I found that only deep muscle therapy would work to release the strain that was being placed on the insertion points, and

What do you still hope to achieve/learn in this field?

I love learning about the body, and how it works. Many conditions that are called by other names (i.e., bursitis, arthritis, etc.)respond extremely well to deep muscle therapy. It is a goal teach self-treatment techniques worldwide.

Something interesting about this subject that others may not know:

Massage is truly the oldest medical profession. When the caveman was hunting the mammoth beast, after running after it, hunting it down, carving it up, and dragging it back to the cave - surely his muscles hurt and someone rubbed his shoulders!

Something controversial or provocative about this subject

There have been many times that patients have come into the office, believing they had arthritis, trigger finger, major joint conditions, migraine headaches, tinnitis/ear pain, and other major conditions, and the only thing wrong was a contracted muscle pulling on its insertion point. They didn't need drugs, or surgery, to correct the condition.