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com
The Truth About Muscle Pain
Find out one of the biggest unrecognised causes of Muscle Pain
And how to switch it off - without drugs, surgery
or expensive treatments.
Dr Jonathan Kuttner
MBBCh, Dip O&G, FRNZCGP, Dip Sports Med, Dip MSM, FAFMM.
www.Life After Pain.com
Many people have muscle pain - its one of the most common things we all experience at some stage in our lives. Some of
you, though, may have had muscle pain for years and all the experts you have seen have been unable to explain it or help
you.
There is, however, an explanation for muscle pain thats not so well known. Im talking about:
Myofascial Trigger Points
Most people have them (though they may not be active.) They can cause shooting pain, dull aching pain, and stiffness. And
if you have active trigger points, all the anti-infammatorypills, gels, exercises - even surgery wont do you any good.
What will help? Learning how to fnd and switch off trigger points - and stop them coming back.
So lets dive right in.
What is a trigger point? The basic defnition is a very small area of spasm within your muscle. The trigger point can be latent
(not in spasm, but with that potential - like a dormant volcano) or active (spasmed and painful.)
Some people have a few active trigger points, some people have dozens.
Trigger points can radiate pain throughout your body or in a specifc location. It all depends on the type and number of
trigger points that you have.
Now, before you get anxious about having triggers, there are a few things I want you to know.
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1. Trigger Points do not cause damage. They are painful, but they dont actually damage your muscles, or the
surrounding area.
2. You can switch off trigger points without medication, surgery or expensive equipment.
Some people have the problem that their trigger points keep coming back - well address that in a later email.
But for now, what I want you to know about triggers is:
a) They are not causing permanent damage
AND....
b) you can switch them off yourself.
Lets go in a bit more detail into the science of trigger points - what they are, why we know they arent damaging you, and
then well get into how to switch them off.
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What is a trigger point?
Medically, its defnedas a hyperirritable locus within a
tight band of skeletal muscle. In laymans terms, its an
area of spasm - or knot - within a muscle.
When you have a trigger point, it pulls a thin band of taut
muscle which runs the length of the muscle fbre.And
when youre looking for triggers, this feels like a guitar
string within the bulk of your muscle.
A diagram of a Trigger Point within the muscle
A Trigger Point is like a knot
within your muscle
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So after youve examined your muscle and are able to
feel a tight band within it - like a taut guitar string - how do
you know for certain that its a trigger?
A brief scientifc interlude....the picture above is
a photomicrograph of a myofascial trigger point
within skeletal muscle. In the lower half you can see
parallel bands of so-called I-bands & A-bands.
They are evenly spread. In the upper half there
is a central elliptical area where the bands are
squeezed incredibly tightly together.
This is the myofascial trigger point. The band of
fbres on either side of this are stretched further
apart than normal.
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The test for identifying trigger points is quite simple.
Trigger points act like the trigger of a gun - when the gun is fred, the bullet causes pain elsewhere. Similarly, when a trigger
point is activated, it sets off a pain pattern - sometimes causing pain far from the site of the trigger.
For more information of how triggers work - click here.
Each pain pattern is specifc to that trigger point. There are hundreds of riggers scattered
around the body. Remarkably, each trigger point pattern has been shown to be consistant
over thousands of people.
Here is a pain pattern for the trapezius muscle - a very common trigger point.
As you can see, pressing on the trigger point (the small black cross) causes pain to radiate
in a band up into the back of your head.
Many people who spend their entire day working hunched in front of a computer get this
pain. It can seem like a sore neck, or tension headache.
But in fact its caused by a trigger point in your shoulders.You can test for this trigger point
now. Just put your hand on your shoulder, and search in that spot.
Apply gentle pressure, until you fndaspot where you push into your shoulder muscle - and
get pain that travels up your neck
This is an active trigger point..
Trapezius Trigger Point
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Now you know what to look for, lets get onto how you can switch off your trigger points.
The frst thing I want you to know is this:
Trigger Point releases - when done correctly -
should not hurt.
I know the No Pain, No Gain philosophy - and it doesnt apply here. Think about it - when you
stress a muscle, it automatically tightens up - as a protective refex.This is part of what causes
trigger points in the frst place.
So doing trigger point releases that cause your muscles to tighten up is like trying to lift a chair
youre sitting on. Youre working against yourself.
Now there is a marvelous technique for doing pain free trigger point releases which Im going to describe to you soon.
But frst I want you to understand exactly how trigger points work. Once you understand this youll see why a pain free
trigger point release is so important.
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The key structure in understanding trigger points is the muscle spindle fbre.This is a nerve arranged in a spiral,
looking and behaving like a spring. It is found in parallel with your muscle fbres.
When it is stretched, it sends messages to your spinal cord. When the muscle fbre reaches beyond a critical length,the
spindle will fre a particular message.
This message then goes up your nerve to the spinal cord and zooms straight back to the muscle fbre - causing it tocontract.
This is the simplest feedback loop you can have.
So Trigger Points are in fact part of a
protective mechanism your body uses to keep safe - to
stop muscles being over stretched, and joints being
damaged.
Problems (and trigger points) happen when your muscle
spindle becomes sensitised - for example after your have
been injured. It stays in this protective mode. This means
it will not allow the muscle fbre to lengthen at all and will
cause a localised knot of spasm. This localised spasm is
the myofascial trigger point.
Trigger points cause your muscle stays in spasm - even
when there is no threath of damage.
Diagram of the feedback
loop between nerve, muscle
and muscle spindle
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Trigger points are a
misguided message.
Theyre like a security
alarm thats been switched
on - and hasnt been
switched off.
Switching off trigger points is therefore a matter of interrupting the spasm message your
muscle spindle is sending to your nerve. And you can do this in a pain free way by using
Ischemic Pressure.
Ischemic Pressure involves gentle increasing pressure on the trigger point. Over a few
minutes, this will reset the messages to the muscle - switching off the trigger point.
This is a pain free trigger point release - you stay just below the pain threshold while gently
increasing pressure. Ill give you a link to free video on how to do shortly.
But frst,lets look at why some of the more traditional ways of relieving muscle pain that
dont work if you have trigger points....
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Theres stretching your muscles. This doesnt work
because your muscles are in spasm and will continue
to be in spasm until the trigger points are switched off.
Stretching muscles with trigger points is just like pulling
harder on a knot - youll just make it tighter.
What you actually want to be doing is loosening the
trigger frst - after which stretching can be very helpful.
Theres traditional massage. This can be slightly
helpful, but only if the masseuse is actually putting
pressure on the trigger points. And to do an ischemic
trigger point release you need to apply pressure in a
very specifcway.
Then theres anti-infammatory gels and pills. These
may relieve some types of pain but trigger points are
not in fact caused by infammation - so these are not so
effective
So how do you do a Trigger Point Release using
ischemic pressure?
Traditional massage
only helps if its targeting
precisely the trigger
points- and applying
ischemic pressure
Stretching muscles with triggers
doesnt help - you need to release
the trigger frst
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Click here to watch a video that shows you exactly how to do ischemic trigger point releases.
So thats all for now, folks.
In the next emails, well dive deep into:
- how to fnd trigger points - anywhere in your body.
- more techniques to switch triggers off
- how to stop triggers from coming back.
So stay tuned and check your mailbox.
Please feel free to share this report with friends and family
- anyone you think could beneft from this knowledge.
And if youre not already subscribed to receive more free information on trigger points - heres where to sign up.

Best Regards,
Dr Jonathan Kuttner.
MBBCh, Dip O&G, FRNZCGP, Dip Sports Med, Dip MSM, FAFMM.
www.Life After Pain.com
If youre reading this report, then youre probably tired of being in pain. Youre looking for a reliable, safe way to get rid of
muscle pain - without expensive treatments, surgery or pain medication.
Before you close this document and get on with your day,
I have 3 quick questions for you:
1. Did you know that some of the most common treatments for sore muscles actually make them
WORSE?
2. Are you aware that muscle spasms cause pain that can be felt anywhere from in your in your body - from your head
down do your toes - and in fact theyre sometimes mistaken for arthritis, irritable bowl syndrome,
or even toothache?
3. Did you know that there are some simple, easy to apply techniques you can do yourself to get rid of muscle pain -
and you can feel the initial results within minutes?
Ill explain more in detail shortly, but frst, let me tell you a story.
It was the summer of 87, and I was a (fairly) young doctor. Id always led an active life, with lots of sport - tennis, hockey,
cricket. But I always had stiff sore muscles, and Id resigned myself to the fact that this was just how I was made - and there
didnt seem to be anything I could do about it.
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Then, one day, a friend gave me a book on trigger points.
Huh? I thought. What are Trigger Points? And I started to read.
It was one of those lightbulb moments. I spent that weekend going through and fnding every trigger point I could on myself
(I had loads of them,) and switching them off.
It was the frst time I was painfree - in as long as I could remember.
Then I started to treat the people who came in to see me in my medical practise. And I met a LOT of people withtrigger
points - some of whom had been in pain for years - and never knew that it was caused by trigger points.
So I started teaching people how to fnd and treat their own triggers. And I saw many people get their own lightbulb moment
- the moment when they realised that they could fx themselves.
Using just their hands - or a strategically placed tennis ball, they had everything they needed to treat their own muscle pain,
and get rid of triggers - for good.
So - how is this going to help you?
Well, if youre ready to take action and get rid of triggers for good, you can get started on the Trigger Point Treatment Course
right now. Its the exact techniques Ive used on myself - and taught to my patients - to fnd, switch off and stop triggers
coming back.
Get the Treat Your Triggers Course Here
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Jonathan Kuttner Bio
After a serious hangliding accident above the cliffs of his home coastline,
Jonathan had 6 years of chronic back pain. He had been a family doctor for more
than 20 years, but this sudden change lead him to specialise in treating people
with chronic muscular and joint pain - a specialty called Musculoskeletal Medicine.
Having found a solution to his own pain, Jonathan now kite surfs, plays tennis,
does Tai Chi and plays the cello in his coastal haven in New Zealand.
Jonathan also runs a clinic treating people with chronic pain four days a week - for
more details go to:
www.kuttner.co.nz
Hes a frm believer in the concept of Knowledge = Power. Understanding the reason for your pain is the frst and vital step
to healing, and you are your own best healer.
He started www.LifeAfterPain.com to help people frst understand, then help themselves get out of the chronic pain cycle.
More than 18,000 people visit this site monthly, and he has a growing newletter readership - at the last check there were
more than 33,000 subscribers. Hundreds of people have beneftted from his online triggerpoint course, which he continues
to revise and improve.
For more information on how to get rid of trigger points, including neck stretches, advice on posture to avoid trigger points,
nutritional advice and more, go to the:
Life After Pain Web Site
Dr Jonathan Kuttner.
MBBCh, Dip O&G, FRNZCGP, Dip
Sports Med, Dip MSM, FAFMM.
www.Life After Pain.com
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