Trigger Point Relief Press and Media Center
Press Release
Back to CD-ROM Press and Media Page -->
Interactive Self-Help CD ROM Offers Pain Elimination Techniques
(Juneau, AK) January 1, 2005: A newly-released book-on-CD ROM uses a combination of photos, text, and videos to instruct users in self-help techniques for eliminating pain. The multimedia book Pain Relief with Trigger Point Self-Help was written by Alaskan acupuncturist and neuromuscular massage therapist Valerie DeLaune, LAc.
The book navigates like a web page. “With the CD ROM format I was able to do things I couldn’t have done with a traditional print book,” says DeLaune. “For example, I’ve included 144 video segments demonstrating the self-help techniques so readers can see how to do them correctly, and replay them as often as necessary. It’s almost as good as taking your therapist home with you.” The reader can place their cursor over an interactive photograph of a body where they feel pain, a slide-out list of muscles appears, and a mouse-click takes the reader to chapters of muscles that can cause pain and other symptoms in that specific area. The book also includes hundreds of color photos with overlays of common pain referral patterns so that the user can match their pain patterns with the photos and figure out which muscles are involved. Like a web site, it also has a search feature so you can search by symptom, since “trigger points” can cause symptoms that you wouldn’t normally associate with muscle problems, such as blurred vision and joint pain.
“Trigger points” form when blood flow to a muscle cell has been reduced and metabolic wastes aren’t being exchanged for oxygen and nutrients. If enough trigger points form in one place, you may feel a “knot” in the muscle. Muscle overuse, nutritional problems, endocrine system imbalances, and stress are among the causes. Trigger points often are not located in the area in which you are actually feeling symptoms, so working on the area of pain does not afford relief. Over half the time, trigger points “refer” pain to a different area. Pain and other symptoms can be relieved if the trigger point is treated with pressure or other techniques.
“People live with a lot more pain than they need to,” says DeLaune. “There really is a lot they can do to help themselves, and become informed about their options for treatments.” DeLaune says that the earlier the intervention in a painful condition, the more likely the degree and duration of pain can be reduced or eliminated. The book is useful for treating recent aches and pains, in addition to treating chronic conditions and teaching people how to maintain their health.
Much of the information in the book-on-CD ROM is based on the pioneering research of Dr. Janet Travell, White House physician for John F. Kennedy, and Dr. David G. Simons, who joined Travell in her research on trigger point referral patterns and treatments. DeLaune also added her 15 years of expertise in treating trigger points with massage, and seven years with acupuncture.
Pain Relief with Trigger Point Self-Help retails for $49.00. You can order the book on the website http://www.triggerpointrelief.com.
[Valerie DeLaune is a licensed acupuncturist and certified neuromuscular therapist, with a Master’s Degree in Acupuncture from the Northwest Institute of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and a B.S. from the University of Washington, and certificates from Heartwood Institute and Brenneke School of Massage.]
