Functional Acupuncture for Sports Performance

Thank you to everyone who made our Barcelona Acupuncture Congress a success! I give a brief recap of what I talked about. Then a college Volleyball player had an injury of the interosseous muscles of the foot.     I'm running a 20% Discount for September  SEPT20 at checkout for all courses. My courses never expire!   https://richardhazel.podia.com    

Most thumb pain can be fixed really quickly with electric stimulation acupuncture on the motor points of the thumb muscles. Here's what I do for thumb pain.      Online Courses: https://richardhazel.podia.com  

I've been showing this to people in live seminars for years but I'm finally willing to say with certainty that this is repeatable and reliable for relieving the lower leg symptoms from sciatica.    Online Courses: https://richardhazel.podia.com    

Until now, sports medicine has been highly influenced by the MDs who treat injury so we often follow suit as acupuncturists. Functional Acupuncture is always looking at the whole picture. We can treat more than just the injury. We can look up the chain or into the past to find healthy muscles to optimize and improve sports performance and avoid injury.    Learn more about Functional Acupuncture with my Online Courses on Podia: https://richardhazel.podia.com      

I'm working on a tough case of knee pain on a college football player and I'm telling you here how I went about treating and adjusting my treatment as new information became clear.    Online Courses: https://richardhazel.podia.com   The New Peripheral Nerve Entrapment Course is here:  https://richardhazel.podia.com/peripheral-nerve-entrapments    

I very likely resolved two cases of hand tingling and numbness in 1 or 2 sessions.   NTOS and some other interesting trigger points.   CORRECTION: I was speaking off the cuff when I called the Lower Trapezius an Downward Rotator. It is, of course, an Upward Rotator. So much for the theory of Lower Trapzius increasing compression with the help of Pec Minor and Levator Scap! Sorry about that.     The new Peripheral Nerve Entrapment course is on Podia with a discount until the end of July. Use the code JULY100 at checkout. It's the most extensive course I've taught on PNEs https://richardhazel.podia.com/peripheral-nerve-entrapments    

In this episode I share my own self treatment to prevent low back pain with point location guidance for each point.   This is the same protocol I use for pregnant women with sciatica or SIJ pain (without the electric stimulation of course).   I'm currently running a sale on the new Peripheral Nerve Entrapment course on Podia. The Unlock the Mystery of Chronic Pain course that was recorded in Sydney this year.  JULY100 at checkout for $100 off. Good until the end of July.   https://richardhazel.podia.com    

I think I've been exercise resistant much of the time in spite of working out and eating right.   Dr. Coyle shows us that we need at least 8500 steps a day for an hour workout to have the metabolic fat-burning effects we want it to have.   Coyle EF, Burton HM, Satiroglu R. Inactivity Causes Resistance to Improvements in Metabolism After Exercise. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2022 Apr 1;50(2):81-88. doi: 10.1249/JES.0000000000000280. Erratum in: Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2022 Jul 01;50(3):172. doi: 10.1249/JES.0000000000000295. PMID: 35025844.   Online Courses: https://richardhazel.podia.com (The new Unlock the Mystery of Chronic Pain: Peripheral Nerve Entrapment Course is on sale for the month of July. Use JULY100 at checkout for $100 off)  

It's important to know the progression of muscle fiber dysfunction to better understand how to treat and how long it may take to correct the problem.   The analysis of current research provides substantial evidence supporting the progression of muscle fiber dysfunction as a significant contributor to musculoskeletal pain, aligning with the hypothesized sequence: sustained muscle tone leading to long-term muscle fiber shortening, which subsequently culminates in painful myofascial trigger points. The initial phase of this progression is rooted in the transition from normal physiological muscle tone to a state of pathological hypertonia or chronic muscle overload. Sustained low-level muscle contractions, even at submaximal levels, are shown to generate sufficient intramuscular pressure to compromise local capillary blood flow. This circulatory impairment leads to localized ischemia and hypoxia within the muscle fibers, precipitating a critical "energy crisis" due to insufficient ATP production. This energy deficit is pivotal for the subsequent development of muscle fiber shortening. ATP is indispensable not only for muscle contraction but also for the crucial process of muscle relaxation, specifically for the detachment of myosin heads from actin and the re-uptake of calcium ions. When ATP is depleted, these relaxation mechanisms fail, resulting in sarcomeres becoming locked in a state of sustained, pathological hypercontraction. This localized shortening at the sarcomere level forms the palpable "taut band" that is a hallmark of myofascial trigger points. Over extended periods, such sustained pathological shortening can also contribute to broader structural changes like muscle contractures, involving fibrosis and a permanent reduction in muscle length. The culmination of this progression is the development of painful trigger points. The sustained sarcomere hypercontraction, driven by the energy crisis and calcium dysregulation, creates a severely acidic local environment. This acidic milieu, coupled with tissue injury from prolonged ischemia, triggers the release and accumulation of various neuroactive and inflammatory mediators. These substances directly stimulate and sensitize muscle nociceptors, manifesting as the exquisite tenderness and characteristic referred pain associated with active myofascial trigger points. Furthermore, the pathophysiology of myofascial trigger points is characterized by a complex, self-perpetuating vicious cycle. The energy crisis and subsequent acidic environment inhibit acetylcholinesterase, leading to prolonged acetylcholine effects and further sustained muscle contraction. Concurrently, mediators like calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) not only potentiate muscle contraction but also directly activate nociceptors. This intricate feedback loop ensures the chronicity of the condition, as the consequences of muscle shortening directly exacerbate the initial problem of sustained contraction and pain. This comprehensive understanding of the progression from sustained muscle tone to muscle shortening and painful trigger points has significant implications for both clinical practice and future research in musculoskeletal pain. For clinicians, it underscores the importance of early identification and intervention for chronic muscle tension and overuse, aiming to disrupt the energy crisis cycle before fixed structural changes or chronic pain states become entrenched. Therapeutic strategies should not only target pain relief but also address the underlying metabolic and biomechanical dysfunctions, including restoring proper muscle length, improving local circulation, and resolving the energy deficit. For researchers, the identified roles of specific molecules like CGRP and the intricate feedback loops within the "energy crisis" model present promising avenues for developing novel diagnostic markers and targeted pharmacological or rehabilitative interventions that can effectively break the self-perpetuating cycle of myofascial pain.   Online Courses: https://richardhazel.podia.com    

I almost never hear discussion about this muscle for midback pain.    My two cents about this muscle and how to assess and treat it.    Online Courses: https://richardhazel.podia.com