How I Went From Illness and Addiction to Wellness and Being a Myofascial Trigger Point Therapist

I had headaches/migraines as a child that continued into my adult life. I finally got rid of them at the same time as I got rid of my back pain, over a decade ago. At the time that I got rid of my pain, I had a contracting business with a few employees. I enjoyed my work, but most mornings woke up with a headache and some back pain. When I saw a therapist  that does Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy and followed the protocol they gave me, within five visits I was totally pain-free.

It turns out, it was my sleep positions and hip height. Also sugar was a big contributing factor.  When I saw what this did for me I couldn't believe it. No drugs, no strengthening exercises, but gentle stretching to make the muscles their full natural length. I was amazed, and realized that I had found what I was going to do the rest of my life.

Even before I started back to school for this, I was helping family members and friends getting rid of headaches just from what I had learned as a patient. Now, I will tell you that at the time I got rid of my headaches from the muscle pain, I had been on about 80 pills a week for pain, muscle tightness, insomnia/sleep disturbance.  I had to check myself into rehab because of the amount of drugs the Docs had me on, that I'd agreed to take. 

I thank God that I'm alive and well today, and clean ... and feel great. So when a patient comes in to see me or comes in virtually via video for a consultation remotely and says "you have no idea what I'm experiencing", I say "lets compare stories".  I usually win that one. That helps my patients to understand that I know where they are coming from, it's not in their heads, they really hurt, and we need to find the "why" of their pain. That's my goal with anyone that I consult with remotely or see in my office. Find the "why" of their pain.

I look at it as a challenge, and also as being a detective. I get excited to find something that Docs miss. Unfortunately Docs typically don't know muscle function, and because of that they miss trigger points and, more importantly, why and how the trigger points got there in the first place.

So this is a job for me now, and I love doing what I do. I hope that I can do this another 30 yrs and help a lot of people learn more and find true solutions for themselves and others. I've been blessed to now have a pain-free life, and I want others to have that blessing as well.

Thanks again for taking time to get me into your group here.  I feel

this is going to help a lot of folks and I'm excited to be a part of it. 

Sincerely,
Frank Gresham
CMTP