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The Why of Your Pain - A Presentation by Certified Trigger Point Therapist Frank Gresham. My Overview
Fri, 08/16/2013 - 5:21pm
The Why of Your Pain - A Presentation by Certified Trigger Point Therapist Frank Gresham
Frank Gresham is a Certified Trigger Point Therapist (CTPT), and as such, specializes in muscle function. Frank believes, through the training in his specialty of trigger point therapy theory, that muscle dysfunction causes 92% of the pain in the United States. "I get a lot of tough stories about pain -- there are a lot of hurting people out there", he says.
Editing in August 2018, with about 5,900 reads so far of this topic, Frank on Facebook today posted such a great photograph of new shoes he had found when out shopping where shoes are sold. Look at this!"It's no wondered we're so messed up" is all I have to say. If you have a remote consultation or in person with Frank, your shoes will be a key ingredient. ~ Mardy
The type of medicine, called a 'medical model' that looks at the underlying reasons for pain or illness/"problems" to find the 'why' and address the why/whys, is known as 'functional medicine'. Functional medicine is rapidly becoming the preferred form of medicine by those who have shifted away from 'conventional' / 'modern'/ allopathic model of medicine enbraced with the scientific age in recent centuries after pathogens (bugs) were discovered. It is projected "functional medicine" will replace "allopathic medicine" as "mainstream medicine" in the US within this generation of time.
Frank wanted to help others by becoming a practitioner, and his story is covered at this link if you're interested. www.lumigrate.com/forum/how-i-went-illness-and-addiction-wellness-and-being-myofascial-trigger-point-therapist
I shifted in the mid 1990s as a medical consumer, when in occupational therapy school, and had to navigate the insurance-based medicine industry as a provider in the United States, which was slightly "bipolar" or "schizophrenic" feeling. I created Lumigrate to teach others that YOU! have the power as the patient/consumer ....
.... and then to provide examples of complementary, functional, integrative, collaborative models and their providers. And then I kept going .... German auricular medicine model is a focus today as I edit this in 2018.
Easier to just call us 'outside the box' for now, but pretty soon we'll be inside the NEW box of dominance in medicine in the United States, and soon, if people keep motivated to learn and grow and demand this type of treatment either out of their pocket or finding someone to pay for it. (Example, I would imagine the FCC paid Frank for his time to come present to their employees, that maybe came from a suggestion from a worker familiar with him or his work, and the demand was there as many workers experessed various pain conditions and they were seeking solutions through positioning expertise and learning about muscles and caring for them overall.) (I'm just planting the seed for YOU to figure out how to have someone from your community possibly come to present somewhere you can help influence to occur.)
What Frank does with patients using the trigger point therapy approach is an integral part of a person having wellness.
Frank presented to the Washington D.C. area's FCC's Wellness Program (Federal Communications Commission), as he is in the Virginia area. The seminar was recorded and the full version was shared with me before the portions that were best to edit out to get it down to 20 minutes were made; the 20 minute video is included below in the list which then link you to his YouTube channel to go watch if you wish.) The longer version was intresting to watch for many reasons.
My first 'big job' when I was in my mid 20s and early 30s, was with the State of Colorado on contract to help a Federal research project studying air quality through the National Park Service, with a focus on visibility. I enjoyed seeing the chairs that are now what the government is procuring for it's workers -- they're really purchasing chairs like what you see on shows about big conference rooms in the private sector. But they're not making the employees comfortable in some cases.
Frank shared with me the video made of the presentation to learn from and to cover here at Lumigrate, so that others can benefit from the information presented. I wanted to relate here, for YOU, if you're prefering to read something over, an overall of what he covered in the presentation with as much of a 'feel' that 'you were there'.
And since he has created a YouTube channel which includes the demonstrations in more detain than what he did at the seminar, I hope this topic will be very helpful to you! Below is the information to get you to his YouTube Channel and I've listed the 18 videos current there and their approximate # of views in descending order.
I've numbered them, as you can see, in decreasing order of number of views, just to make them easier to see in the list. This is not the way that they are presented at YouTube, you'll want to make a note of the title and look for it by that. I HIGHLY suggest you do venture there at least once at some point, preferably after reading over or looking over this overview, and investigate more thoroughly and view anything that jumps out at you as being for YOU!
Perhaps every day just watch one and cycle around so that it's a reminder every day to think about postioning, stretching and what you put in your body (as he has two on sugar, which affects muscles and therefore contributes to pain. Or perhaps you build that into your morning meditation and stretching routine if that's what you set up for yourself as a home program for ongoing wellness. (Naturally, we have life coach and PT Gwen Pettit as another one of the experts at Lumigrate in the coaching forum if you would like more support on making things go from learning to action/accomplishment!)
(Also, remember sugar includes sugar in juice or what my dad called 'giggle water' (alcohol). In other words, think 'glycemic load' or if you've not gotten to that level yet, 'glycemic index'. We started information about gycemic load and index and the difference back our first year on the Internet, 2009!
Frank joined us as an invited expert a year or two later. At the bottom I will provide other links to things within the Forums related to Frank -- his biography is very interesting, and we put all of his topics in this one forum so you can see other things he's started here. This time it was my turn to create a new topic and let HIM and the other experts comment for a change (if they wish to and have time).
So thank YOU Frank Gresham, CTPT! You state in your presentation and in your bio and anytime I talk with you personally (by phone) that your goal is to help people enjoy what you've benefitted from with being pain-free, and it's our pleasure and honor to have you as a Lumigrate expert! And your enthusiasm and sincerity and ethics shine though always. I think people can see it on your videos too, so I really encourage the journey to watch. They're easy and FUN!
~ Mardy
The link to what pulls up to show all the videos at Frank's YouTube channel, which I found by just searching his name and YouTube from Google: www.youtube.com/user/paininvirginia/videos
The list of the videos currently at the link, above, when I checked on this thread, and edited, November 6, 2021, total over 20, and the one I suggest people consider looking at from his presentation shows in the thumbnail with title that is clear -- it's third from the left in the top row at this point.Good luck becoming someone who's no longer searching for solutions to chronic pain because you're one who has gotten it reversed and eliminated or reduced to satisfactory levels!
Below, the order of the videos in 2017 (and view #s at that time).
- Chronic Pain Why do we hurt? (10,800)
- Chronic Pain: One leg longer than the other? Why is that? (9,550)
- Chronic Migraines, Tension Headaches, Sinus Headaches ... (5,500)
- A Good Slide Sleep Position (4, 740)
- Best Back stretches to ease your pain. (4, 400)
- Chronic Pain: Sleep position 101 (4,000)
- Chronic Pain: SUGAR WILL CAUSE CHRONIC PAIN (2,800)
- Chronic Pain: 2 gentle Stretches to help back pain (2,070)
- Chronic Pain: Shoes that can hurt you (1,500)
- Chronic Pain: Stretches for your legs (restless legs) (1,170)
- Perpetuating Factors .. How they can cause your pain (1,050)
- Chronic Pain: Hip Height and sitting more Comfortably (770)
- Headaches/Migraines. Tip #1 "How to stop perpetuating .... (660)
- Chronic Pain: Sugar can cause pain (400)
- Chronic Pain: Sitting in your chair correctly (400)
- Frozen Shoulder, it can be Normal again (320)
- Tennis elbow, This just might help you! (240)
- Chronic Pain: Do you sit in a good chair? (200)
- Myofascia Trigger Point Therapy Presentation at the FCC employee wellness program, Washington, DC. (100 views the first day) (1,500+ views by 20December2017)
2,442 views of this topic when grabbing the link in mid to late August 2014. I had seen on Facebook that Frank shared a photo of the inside of a shopping cart that has advertising space on what faces the cart pusher/shopper. So I was going to share that and remind my FB friends and the Lumigrate: Fibromyalgia places/page followers of Frank's great resources that we provide here with his help at Lumigrate.com.
JUST FOR FUN......
Photo of one of my classmates from growing up, celebrating her 50th!Frank introduced himself and explains what trigger point therapy is, and gave the basic history of it being an area of medicine today developed by Dr Janet Travell, who was one of JFKs physicians. She is the author of two medical books which were best sellers in the US 'as he spoke'! She helped design seats for astronauts and farmers (NASA and John Deer), as she focuses on positioning and prevention. Dr Travell was a cardiac surgeon and her father was also a doctor.
Frank related that he had migraines and back pain for 20 years. He had MRIs and all the tests that conventional medicine does about 11 years ago. He is pain-free and his desire is to help everybody get pain free if possible. "The body is complicated and yet it's not."
Muscle memory is another key feature of trigger point therapy: To demonstrate muscle memory, Frank has people make a fist. Then relax it. Then look at your hand's position. (Go ahead, YOU! do it!) It will typically be in a loose fist afterward, unless someone makes a conscious movement otherwise to extend the fingers (which in my experience might indicate someone had pain from the squeezing/fisting of the hand.) That's a great tool to have a person do so they get this key point about muscles as he goes on to explain a very complex specialty in an easy to understand way.
He then did a demonstration taking a stethoscope and moving it around a little so the tubes get all wound around each other and pretty soon a kink appears. This demonstrates working a muscle without stretching it out and relaxing it properly. If we don't stretch out muscles and just work them, they shorten and start being less long and moveable, and if you keep going, a trigger point develops.
His next demonstration was to have a man in the front shake his hand. "Wow, that's a good grip you've got there" Frank said to the amicable, large, strong-looking man. Then he has the man bend his wrist (flexing to shorten the muscles) and asked him to shake again. Weaker grip.
Muscles basically do two main things: Contract and relax.
At full length, a muscle or the muscles involved in a functional movement will have
- full range of motion
- strength
- endurance.
As the muscle is used (relaxing and contracting) but not actively "stretched out", the muscle gets shorter and shorter. You'll go to turn your head and your neck is stiff, so the person accommodates for the decreased ROM of the neck muscles by using other muscles and turning the trunk, for instance.
When this occurs, you'll fatigue quicker, so you have fatigue instead of endurance and strength. Once the person is experiencing muscle "tightness", the muscle has gotten so shortened that a trigger point has developed. "A knot". They can be in a variety of places, this is how people are all a little different. It's not like acupuncture and acupressure where the meridians are in a consistent place in people.
Frank explained that he uses Travell's protocol to look with the patient presenting to him at getting the tension out of the muscles; that is the core of the treatment he provides related to correcting the muscle function. There is a lot that goes into that, but it can be broken down very simplistically also, which is his intention with this presentation (and article).
Frank underscored that he looks with patients to answer the question "What is perpetuating your pain?" The treatments he suggests and teaches lengthen the muscle/muscles to where it is/they are fully functional again, and this resolves the pain if that is the reason for the pain.
He relates the unfortunate cases he's had of patients coming to him after they've seen doctors for pain for up to twenty years.
Frank covered a few cases who presented with a variety of common complaints which are painful. They were:
Sciatic Pain
Sciatic nerve pain and muscles that surround and affect the sciatic nerve are addressed as a functional unit by trigger point therapy.
Sitting position and an "ischial lift". (See Video as indicated above at # 12). The ischial tuberosities, more commonly called 'sitz bonz' is why this small shim placed under one hip is called an ischial lift.
Men might think of their 'walletitis' versus a proper ischial lift. Wallets are much thicker than the ischial lift he suggests for positioning.
What he described in the live presentation was showing that many people end up with a head forward posture, and with the average human head weighing eight to 10 pounds, the muscles that hold the head up and move it around end up as described above (fatigued/shortened/trigger points/knots), and the result can be headaches or shoulder and neck pain, because you shorten or extend the muscles for an extended amount of time without their moving.
He recommends when at the computer not using glasses with a bifocal, as you'll tilt your head to use the bifocal; instead using reading glasses that have the modification power in front of your field of view for detailed reading/seeing. Keeping your head in an upright position is key.
Another common position is that of sitting forward on a chair, without using the back; 'perching'. People will say "That's okay, I'm using my core muscles". But Frank teaches that you need to be positioned to have support not just against the lumbar area but the upper back as well.
The key is to have the ear, shoulder, hip in alignment when you sleep, sit, stand.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome/CTS:
CTS involves tissues and structures in the neck, whether you know that or not.
Positioning for keyboarding involves the shoulder. Many people sit back too far from the keyboard and mouse and will think it's okay because their forearm is resting on something. But this is not ideal in Frank's opinion, via the training of his profession with trigger point therapy. Remember, everyone from the people who grow your food and who walked in space have been positioning input from Dr Janet Travell, who basically 'created' this specialty area of up-and-coming functional medicine, which people like Frank learn and test in to become certified.
Frank has patients coming to him for the first time bring photographs in (if they're in person, he also works remotely over the Internet and phone) so the can look together at their positioning when sitting, sleeping, standing, and other functional positions. But pain usually diminishes 40-60% with correct sleep positions so he focuses a great deal on sleep position in his work with most people. (So naturally, that means YOU might want to take a look at it!)
Toes and Feet. Skin and callouses. Gait and Shoes
You should be able to walk and have your heel, full foot, and then toe contacting the ground/floor, and you'll notice that the footwear flexes with your foot bending, as all the muscles get involved that way. If this isn't provided from your footwear, hip, low back, and sciatic pain can occur.
The shoe needs to have a back to it. In the summer, at least a strap across the heel to keep it with your foot. It needs to be able to flex a great deal when you have it off; hold the toe and heel area and arch the shoe. It should bend.
A callous on the outside of the big toe is an indicator of "Morton's toe". Another common symptom for people with Morton's toe is having 'weak ankles'. Morton's toe is when the 2nd toe's knuckle is further out from the foot than the big toe's.
Someone posted this great photo of a 'pool party' which had more than one example of Morton's Toe (half he feet appear to me to), and the picture taker said I could use it on Lumigrate (and has a particular interest in nutrition, it turns out), so I'm adding it in here (thank you picture takers just having FUN and finding out there was a symptom of medical things they didn't know about).
Frank sells inserts at his cost, about $30, to his patients ($70 at the manufacturer's website, Pro Connetics). They appear to be very thin, flexible inserts, which he suggests people with Morton's toe also wear when indoors; he uses slippers and also includes a heel lift which is appropriate for him. He has a link to this company on his website, which you can find when Frank comments on this below as it'll be in his signature.
I've found the website for the orthotics extremely educational about TMJ and Morton's Toe, which is interesting when you know that most people with FM have TMJ dysfunction as well as Morton's toe. Such EASY, inexpensive things that an be done to correct the UNDERLYING reasons -- your feet DO have something to say about what goes on all the way up your body, to the top! (When in standing, obviously.) So I encourage you go to Frank's website and find that link and go to the webiste for the orthotic company and learn. Consider purchasing a pair -- $70 is a good price for an orthotic that comes highly recommended by someone like Frank.
Or if you live near him, which most don't, consider having a consultation with him and purchasing them from him, obviously. This way YOU, no matter where in the world, can DIY (do it yourself) if you don't have a qualified CTPT like Frank around, or the funds to have a lot of the things that people are finding 'outside the box' help. Remember to ask for these types of things for gifts and usually families can pool their resources, or friends, or a mix.
What about heels? someone in the audience asked. Franks answer was that shoes are often too narrow for the woman's foot. Proprioceptors in the feet are not getting proper information in them. You need a wide shoe so your foot fits in comfortably. Ask yourself if the shoe and foot are flexing as you walk/ambulate. Hopefully that answers the heels question.
To underscore the importance of shoes, Frank related a case with a patient who was totally noncompliant with stretches that Frank provided as part of the treatment plan, did she did go out and buy the right shoes and inserts from him and had good results.
They did a demonstration with a typical, modern, high backed chair with webby black sling material. The employer using the chair brought with her two pillows she has added on to try to have less pain and more comfort from the chair. Her mother had sent her one of them because 'she didn't want her baby having pain". You have to have the proper support of the body, and Frank related how he bought a similar, moderately expensive, "nice looking" chair for his office and he's now back to a very inexpensive, simpler chair at his desk in his office and found another place for the ill-fitting chair to be used.
Sciatica
Muscles tighten and further irritate the nerve. When a patient comes with sciatica, Frank looks at the feet first at standing, as a heel lift and the inserts might be appropriate to recommend and provide. Hip height is a big deal, especially when standing. Frank did a demonstration of himself standing without a heel lift in bare feet and then using a heel lift to level the hips, which contributes to sciatic pain.
Sitting is the third/last of the three typical positions to look at with sciatica, after sleep and standing. If a person is a stomach sleeper, you won't get rid of sciatica, in his experience, unless you change the sleep position. The rectus abdominus muscle is shortened, same as when sitting in a slouched position.
Tennis Elbow/Lateral Epicondylitis
Tennis elbow/lateral epicondylitis (LE) can come from the triceps. Frank uses the example of a patient that brought in photos of his workstation but no other functional positions photos. So in taking the patient through other functional activities, it turned out that it was greatly due to his poisition when watching television. This shows why you (and providers if you recruit and hire/them to help) need to look at all the places a person does their functional activities. This ncludes watching television as well as working at the computer, sleep, sitting (which includes driving) and standing, which can involve kitchen activities of daily living.
Often just the consultation and follow-through by the patient will resolve the patient's problem. One visit!
Whether sitting, standing, or lying -- Your head should always be so your fist fits under the chin with the thumb under your chin or in the notch of the collarbone.
Patients Frank has worked with have been to other therapists who have prescribed/given exercise programs which us therapy rubber bands are strengthening muscles but are not stretching the muscles. They'll say : It hurts to do this.
So, again, Frank (and all functional medicine thinkers/do-ers) look at "WHY". You have to back off and then 'lay off' and let everything settle down. Taper off and stop the workouts, taper down and get off of sugary things that are leading to irritation of the muscles. Strengthening can be done again after you're pain-free for two weeks. But this time take into consideration more of the informaton provided at Frank's video area at YouTube.
The audience asked many good questions in the presentation. One was about sleeping on the stomach if it hasn't caused pain for the person. Frank's answer" it just hasn't happened yet, and it maybe won't ever happen for them. You're lucky if not! (But take the advise if you buy into the positioning advise for prevention. Prevention's the name of the game and those who have experienced pain will be more apt to put effort into prevention.
Diet
The other thing Frank looks at primarily with his patients is sugar. For the presentation he had a plastic bag with the amount of sugar in one can of soda pop: 10 teaspoons of sugar. (Again, this is only one form of sugar.)
Many patients come to him who have fibromyalgia, which has become something that everyone's heard of recently, he says. It's partly because they have a a "lousy diet". Once they get off the sugar, things improve. Sugar hyper-irritates the muscles, is the simplest way to say it.
Kids drinks. Frank showed a plastic bottle that was some brand of drink that has vitamin C in it and is marketed as being a healthy drink for kids. When you look at the amount and type of sugar/carbohydrate in it, there's too much sugar!
The Name of the Game with Diet is Moderation, in Frank's opinion. Instead of having a long list of dont's, he suggests alternatives and moderation.
He related a story of someone he knows who put seven packets of Stevia in a cup of coffee! Frank shared that he puts perhaps one teaspoon of sugar in his coffee but his wife prefers hers black. So he's not a 'purist', more a 'moderist'.
An alternative if you want to get vitamins and some carbs into a person or yourself, which he suggests are the little packets of powder you add to your own liquid that has some carbohydrate in it and vitamins, such as C, if a person doesn't enjoy water without some flavoring or is wanting a little boost in terms of carbohydrate and vitamins.
Fruit and fruit juice and fruit sugar. A quart of orange juice, which his son was consuming daily, he said, is about 10-14 oranges. That's too much sugar. How many oranges would you eat? That's the maximum amount you should have in juice. (Remember the glycemic load is lowered by fiber as it slows down the time to digest and get into the bloodstream and boost blood sugar.) 
Have Protein with every small meal, spread throughout the day. Examples he recommends: almonds, cashews, an egg. Eat every 2-3 hours. Ladies and men who are weight conscious -- if you skip meals you send your body into malnutrition mode. It'd be like if your car needs 92 octane and you're putting in 85. It just won't run right.
Nutritional Supplements:
Frank also sells Mellaleuca® supplements because he feels they are a good quality. "If you don't take vitamins, I'd suggest you consider taking them. You don't need gobs of them. You take them in the morning and with the evening meal, and then with sleep your body can regenerate." is his general advise. Naturally everyone is reminded that this is educational information and 'don't try this at home without consulting your qualified health provider'.
He used the example of one female patient with fibromyalgia who came to him when she was prescribed 23 medications. She was in so much pain he found her on the floor of the waiting area, where they did her evaluation because she wasn't comfortable sitting. He suggested a heel lift and ischial lift be purchased at the time of the evaluation, and he talked about the nutrition basics as he's reported here. She called him not too long after to say she had already lost 2 dress sizes from the protein eating/diet changes and was already in much less pain overall from those three simple things offered in one 90 minute initial consultation. (Positioning and lifts, diet, basic supplementation of nutrition.)
A question from the audience was about ART, as the woman had found that helpful in the past, provided by both a physical therapist and a chiropractor. ART stands for Active Release Technique®, and Frank was familiar with it as he had that as part of treatment given to him in the past. He found it helpful but not as much as the TPT/trigger point therapy.
In his opinion, the ART as presented to him by the provider he went to was more of a temporary resolution without the long-term fixing of the underlying 'why'. (ART, like TPT, had an enterprising provider figure something out that was unique and they also then registered it/patented it, hence the ®'s).
He underscored that everyone is different when it comes to their muscles and trigger points. "Everybody has the same acupuncture meridians, but everyone has slightly different trigger points/ "knots in the muscles" locations.
Related to other things that cause pain: "If I don't know what something is, then the patient needs to go to the doctor or even hospital sometimes. I want to know something is truly muscle related, that's what this is about, is muscles."
What about after surgery?
After surgery the muscles tighten up and so post surgical muscles are something that is common.
What about ice and heat?
Do not put ice on sore muscles. It makes muscles shorter; think about going out to get the paper in the winter when it's cold. Ice will numb the area and make it feel better short-term for some, but long term it's not helping the muscles and underlying problem like warmth can. Ice is good after injuries to affect swelling. Those are times you consult your other medical providers if unsure. That's a great example of the deliniation between a therapist like Frank with trigger point therapy and a PT or chiropractor, who would also work with that type of injury.
What about the underlying structures that the muscle attach to and manipulating them?
"Incidental release" can happen with underlying structures of the body when you're moving the body and causing changes in muscles, but that's not the intention of this therapy, that's what chiropractors and others are trained to do.
What about body pillows: They can make you violate the core positioning rules but they can also be helpful if used with the general positioning concepts are followed.
What about some of the more popular brands of shoes: Dansko and Birkenstocks come up a lot in questions as they are very popular brands these days. The way that Frank evaluates a shoe, they were not shoes he would recommend. The wearer of the Dansko's in this audience pointed out that they purport that the foot is allowed to flex and come out of the heel rather than the sole of the shoe flexing, and they are marketed to people with foot pain. As with anything -- there are many opinions and many things to consider as well as many brands. The important thing is teaching people the concepts and letting them figure it out based on that education as the empowered patient decides for themselves what is right or not for them. He had a patient who had over 100 pairs of Birkenstocks who tried buying one pair of shoes as he recommends for design and saw such results she gave all the others away,
If you have a stiff shoe that stays affixed to your heel, your muscles have to be in a certain position all the time, as the shoe doesn't "give". But naturally the Dansko shoes take that flexion of the foot in mind so it's a perfect example of having to reason through the brands you are interested in.
For summer shoes, the basics are that you have to have something so you don't scrunch up your toes to 'hold onto' the shoe so it doesn't fly off your foot. Think of running in thongs. In that situation, you're using the muscles on the bottom of the foot to keep the shoe on, which can contribute to plantar fasciitis or other foot pain.
When someone comes in with fibromyalgia, Frank asks:
Where did it start? Where was the first pain you noticed? And that's where we start looking related to treatment and resolving symptoms.
Frank mentioned that his mother used to have fibromyalgia. She doesn't any more. He think's he's a 'good son' and made a joke about being in the will. I would hope so!
__________________
Live and Learn. Learn and Live Better! is my motto. I'm Mardy Ross, and I founded Lumigrate in 2008 after a career as an occupational therapist with a background in health education and environmental research program administration. Today I function as the desk clerk for short questions people have, as well as 'concierge' services offered for those who want a thorough exploration of their health history and direction to resources likely to progress their health according to their goals. Contact Us comes to me, so please do if you have questions or comments. Lumigrate is "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" for increasing numbers of people. Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate and Facebook. (There is my personal page and several Lumigrate pages. For those interested in "groovy" local education and networking for those uniquely talented LumiGRATE experts located in my own back yard, "LumiGRATE Groove of the Grand Valley" is a Facebook page to join. (Many who have joined are beyond our area but like to see the Groovy information! We not only have FUN, we are learning about other providers we can be referring patients to and 'wearing a groove' to each other's doors -- or websites/home offices!) By covering some of the things we do, including case examples, it reinforces the concepts at Lumigrate.com as well as making YOU feel that you're part of a community. Which you ARE at Lumigrate!
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Thanks, Mardy, for your support on this. If any of your You-sers have questions or think I can be of help, please et me know and I'll be glad to talk witih you.
Frank Gresham, CMTPT
Please follow along to my website at http://www.thechronicpaincenter.com/Home.html. You can connect with me on Facebook and Twitter from there, and also view my palate of videos on YouTube. Or the link is http://www.youtube.com/user/paininvirginia (PainInVirginia, but I consult via Skype and phone/photos as well).
I end up asking people when I talk with them if they know what Morton's toe is and if they've been checked for it or have checked themselves for it and have gotten 'onto' and 'into' learning what causes it and what can be done to address the symptoms: This is what I prepared about it:
Generally, but not always, in a person having Morton's toe the second toe being longer than the big toe. That's the simplest 'screen' that catches a lot of the people, but really looking at the length of the bones of the toes is what it's REALLY about. I've found that the website resource you link to from your website, Frank, is wonderful: mortonstoe.com -- how easy is THAT to remember! www.mortonstoe.com. I really prefer their explanation (and am including the photo from their information too, as an 'appetizer' of what's at the website if you follow out to it:
But I also liked the information from Larry -- of LarryPharmacies.com, as it was as close to what my 'teachers' have said in the past about Morton's toe -- including the late, GRATE, Gary King, RPh, who provided content on Lumigrate in 2011 and 2012, even after he had cancer and came back to work for a while.
When I went to ITC Pharmacy to meet Gary in person, which was his requirement before getting involved with Lumigrate's education, he had me taking off my shoes and showing him my toes. In my case, the toes are the same length, but closer investigation shows it was Morton's toe. No surprise, since I've had symptoms of complex, chronic illness symptoms my whole life, basically.
The other teachers related to iodine were many -- chiropractors and naturopaths seemed to know about iodine, I recall learning a great deal from the chiropractor Dr Jeff McCloskey when he was in practice with Wes Sheader. Dr. Sheader came to educate the fibromyalgia forum group that I had co-created in 2007, before starting Lumigrate.com. With Lumigrate, I could reach more people via the Internet.
Some of my 'outside the box' MDs and others knew about iodine, others did not. There's quite a lot to becoming an expert in thyroid function, it seems, and everyone is on their paths going from being trained inside the box to being outside, and continuing to learn every day, hopefully. So I was part of that mix as are all consumers/patients.
Then in 2012, Jim Kennedy, DDS, who has provided information at Lumigrate in that same timeframe and into 2013, told me about a laboratory in Lakewood, Colorado which provides an iodine challenge test that he thought had good results/validity and recommended I look into it after my screening. The screening used the iodine liquid as I refer to outlined by "Larry", below, indicated I was deficient. ... despite supplementing for years at the standard amount. (It showed I was only absorbing 50% (normal is 90%), so then I went back to the drawing boards and learned more from my providers and resources about iodine, which takes some expertise because it obviously affects thyroid gland/hormone/levels.) You're basically detoxing the tissues of the body as you increase the amount of iodine, and that has to be done with guidance, prudence, and time.
Some believe Morton's toe is caused by an inability or disability of the person's body to convert vitamin B-6 to it's active form via "phosphorylation".
Morton's toe is seen commonly in people who have fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndrome, hypothyroidism (which usually has to do with iodine levels being low in the body and diet), and asthma. Supplementation of nutrition through taking Pyridoxyl-5-Phosphate (P5P) and magnesium is a treatment to address this condition that is recommended by many who specialize in treating patients with these types of conditions.
Iodine can be screened/tested by painting a small circle on certain areas of the body to see how much the stain is absorbed or remains in 24 hours. There are also laboratory tests related to 'iodine challenge' but there are varying opinions about their efficacy. The skin test also has varying opinions.
Supplementation of iodine as well as addressing iodine in the diet is then part of the treatment plan for a person with iodine deficiency. A chelated form of magnesium is often recommended for people with Morton's toe to increase absorption.
Additionally, calcium contends for the same absorption sites as magnesium, so people need to take this into account when addressing nutrition via supplementation of nutrition in particular.
Typically, the strategy is to take magnesium at bedtime. P5P is an activated form of B-6 which has been found to be helpful for individuals with autism spectrum disorder or attentional disorders. (Reference www.larrypharmacies.com)
The laboratory in Lakewood, Colorado, which I referred to, above has a website and is very focused around iodine and thyroid: Here is their link: www.hakalalabs.com/testing.html
WHY THE PHOTO OF AMBER HERE? She once lived in Lakewood, prior to my taking her when she emergently needed a foster-care home .... This was not from the day I drove her from the Front Range to my then-home in Grand Junction, which was the FIRST of MANY trips we made from Thanksgiving 2009 until her fateful demise in April of 2013, but we'd actually driven through Lakewood early afternoon and were arriving just before evening, just before Christmas, in this pic. Unbenownst to me the boiler had gone out and the house was 50 degrees. Boilers and houses, thyroids and people and other animals.... easily 'out of sight, out of mind' but crucial to our functioning.
AND to show how there's always much to consider and to underscore the importance of having providers you are consulting related to thyroid and things related to it, such as supplementation and nutritional support, Joe Mercola had some great, newer, information about a paradoxical effect of too much iodine for the patient's body, and he gives the information for how to do a simple test to see if you're at the right level which brings it back around to the topical iodine information that I referred to from "Larry". articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/08/iodine-is-important-but-new-study-shows-too-much-causes-problems.aspx
Live and Learn. Learn and Live Better! is my motto. I'm Mardy Ross, and I founded Lumigrate in 2008 after a career as an occupational therapist with a background in health education and environmental research program administration. Today I function as the desk clerk for short questions people have, as well as 'concierge' services offered for those who want a thorough exploration of their health history and direction to resources likely to progress their health according to their goals. Contact Us comes to me, so please do if you have questions or comments. Lumigrate is "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" for increasing numbers of people. Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate and Facebook. (There is my personal page and several Lumigrate pages. For those interested in "groovy" local education and networking for those uniquely talented LumiGRATE experts located in my own back yard, "LumiGRATE Groove of the Grand Valley" is a Facebook page to join. (Many who have joined are beyond our area but like to see the Groovy information! We not only have FUN, we are learning about other providers we can be referring patients to and 'wearing a groove' to each other's doors -- or websites/home offices!) By covering some of the things we do, including case examples, it reinforces the concepts at Lumigrate.com as well as making YOU feel that you're part of a community. Which you ARE at Lumigrate!
I wanted to add in the comments here about pyrole disorder and give a link to the topic about it on Lumigrate. This is something new I learned about this spring and think it's the next BIG WAVE to come up soon that people will become aware and educated and hopefully treated for. My attention was drawn to this topic today on Facebook and then I wanted to review it, as some of the 'strongest topics' we have are things I want to really nurture and keep 'growing' rather than trying to create a bunch of new topics all the time which only waters down what people can find at Lumigrate.
My desire is that people come to Lumigrate to find off the beaten path expertise and information that they might not otherwise find on the Internet searching around. That from one topic they might look around and find equally high quality content about other things besides what originally brought them here and they'll invest their time in more thorough learning and then activism with their health. And Frank, this topic, and his videos at YouTube in general AND his website are all really GRATE resources for our YOUsers.
Today on Facebook, Frank Gresham's sharing a video clip in March of his talk had a new woman today commenting on it (about sugar cravings) and then one of my FB friends who was an original supporter of Lumigrate commented as well, drawing my attention. (And she made an excellent suggestion to help the woman who commented on this relatively old post on FB.) So then I added the link to this topic to make it easier for anyone to find, in the past I'd just said 'search Lumigrate and keywords', but I am finding out that some people aren't able to find that from their smartphones, so now I have given the link on that FB share of Franks. Similarly to why I have transcribed some key videos at Lumigrate for people who can't or don't watch videos due to time or data plan constraints or they simply prefer reading rather than watching/hearing.
But PLEASE go learn about pyroluria / pyrole disorder -- the underlying reasons for Morton's toe and many other things have to do with these biochemical irregularities. In the case of PD, it's 10% of the OVERALL population, but when you get into people with addictions to things that make you feel 'aah'/calmer, and those with chronic pain and conditions such a borrelia / Lyme (and the overlapping conditions of fibromyalgia, autism, MS, ALS, Morgellons, Parkinsons, Lewy body, and the etceteras as I jokingly say), it's thought to be 50% to 100%. Remarkable progress in cognition was shown with people with Down syndrome who were treated for pyrole disorder; about half tested were positive for it. So if it's not something YOU have symptoms of, you'll certainly know someone -- perhaps a loved one or friend or coworker, etc. -- who could benefit from learning about it fomr YOU.
Learn. Teach others. We're all in this together! Frank's a remarkable example of that, please go see him in action on his videos, he exhudes who he truly is -- at least from what I've gathered from having the benefit of speaking to him on the phone a few times AND watching his sharing on Facebook and other communications we've had privately.
www.lumigrate.com/forum/pyroluria-kryptopyrroluria-kpu-or-hemopyrrollactamuria-hmu-many-names-causes-connections
Live and Learn. Learn and Live Better! is my motto. I'm Mardy Ross, and I founded Lumigrate in 2008 after a career as an occupational therapist with a background in health education and environmental research program administration. Today I function as the desk clerk for short questions people have, as well as 'concierge' services offered for those who want a thorough exploration of their health history and direction to resources likely to progress their health according to their goals. Contact Us comes to me, so please do if you have questions or comments. Lumigrate is "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" for increasing numbers of people. Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate and Facebook. (There is my personal page and several Lumigrate pages. For those interested in "groovy" local education and networking for those uniquely talented LumiGRATE experts located in my own back yard, "LumiGRATE Groove of the Grand Valley" is a Facebook page to join. (Many who have joined are beyond our area but like to see the Groovy information! We not only have FUN, we are learning about other providers we can be referring patients to and 'wearing a groove' to each other's doors -- or websites/home offices!) By covering some of the things we do, including case examples, it reinforces the concepts at Lumigrate.com as well as making YOU feel that you're part of a community. Which you ARE at Lumigrate!
I take advantage of the opportunities when I have time when actually advising someone about navigating the health care information for whatever is on their minds to do this. And today this is my addition before sending this link off to someone who I had the pleasure of sharing some time with today.
Everything good or bad that a person experiences to body, mind, spirit affects the 'load' put on the body (which has genes and etc.). So think of that as a pile of sand that's on one side of a scale or teeter totter --- you had someone bring you a nice cup of coffee in bed (how nice ... good, take some load off the scale) and in your case coffee is not good for you (so put that sand/weight back on now). That's just the primer to let you know what you'll find at Dr S's "Are You Loaded?" topic, and it advances to an elevator and packages /weight analogy with graphics there. Short and to the point with loads of information and then I go on from that and help people with ideas of how to do the homework he suggests to look at your genetic family tree. Here's the link, and please remember how important you and your wellness is when looking at how you're spending your time, energy, and money. Then prioritize as you think is appropriate. Onward and upwards! ~ Mardy
www.lumigrate.com/forum/are-you-loaded-what-i-see-causing-illnesses-soar-children-through-elderly
Live and Learn. Learn and Live Better! is my motto. I'm Mardy Ross, and I founded Lumigrate in 2008 after a career as an occupational therapist with a background in health education and environmental research program administration. Today I function as the desk clerk for short questions people have, as well as 'concierge' services offered for those who want a thorough exploration of their health history and direction to resources likely to progress their health according to their goals. Contact Us comes to me, so please do if you have questions or comments. Lumigrate is "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" for increasing numbers of people. Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate and Facebook. (There is my personal page and several Lumigrate pages. For those interested in "groovy" local education and networking for those uniquely talented LumiGRATE experts located in my own back yard, "LumiGRATE Groove of the Grand Valley" is a Facebook page to join. (Many who have joined are beyond our area but like to see the Groovy information! We not only have FUN, we are learning about other providers we can be referring patients to and 'wearing a groove' to each other's doors -- or websites/home offices!) By covering some of the things we do, including case examples, it reinforces the concepts at Lumigrate.com as well as making YOU feel that you're part of a community. Which you ARE at Lumigrate!