hi faithberry, i have all those books too, mostly to know where the TPs are, the names of the muscles, so easier to keep track of then just having a mental map of locations, and to understand the referred pain patterns better.

the PTs and physiatrists have never completely understood why pressing and massage make mine worse rather than better, and don't think its the doing it wrong, too hard, too soft, etc, any pressing or massage is bad.

but have found a few things that help them, just a challenge because more hurts than helps, but working on it.

but maybe acupuncture is still something to try.

don't know if its part of my arthritis or not? a lot of people here seem to have the muscle spasms, maybe they have trigger points as well?
did read somewhere that joint / arthritis problems can be a precipitating factor, so, who knows. like with other things, just want to make them go away.

definitely not fibromyalgia for me. was reading yesterday how though a lot of people with fibro have trigger points, they also have pain throughout all their muscles while TPs are very localized. so definitely TPs and myofacial pain, and definitely not fibro, for me anyway. learned the difference a long time ago from a lot of doctors who ruled in myofacial pain and ruled out fibro along the way.

good luck to you too with your TPs,


sue

Spondyloarthropathy, HLAB27 negative
Humira (still methylprednisone for flares, just not as often. Aleve if needed, rarely.)
LDN/zanaflex/flector patches over SI/ice
vits C, D. probiotics. hyaluronic acid. CoQ, Mg, Ca, K.
chiro
walk, bike
no dairy (casein sensitivity), limited eggs, limited yeast (bread)