Erase Finger Numbness Due to Radiculopathy: Are Trigger Points Necessary? Put The Bible to The Test

Travell et al's books on trigger Points (TrPs)-myofascial pain is the bible in musculoskeletel medicine. According to the bible, TrPs are central to myofascial pain. So there came “trigger point therapies”. But under scientific testing, such therapies have advanced to nowhere since the bible came into place in 1980s. Are TrPs necessary? Jay Shah, a physiatrist in the NIH among many critical thinkers, questioned the tenet (Shah J et al, 2015).

The Answer to The Question

The answer is “hidden” in an ancient healing art – the acupuncture practiced 2000 years ago in China - Neijing acupuncture. This healing art works for pain like a magic bullet: precisely shut down the pain at any spot on the body, with instant effect at 95% certainty, no TrP whatsoever involved.

Put the Bible to The Test: Finger Numbness

The bible described 1 TrP located at subclavius which is related to radial hand numbness or pain. If indeed “TrPs are central to the myofascial pain”, then we can anticipate that the intervention not targeting this TrP would not work, or would work very poorly for radial hand numbness.

The Test

We will use dry needling for treatment without stimulation to any TrPs. If the test can effectively relieve hand numbness consistently and reliably, we should be able to conclude that TrPs are not necessary for treating hand numbness.

Treat Cervical Nerve Root, Not Hand

If you understand the tricks of Neijing acupuncture, hand numbness treatment is just a breeze. Trick 1: No intervention applied to the hand. Trick 2: precisely identify the location of the numbness at hand.

In this test, we will treat the numbness at thumb, index and middle fingers (as shown in Travell's books) by inserting needles in other body parts far away from the hand.

Unless advanced diabetes caused peripheral neuropathy, finger numbness pretty sure indicates a cervical nerve root compression. When numbness is at thumb, in 95% cases, a pressure tender spot can be identified somewhere in the region of C5/C6 joint. For index & middle fingers, the tender spot will be at the region of C6/C7.

For thumb numbness, we need to treat C5/C6. For index and middle fingers, treat C6/C7.

Where to Put Needles to Treat C5 to C7 Vertebrae?

The needles will be inserted far from the neck. The further, the better. There are at least 8 body regions far away from the neck, where you can find spots which once pricked by a needle could immediately erase or greatly reduce the pain at C5-C7.

One of the most convenient body regions for treat C5-C7 pain is located at anterior aspect of leg on the tibia bone. The needle insertion will be on the tibia bone. There are no pre-standardized or fixed spots for needle insertion but case by case depending on where the pain at C5-C7 is located.

Compared to the size of a nociceptor terminal (1 mm2), the size of a vertebral joint is a “huge” area where the tender spot may occur anywhere there. It can happen in any subdivision (A, B, C, or D) or in any combination of A, B, C and D (Figure 1).

For each specific pressure pain subdivision , there is a corresponding spot on the tibia bone for needle insertion, which, once pricked by a needle, will instantly (in less than 5 seconds) erase or greatly reduce the tender pain at the corresponding subdivision of the vertebral joints at C5-C7. The instant vanish of pressure pain at C5-C7 will immediately take away or greatly reduce the finger numbness or tingling.

For more details on the procedure to treat cervical vertebral joint pain, read here.

Science Does Not Advance on Blind Beliefs

“Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts…The experts who are leading you may be wrong...” Says Richard Feynman, Quantum Physicist. Science does not move forward if we blindly accept everything of what we see, hear or read (including this post). Instead, we need to keep thinking, testing and retesting.

Don't blindly believe what this post is talking about. Don't make any conclusion until you have tried the procedure on at least 10 patients with radial hand numbness or tingling.

References

Jay P Shah et al., , Myofascial Trigger Points Then and Now: A Historical and Scientific Perspective, PM R.. 2015 Jul;7(7):746-761.

Travell JG et al, Travell & Simons' myofascial pain and dysfunction : the trigger point manual. 1999

#fingernumbness #radiculopathy #cervicalvertebrae #triggerpoints #myofascialpain #bible #criticalthinking #skeptism #blindbeliefs