Symptoms and Diagnoses

 

Symptoms

 

Obviously, all symptoms below could have another medical explanation, but if you have a collection of these and there is no other obvious explanation (arthritis, scleroses, prolapse of a disk) there is a very high likelihood of it being Stress Tension Overload – a condition which luckily is curable with the CuraListic techniques.

General Characteristic:

Sore and tight muscles
Sensitive personality
Stressed
Bad posture
Has been in an accident
Has been through a particularly stressful period
Multiple apparently unrelated diagnoses
Congestive problems

 

Pains:

Headache, back of the head
Headache, temples
Headache, forehead
Headache, on top of head
Neck
Teeth in the back of the mouth
Jaw
The eyes
Hands
Fingers
Arm
Shoulder
Chest
Upper Back
Lower Back

Various symptoms:

Tingling numbness in the hands and fingers
Lack of power in the hands
Tinnitus
Sensitivity to Light
Sensitivity to Sounds
Watering eyes
Hay fewer symptoms
Nausea
Dizziness
Vertigo
Visual disturbances / Difficulty reading
Irritation in eyes and nose

Secondary symptoms:

Unable to concentrate
Insomnia (problems sleeping)
Stress
Fatigue (being permanently tired)
A feeling of living in a vacuum / having a head filled with cotton.


Many diagnoses - same problem

 

Whiplash, fibromyalgia, post-concussion syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome are just a fraction of those diagnoses which are still a mystery to the medical establishment. There are many theories out there but there simply is no consistent agreement as to what these diagnoses really are. Some believe that the problem is purely psychological (bordering hypochondriac) while others are more accepting of the very real nature of the conditions. What remains is that doctors simply do not know what to do with this kind of patients who end up being send to all kinds of specialist, from psychiatrists to neurologists and on to surgeons and physiotherapists.
But if you look closer below the surface of these diagnoses you will see that they are very similar in nature. Practically all patients are characterized by widespread pain (headache, tooth ache, back pain, eye pain, etc.), a lack of concentration and memory, stress, insomnia, tight and sore muscles and much more.
I call this condition STO Syndrome (Stress Tension Overload) – a term which includes both whiplash, fibromyalgia, chronic concussion syndrome and all the other diagnoses that match the symptoms described below and which are all caused by stress and active trigger points in the muscles.
As an example, this is a link to an article from ”American Fibromyalgia Association” dealing with the connection between fibromyalgia and trigger points: http://www.afsafund.org/fibromyalgia.html

As I talk about in the video "Do you just have STO?" receiving a diagnoses of whiplash, fibromyalgia or post-concussion is worthless from a medical point of view. It is really just the doctors way of saying "I acknowledge that something is wrong with you but I have absolutely no clue what it is. Now you can go home and accept your situation". In terms of insurance and pension it could be valuable to get the diagnoses of course.

 

Trigger points

 

scm-trigger-points-1269542140The existence of trigger points is the main cause of Stress Tension Overload. According to the theory of trigger points all muscles of the body can develop tiny knots of permanent tension (trigger points) which might radiate pain out to other parts of the body.
These trigger points can come from a violent pull in the muscle, from stress, from a bad posture, from an incorrect breathing habit and any other improper use of the muscles. The most important component of getting rid of these trigger points is massage but often one also has to consider stress, posture, breathing, difficulties sleeping and combine the treatment with stretches and light exercises to get the strength and motion back.
Most healthy people have latent/dormant trigger points that radiate pain out to other parts of the body when you press them. Even if you are not a sufferer yourself try grabbing the think muscle tissue on the top of your shoulder (Trapezius) and press hard – you will probably experience how pain can be felt in the back of your neck and maybe in your face and eyes. But in STO patients (Fibromyalgia/Whiplash/Post-Concussion) these trigger points have awoken and radiate pain all the time. This is the explanation of why these people live in permanent pain.
But trigger points can lead to other symptoms than just pain. They can for example be the source of a overproduction of mucus in the nose, throat an sinus – you might feel like you have a permanent cold. The explanation is that as trigger points radiation pain into the sensitive areas, the body interprets it as if there is a small grain or other impurity. The body tries to remove it and produces mucus to try to flush it out. Obviously this will not work as there is in fact no impurity and therefore the body will continue to produce mucus. It is the same kind of indirect mechanisms that are responsible for sensitivity to light and sound.
The last kind of symptoms are what I call secondary symptoms and the most known ones are a lack of concentration and memory (sometimes referred to as ”cognitive disorders”). Many people have a hard time understanding how such seemingly complex disorders can be a connected to trigger points and insist there must also be brain or neurological damage. But the connection is straight forward: Imagine yourself having a cold and a fever while being hung over with the worst headache. On top of that you have not sleep much last night, you’re very stressed and your head, back and arms hurt. Is it really that surprising you are having problems concentrating and remembering? I think the answer is obvious.

More information about trigger points:
http://www.triggerpoints.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigger_point
I would also highly recommend reading the book ”The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook” by Clair Davis.


The Vicious Circle

 

ViciousCircle

Many people with STO-Syndrome (whiplash, fibromyalgia, etc.) are stuck in a vicious circle like the one on the picture. Your vicious circle might have started with a minor car accident that just gave you a minor headache. But as you began to realize that the headache did not go away you started to worry. And when it turned out that the doctors did not know what was wrong either you became more worried and tense and maybe had a few nights of bad sleep. The stress in your body makes your muscles more tense and you might stop moving your head because it hurts and as you are not sleeping properly your muscles do not recover. Eventually you get a few more pain symptoms, more stressed, more worries and a good nights sleep is now a weekly event. Eventually you are so stressed and tense that you start developing other disorders, such as digestion related deceases.
For some people the vicious circle is a slow but sure downward spiral lasting many years. But other people have so many latent/sleeping trigger points that they experience getting stuck in this vicious circle immediately after a traumatic event (physical, emotional or stress related).


Does this apply to me?

 

How do I know if this applies to me? How do I know if my symptoms are the result of stress and trigger points? How do I know if I should start a CuraListic program?

The first thing you should do is to read all the text on this website (or have someone read it out loud for you). Does it sound familiar? The next thing you should do is to examine your muscles – are they tender, tense and sore and do they radiate pain out to other places of your body when you press them? Spend at least 20 minutes examining the muscles 1) Sternocleidomastoid, 2) Trapezius, 3) All of the muscles in the neck. If you are reading this on behalf of someone else then help with this examination – it just might be the 20 most important minutes in this persons life.
Do you feel like the doctors do not really know exactly what is wrong with you although you have received multiple diagnoses?