Pain Charts for Home, Office, and Travel

These are the classic "textbook" myofascial pain patterns from Travell & Simons' Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction--The Trigger Point Manual.

Much pain is of muscular origin but most the time, its origin is not where you hurt. Trigger points (areas of shortened, tangled muscle fibers) can refer pain to distant areas. In the illustrations, pain patterns are shown in red. X marks the area of the trigger point, that is, the origin of the pain.

Notice how rarely the trigger point matches the pain pattern. This is why the cortisone shot to the sore elbow so often fails to help. For pain of myofascial origin, the source of the pain is usually elsewhere. For example, in the diagrams above,

Trapezius of back and neck (at left) refers a fish-hook pattern of pain to the temple. The one-sided pain and neurological symptoms often results in a diagnosis of migraine.
The sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM, at center and right) produces a wide range of symptoms including ear ache, "sinus headache and strange neurological symptoms ranging from vertigo to car-sickness. Look familiar? See our data sheet on sternocleidomastoid pain.
The digastric muscle (peeking out at lower right on the diagram) sends pain along its course. Not shown is the pain it sends to the two lower incisor teeth.

The spiral-bound flip chart (shown above) is 24 pages (double-sided) and measures just 12" x 15". It stands by itself or folds for easy transport. Good for travel, but harder to use than the wall charts.

The wallchart version is best for seeing and identifying pain patterns at a glance. The set of 2 laminated posters(Upper Body/Lower Body) measure 38" x 32".

Both are treasure maps of pain relief. Find your pain pattern. Check the involved muscles with our Range-of-Motion Testing charts. Click here for a sampler of cervical ROM tests which reveal the muscular origins of much head and neck pain. Find the trigger points and press the pain away.

Note: Click on the links to purchase from Amazon. Further, we recommend the printed copy. The Kindle version is a nice idea, but needs improvement.