Tandem Point therapy

Tandem point therapy involves applying pressure to a trigger point and one or more other points at the same time, then stretching through the trigger point. It is a fast, effective, reproducible method of releasing trigger points. Because Tandem Point therapy is so fast, if the patient shows no lasting sign of improvement in his first visit, the patient is referred out to another clinician after the first visit.

Indications for Tandem Point therapy

• pain and/or loss of range of motion that may be caused by a muscle contracture
• patient is healthy, can usually sleep at night, and is cleared for physical therapy

Patient preparation before an appointment: patients obtain superior results when they

• do not schedule within 24 hours of a plane flight
• drink plenty of water
• get plenty to eat for 24 hours, especially protein
• stop eating two hours before the appointment
• have no vigorous exercise the appointment day
• get plenty of sleep on the night before the appointment
• take vitamins and minerals, if indicated
• take electrolytes, if indicated

If an apparently healthy individual does not have a successful session, an inquiry about patient preparation invariably reveals that either the patient has not eaten well, is dehydrated, had a vigorous workout that day, never uses salt, or is not taking vitamins and minerals. Patients are alerted to the importance of preparation, and unsuccessful sessions are rare, although recently a patient confused eating pizza and ice cream with eating well, a mistake she will not make again.

Contraindications

• patient is sick, suffers from fatigue, and/or is not strong enough to exercise without becoming exhausted
• patient suffers from fibromyalgia [a few patients with fibromyalgia have since successfully received Tandem Point therapy in combination with Frequency Specific Microcurrent(TM) therapy]
• patient has a pattern of getting migraines after her period, between 7 and 9 a.m., and on the weekends (this represents a particular pattern in Chinese medicine, and some patients with this pattern have developed headaches following Tandem Point therapy)
• patient is taking blood-thinning medication
• pregnancy (to my knowledge, there has been no adverse impact of Tandem Point therapy on pregnant patients, but the standard approach may be inappropriate during pregnancy, and I have used a muscle-only approach for pregnant patients in pain)