Check out this video for a great explanation of mapping and the Guaifenesin Protocol by Victoria Mauck, an expert from Fibromyalgia Hawaii group. Check out their website here: http://www.fibromyalgiahawaii.com/getting-started.html

Mapping is an excellent tool for helping you to find your clearing dose on the guaifenesin protocol. It is also amazing to be mapped and begin to see why you feel the way you do based on all your lumps and bumps. Mapping is a huge encouragement as you go along in your Guaifenesin Protocol, to see the lumps and bumps get smaller and disappear, it’s so nice to know you are making progress! 🙂

**Please note, if you are new to mapping, or training a new mapper, you will need to use  your symptom journal for an accurate reading for finding your clearing dose. Please don’t rely on an untrained mapper who could totally guide you wrong! <3**

Here’s another encouraging post on mapping by Victoria Mauck for our Facebook Support group: Fibro Buddies on Guaifenesin Protocol.

Here is a list of: Guaifenesin Protocol Friendly Mappers that we know of, please let us know of your experience with mappers both good and bad so we can update this list! 🙂

There is a mapping DVD you can buy from Fibromyalgia Treatment Center as well for $20.

Here’s a post by Victoria Mauck (from iFoG support group in Hawaii) on how to map (Dated May 16 2014):

Victoria Mauck on Mapping:
The trick to mapping is the correct direction and the correct firmness of touch. And the muscles being mapped need to be totally relaxed so you don’t feel a false tightness. You are looking for lumps and bumps and you are also looking for tight muscles that are constantly in contraction even though they should feel relaxed and soft. Sometimes it will feel like the muscle is stringy and dried out, like the strings of a bass viole. If they are on one side, feel to see if they are on the other side. If not, they are suspicious. The lump will kind of like a muscle knot but it has fluid around it so it may feel smoother. It may just feel like a small hill in what should be a straight smooth area. Don’t press to hard or you’ll feel too much, separate muscles that are perfectly normal.

Use the pads of your fingers to sweep top to bottom of the muscle. If you’re right handed, stand on the right side, rest your left hand at the top of the area you are about to feel like you are holding it in place and sweep you right hand’s fingers across the area like you would if you were folding and brushing out wrinkles on clean linens. Always run your fingers from top to bottom on the muscle group, in a downward motion.

The front of the left thigh, the quads, from about 3 inches below the groin fold to about 3 inches above the top of the knee, is the most important area for making sure he is on the correct dose and he isn’t blocking. In adults, I normally find 3 or 4 individual lumps from top to bottom, but it may feel like 1 long raised area to someone who is new to mapping. But kids sometimes haven’t filled that area in so check the neck, shoulders and back (especially around the shoulder blades and the rib cage), and also his arms and legs (especially calves and shin). Remember, if you find an odd lump on one arm or leg check the same area on the other limb. If the are different, it’s probably a fibro lump.

The kids I’ve mapped tend to have lumps in the ribs, around the shoulder blades, and in the calves, the same areas they complain about. If he has another sibling or cousin who doesn’t have symptoms, it’s good to feel them, too, so you can feel the difference. They will be smooth and loose in the areas your son has lumps and tight muscles.

Don’t be disappointed if you find you can’t really feel anything odd. You don’t need to have him mapped to determine if he is progressing. His symptoms, and their disappearance, will tell you things are working. Everything works so much more quickly for kids! He’ll improve dramatically within months or a year, at the most, and the hardest thing for you will be keeping him on the protocol. He’ll feel good and won’t think he needs to be careful anymore. So you’ll need to remind him how he used to feel and let him know he’ll be taking his guai and watching out for sals the rest of his life…like you!

Click here for: FAQ about the Guaifenesin Protocol and salicylates