Myofascial therapy

Myofascial release, is this innovative, highly effective whole-body approach for the evaluation and treatment of pain and dysfunction. It was John Barnes P.T. who focused solely on the body’s fascial system introducing Myfascial-Release as an excellent choice for a better balanced body. This specific therapy is a holistic blend of soft tissue manipulations, joint mobilization techniques, body stretching & gentle sustained pressure that is held for approximately five minutes. Specified to address restrictions and restore proper movement.

The fascia is a tough connective tissue that spreads throughout the body in a tree-dimensional web from head to foot without interruption. This tissue covers muscles, bones, nerves, organs, and vessels down to the cellular level. Any malfunction of the system due to trauma, poor posture, or inflammation can bind down the fascia, resulting in abnormal pressure on any or all of these body components.

It has been estimated that fascial restrictions can create a tensile stress of up to approximately 2,000 pounds per square inch! This enormous and excessive pressure on pain-sensitive structures can produce many of the pains, headaches and other undesirable symptoms that many people suffer. Unfortunately, most of these conditions go undiagnosed, as all of the standard tests, such as X-rays, myelograms, CAT scans, and EMG do not show fascial restrictions.

Myofascial Release techniques will not only reduce your symptoms, but ultimately will release the tensile pressure caused by restricted fascia and restore the normal quality of motion and well as your body's ability to absorb shock.

Myofascial Release techniques are especially applicable in managing:

Myofascial release treats the whole person. Although it is true that fascial restrictions often are a result of bracing against pain, they can also be a result of the unconscious bracing against stress, beliefs, blocked energy and emotions.

Recent scientific evidence supporting the idea that the mind and memory are not only contained within the brain but also within the body, particularly the fascial system, even within the cells themselves, lie memories of past events or trauma. When these memories are called up, whether consciously or not, we don’t just think about them, but rather we experience them, especially if there has been a high emotional charge at the time the memory was created. And if the person is not able to fully feel and process what happened at a later time, he or she may become disconnected or so called dissociated from their body. Dissociation can happen when an injury or trauma occurs and a person pulls their awareness from their body to help cope with the intensity of the situation. As a result, the energy can become stuck in the body, the tissue will tighten around the area of trapped energy and restrictions can form.

During course of myofascial therapy, gentle tractioning forces applied to the fascial restrictions will elicit heat, a vasomotor response that increases blood flow to the affected area, realign fascial planes, and most important, reset the soft tissue proprioceptive sensory mechanism. This last activity reprograms the central nervous system, enabling the normal functioning range of motion. The goal is to remove restrictions and restore the body’s equilibrium.

Therefore it becomes very important for a person being treated, to be tuned into their body, as some of the emotions and sensations experienced at the time of trauma may surface. In order for release to occur one simply allows themselves to feel and respond to whatever they notice in their bodies, knowing that whatever they feel, even if intense, will not injure them and is a completion of a natural process. Sometimes we need to feel the pain rather than run from it, ignore it, medicate it. This can be scary and feels opposite of what we should do at first, but, as John Barnes says, “You have to feel it to heal it”.

There may be times when you feel emotional, fatigued or your symptoms may fully flare up after a treatment session. These are normal responses and not a sign that you were injured in any way. This is called a healing crisis. It simply means restrictions were released. These sensations usually subside in a couple of days.