Myofascial Release is one of my favorite modalities because of it’s effectiveness in releasing pain and adhesions. It works well on sensitive clients as well as clients with hard, dense muscles. So what is fascia and how can it helping releasing pain?
Fascia is like a thin sheath that wraps up muscle, tissue, bones and nerves. It covers the body from head to toe and is like a sweater and that when one of the fibers of this sweater is pulled, it creates a restriction and pain point in that part of the body. This pain point creates restriction in the rest of the body because that pain point has become shortened and thickened affecting the smooth glide and flow of the rest of the muscles in the body.
Myofascial Release is performed by putting the body in a stretch between two tight places. Downward pressure is applied and the hands move apart as the fascia heats up from the pressure. Myofascial Release is much like taffy getting pulled. The hands glide apart from the heat caused by the pressure of the hands and no pushing of the tissue is involved. The magic of Myofascial Release is that when the fascia is released, the muscles, tissue and bones get released and the soreness and pain in the tissue disappears and the ease and glide of the muscles is restored. Fluidity and the full renege of motion is restored as well from the Myofascial Release.
Myofascial Release works well on acute as well as chronic restrictions in the body. It is an excellent modality to heal injuries, scar tissue and stress. Myofascial Release was made popular by John Barnes, P.T. and is used by physical therapist, advanced massage therapists, chiropractors and occupational therapists.
