MYOFASCIAL RELEASE
DISCOVER WHAT MYOFASCIAL RELEASE CAN DO FOR OUR PATIENTS
Myofascial release is a safe and very effective hands-on technique that involves applying gentle sustained pressure into the myofascial connective tissue restriction to eliminate pain and restore motion. The therapy targets the fascia, the connective tissues that wraps around your muscles and other parts of your body. This connective tissue web becomes bound down following injury or stress. Trauma, inflammatory responses and/or surgical procedures create myofascial restrictions that can produce tensile pressures that do not show up on many of the standard tests ( x-rays, myelograms, CAT scans, etc.) but cause acute and chronic pain.
A short video describes what Myofascial Release and Fascia is. Myofascial Release works on the fascia of your body. Fascia is a gel-like connective web that runs through your entire body. Think: 3D spider web. This 3D spider web wraps around every single structure of your body, essentially creating your body’s shock absorber. From thick supportive fascia in your back and feet to little itty bitty fascia wrapping every single cell, it is all inclusive and all supportive. What happens with Fascia is that over time, or with a “shock” to our system, our fascia protects us, by absorbing the shock.
A shock to your system can be emotional, or physical. Some physical shocks include things like repetitive motions of our day to day life, or something more severe, like a car accident or a surgery. An emotional shock to your system could be the everyday stressors of coping with modern life, or something more intense, like the grief of losing a close family member or the heartache of a divorce. When these kinds of things happen to us, our fascia goes into protective mode and absorbs the shock. When it does this, it actually changes state, from its nice, gel-like state, to a more solid, glue-like substance.
Now, picture your nice gel fascia, turning into these little glue pockets everywhere. Yuck! this glue, starts sticking to everything, and instead of having a nice gel gliding around supporting us, we have this glue stuff getting everything stuck and pressing on pain sensitive structure like nerves, creating our pain symptoms! That’s where we come in.
Our Myofascial Therapists are trained to look for your fascial glued up restrictions and apply gentle sustained pressure to those areas, to change your fascia back to its gel state, releasing the pressure from your body and restoring you to your pain-free existence. A typical session includes talking with your therapist about what is going on with your body and describing your pain symptoms. They may ask you to stand, or move around a little, to show them where your restrictions are. They have you change into shorts, or shorts and a sports bra/tank top for ladies, in order to work with your body and see any restrictions. Then, they will have you lie down, and start to work on those areas of restriction.
Many clients report Myofascial Release as, unlike anything, they have ever felt before. They find it relaxing, sometimes tingly sensations or a sense of warmth flows through them as their fascia starts releasing. Sometimes they can literally feel the tightness melting away, like butter on a hot griddle. Sometimes, they feel it in another area of their body! Or, they feel a little worse, before they get better. Myofascial Release is unlike any other modality because it gets at the root cause of your issue, rather than masking it, like pain medications or surgery does. We are able to treat many different diagnoses and get consistently successful results.
Are you sick of taking pain medication only to relieve symptoms? The majority of our clients see us after being diagnosed with the following conditions. They tell us that they have tried physical therapy, surgeries, and pain medications, with limited results and that they really just want to feel better and not have to take medication or botox injections or nerve blocks. Some of them are trying to avoid surgery (or more surgery!) and some have reached a desperate level having tried almost everything with no success. We can help. We have helped! Our clients report feeling better. Getting off their medications. Canceling surgeries. Going back to exercising, or even just moving about their daily lives with more energy and no pain.
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How many sessions do I need, to see results?
We can never really be certain how many sessions you might need because every client is different and each fascial restriction unique. Your back pain could be due to restrictions in your psoas, hamstrings, and adductors, while another person could be from tightness in their jaw and shoulders (true story!) This is why Myofascial Release is so effective, because we treat the individual, not following a protocol.
Typically, we ask that you commit to trying this modality for at least 5 sessions, to start to really understand how it works, and see the change in your body.
How often do I need to come for treatment?
We see clients as frequently as 3 times a day, to monthly maintenance. We typically like to start off with weekly (or more) sessions to really see some results, and then space the sessions farther apart as you start to feel better
How will I feel after a treatment?
This is something we often cannot predict. Some people feel immediate relief from their pain. Others go through a period of increased inflammation before getting better, called a “Healing Crisis” or Herxheimer’s Reaction. Some people will go through cycles of these feelings. Sometimes, changes can be so subtle that you don’t even notice it. Just like some pain creeps up on you slowly until all of a sudden you can’t move, so it is with healing, too.
What is the difference between an expert level myofascial release session and a regular level session?
All of our myofascial therapists have been trained specifically in Myofascial Release by John Barnes’, in his style, or by Nicole Russo, in the Skin to Soul style of Myofascial Release. They have spent hours learning the technique and mentoring with Nicole, the owner of Skin to Soul and an expert level therapist. An expert level myofascial therapist has taken over 450 hours of study through the John Barnes and Skin to Soul programs and has worked exclusively as a Myofascial Release therapist for at least 2-4 years. The difference between an Expert and a Regular MFR therapist is simply experience, and time spent studying. Many times, you may not need the expertise of an expert level therapist. Our regular level therapists are adept at handling any of the treatable issues on our page, and more (make that linkable to treatable conditions). If you are unsure what kind of level of therapy you need, please feel free to call us at the office and we can help you decide the right therapist for you.
Why do emotions get affected by fascia?
There are a few reasons why emotions can pop up in a myofascial release session, or later on (hours to a few days later). The first and easiest reason to understand is that we are finally taking a minute to stop, lie down, and actually focus on ourselves. Have you ever noticed that when you slow down (or when you are laying home sick) you start thinking about all kinds of things or feelings you’ve “forgotten” about? That’s because sometimes, emotions can be hard to process. They might be scary, or painful, or just plain annoying. So we keep ourselves busy to avoid feeling. When we slow our bodies down to the level we need to be at for Myofascial Release to be effective, these emotions are now able to surface to be processed. Don’t worry. Your body is smart enough to know how much you can handle and you are always in control of how much you decide to “let out”. My advice? Be gentle with yourself, take your time and know that it is ok to process your emotions. When you take the time to do that, you are allowing your WHOLE body to heal, on a very deep level.
The second reason that emotions can come up, is because they got stuck in the glued up fascia during the initial shock to your system. Remember, fascia is a gel-like substance that connects everything in our body. As we learned about in “What is Fascia” (linkable to the fascia tab), when a shock happens to our fascia, it dries out, to absorb the shock, and protect us. When it does this, your fascia also locks in the emotions and the healing process, too. It is almost like putting it away for safekeeping because it was too much to deal with at the time. Now, when you have a myofascial session, you can start to melt some of the stuck parts and this tissue memory pops up and allows you the chance to heal and process what was once stuck. Again, like before, you are always the one in control.
Our Myofascial Therapists have experience holding a safe space for you. They are used to and understand how emotions can come up during this process. We just want you to know that we’ve got your back and understand this whole process, so if you need to let go, then go for it. We’ve got your back.
This whole idea may sound totally foreign to you, or even scary. That’s ok too. Again. If you’re not into this, or not ready for this level of awareness and healing, then Myofascial Release stays at the structural level. And sometimes, that is exactly what YOU need!
We never know. We just like to tell our clients what they can expect, and how profoundly this bodywork can help them, at whatever level they need.
A short video describes what Myofascial Release and Fascia is. Myofascial Release works on the fascia of your body. Fascia is a gel-like connective web that runs through your entire body. Think: 3D spider web. This 3D spider web wraps around every single structure of your body, essentially creating your body’s shock absorber. From thick supportive fascia in your back and feet to little itty bitty fascia wrapping every single cell, it is all inclusive and all supportive. What happens with Fascia is that over time, or with a “shock” to our system, our fascia protects us, by absorbing the shock.
A shock to your system can be emotional, or physical. Some physical shocks include things like repetitive motions of our day to day life, or something more severe, like a car accident or a surgery. An emotional shock to your system could be the everyday stressors of coping with modern life, or something more intense, like the grief of losing a close family member or the heartache of a divorce. When these kinds of things happen to us, our fascia goes into protective mode and absorbs the shock. When it does this, it actually changes state, from its nice, gel-like state, to a more solid, glue-like substance.
Now, picture your nice gel fascia, turning into these little glue pockets everywhere. Yuck! this glue, starts sticking to everything, and instead of having a nice gel gliding around supporting us, we have this glue stuff getting everything stuck and pressing on pain sensitive structure like nerves, creating our pain symptoms! That’s where we come in.
Our Myofascial Therapists are trained to look for your fascial glued up restrictions and apply gentle sustained pressure to those areas, to change your fascia back to its gel state, releasing the pressure from your body and restoring you to your pain-free existence. A typical session includes talking with your therapist about what is going on with your body and describing your pain symptoms. They may ask you to stand, or move around a little, to show them where your restrictions are. They have you change into shorts, or shorts and a sports bra/tank top for ladies, in order to work with your body and see any restrictions. Then, they will have you lie down, and start to work on those areas of restriction.
Many clients report Myofascial Release as, unlike anything, they have ever felt before. They find it relaxing, sometimes tingly sensations or a sense of warmth flows through them as their fascia starts releasing. Sometimes they can literally feel the tightness melting away, like butter on a hot griddle. Sometimes, they feel it in another area of their body! Or, they feel a little worse, before they get better. Myofascial Release is unlike any other modality because it gets at the root cause of your issue, rather than masking it, like pain medications or surgery does. We are able to treat many different diagnoses and get consistently successful results.
Are you sick of taking pain medication only to relieve symptoms? The majority of our clients see us after being diagnosed with the following conditions. They tell us that they have tried physical therapy, surgeries, and pain medications, with limited results and that they really just want to feel better and not have to take medication or botox injections or nerve blocks. Some of them are trying to avoid surgery (or more surgery!) and some have reached a desperate level having tried almost everything with no success. We can help. We have helped! Our clients report feeling better. Getting off their medications. Canceling surgeries. Going back to exercising, or even just moving about their daily lives with more energy and no pain.
- Chronic neck and back pain
- Myofascial Pain
- Headaches and Migraines
- Scoliosis
- Scars
- Restriction of Motion
- TMJ/Jaw Pain
- Plantar Fasciitis
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Repetitive and Overuse Injury
- Neurological Conditions
- Sports Injury
- Stress and Tension
- Trauma
- Sciatica
- Car Accidents
- Whiplash
- Tennis Elbow
- Torticollis
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Adhesions
- Infertility
- Pelvic Pain
- Endometriosis
- Irritable Bowl Syndrome
- Scar Tissue Release
- C-section Scar Tissue Release
How many sessions do I need, to see results?
We can never really be certain how many sessions you might need because every client is different and each fascial restriction unique. Your back pain could be due to restrictions in your psoas, hamstrings, and adductors, while another person could be from tightness in their jaw and shoulders (true story!) This is why Myofascial Release is so effective, because we treat the individual, not following a protocol.
Typically, we ask that you commit to trying this modality for at least 5 sessions, to start to really understand how it works, and see the change in your body.
How often do I need to come for treatment?
We see clients as frequently as 3 times a day, to monthly maintenance. We typically like to start off with weekly (or more) sessions to really see some results, and then space the sessions farther apart as you start to feel better
How will I feel after a treatment?
This is something we often cannot predict. Some people feel immediate relief from their pain. Others go through a period of increased inflammation before getting better, called a “Healing Crisis” or Herxheimer’s Reaction. Some people will go through cycles of these feelings. Sometimes, changes can be so subtle that you don’t even notice it. Just like some pain creeps up on you slowly until all of a sudden you can’t move, so it is with healing, too.
What is the difference between an expert level myofascial release session and a regular level session?
All of our myofascial therapists have been trained specifically in Myofascial Release by John Barnes’, in his style, or by Nicole Russo, in the Skin to Soul style of Myofascial Release. They have spent hours learning the technique and mentoring with Nicole, the owner of Skin to Soul and an expert level therapist. An expert level myofascial therapist has taken over 450 hours of study through the John Barnes and Skin to Soul programs and has worked exclusively as a Myofascial Release therapist for at least 2-4 years. The difference between an Expert and a Regular MFR therapist is simply experience, and time spent studying. Many times, you may not need the expertise of an expert level therapist. Our regular level therapists are adept at handling any of the treatable issues on our page, and more (make that linkable to treatable conditions). If you are unsure what kind of level of therapy you need, please feel free to call us at the office and we can help you decide the right therapist for you.
Why do emotions get affected by fascia?
There are a few reasons why emotions can pop up in a myofascial release session, or later on (hours to a few days later). The first and easiest reason to understand is that we are finally taking a minute to stop, lie down, and actually focus on ourselves. Have you ever noticed that when you slow down (or when you are laying home sick) you start thinking about all kinds of things or feelings you’ve “forgotten” about? That’s because sometimes, emotions can be hard to process. They might be scary, or painful, or just plain annoying. So we keep ourselves busy to avoid feeling. When we slow our bodies down to the level we need to be at for Myofascial Release to be effective, these emotions are now able to surface to be processed. Don’t worry. Your body is smart enough to know how much you can handle and you are always in control of how much you decide to “let out”. My advice? Be gentle with yourself, take your time and know that it is ok to process your emotions. When you take the time to do that, you are allowing your WHOLE body to heal, on a very deep level.
The second reason that emotions can come up, is because they got stuck in the glued up fascia during the initial shock to your system. Remember, fascia is a gel-like substance that connects everything in our body. As we learned about in “What is Fascia” (linkable to the fascia tab), when a shock happens to our fascia, it dries out, to absorb the shock, and protect us. When it does this, your fascia also locks in the emotions and the healing process, too. It is almost like putting it away for safekeeping because it was too much to deal with at the time. Now, when you have a myofascial session, you can start to melt some of the stuck parts and this tissue memory pops up and allows you the chance to heal and process what was once stuck. Again, like before, you are always the one in control.
Our Myofascial Therapists have experience holding a safe space for you. They are used to and understand how emotions can come up during this process. We just want you to know that we’ve got your back and understand this whole process, so if you need to let go, then go for it. We’ve got your back.
This whole idea may sound totally foreign to you, or even scary. That’s ok too. Again. If you’re not into this, or not ready for this level of awareness and healing, then Myofascial Release stays at the structural level. And sometimes, that is exactly what YOU need!
We never know. We just like to tell our clients what they can expect, and how profoundly this bodywork can help them, at whatever level they need.
