Myofascial Release
Fascia is three-dimensional connective tissue that is prevalent throughout the body, completely connected from head to toe, and surrounds and connects into all of the muscles, organs, and other structures of the body. Myo- refers to the muscles of the body. Myofascial Release (MFR) is a manual therapy that works to release adhesions and tension held in the fascia which surrounds and connects into the muscles.
This therapy can change chronic pain patterns, support injury and surgery recovery, ease repetitive strain and tension and pain caused by scar tissue, and more. MFR promotes a reduction in pain and tension in the body, and helps to increase freedom of movement and musculoskeletal functionality.
How is this different from massage?
One big difference is that we don't use oils in MFR. The reason for this is that we want to be able to stretch and release the fascial tissues. Oil creates too much glide to be able to hook into these tissues enough to release them and enable shear and differential movement between physiological structures.
It takes time to open fascia, and so with each session, we will focus on a smaller portion of the body, rather than doing a full body treatment.
We may not spend all of our time working directly where it hurts. Often, but certainly not always, we experience pain when tissues are under strain, that is, when they are chronically overstretched. I will look at your body to see which structures are causing the strain, and focus primarily on these to allow the strained tissues to relax.
With each technique that I do, I will ask you to move your body. This supports the possibility of creating shear and movement between different muscles and other structures of the body.