We have a new therapist starting in July 2022. His focus is on chronic pain management. He does this through a fantastic therapy called Myofascial Release. But what is MFR?
It is important to understand a little bit about anatomy for us to fully describe what MFR does and how it helps with chronic pain, so bear with me whilst I explain.
Everyone knows that we have muscles covered with skin, well there is a layer of tissue in between the muscle and skin. Within the health community this is called connective tissue, but massage therapists know it as Fascia. To help you understand, when you peel an Orange, the skin represents our skin, the orange flesh would be our muscles and the white stuff you must peel off would be our Fascia.
Fascia is important, not only does it provide support for surrounding tissues, reduce friction, and helps with posture and movement. It also helps to transmits signals within the nervous system, helps with hormone signalling and is important in immune response. Fascia also plays a big part in how we regulate our feelings and emotions.
It’s incredibly important and still not widely understood but the scientific community are learning more and more about it every day.
Why is it important to understand about Fascia?
Well because it is the largest organ within the body, it is literally everywhere, between skin and muscles, between different muscles fibres, around joints and organs, its everywhere and it has such a vital role in regulating the body.
Like everything else in the body, it can malfunction. Things that can cause Fascial dysfunction are Trauma (emotional and physical, that includes all operations and any injury that results in scar tissue), inflammation, poor posture, poor nutrition, prolonged stress and injury. All of these things can shorten, solidify and thicken the fascia. When the fascia becomes less mobile in response to any of these things it can lead to pain, stiffness, tissue fatigue and reduced performance and function.
Lets take one of the most common scars..
We see so many women come into the clinic with lower back and hip pain. When we do a thorough consultation, quite often these women have had Caesarean Sections. A C- Section is extremely traumatic on the body, it cuts through 7 layers of tissue, 3 of those are Fascial layers. So when the wound heals the scar tissue that forms on all 7 layers of tissue is very restricted and thick. This prevents the tissues from moving the way they did prior to the operation. If you imagine You’ve darned a hole in your sock, the hole is fixed but the sock no longer lays flat and is all bunched up where it has been fixed. This is how scar tissue is in the body, its bunched up and doesn’t move the way it did before.
This is turn starts to pull on the fascia not just close to the scar but everywhere. It pulls the lower back, it restricts hip movements it even pulls down from the chest causing the shoulders to round forward, leading up upper back ache and neck pain. Meaning many women who have C Section scars have bad back pain because of the restrictions arising from the scar.
This is just one scar, but the same principle can be applied to all scars ( including stretch marks) and areas of chronic pain and injury, like that weak ankle you've had for years since that one really bad sprain, that's probably what's causing your knee pain. Or the IBS you've had all your life, that's what's causes your shoulder pain and tension headaches. Fascinating, right?
WOW, OK that makes sense so how does MFR help?
gentle therapy starts off with a longer session, within this session the first thing the therapist does is a postural analysis, from this they can work out where the restrictions are and what impact they are having on the body. We may ask you to do this in your underwear so we can see how your body is but if you are not comfortable with this then we suggest form fitting clothing. Because of this analysis we recommend the first session is a longer session, 2 hours is recommended but it can be done in 90mins.
Once the postural analysis is complete, the therapist will formulate a treatment plan specifically targeting the areas of restriction. We don’t work the whole body but instead have a very targeted approach. We recommend 4-6 sessions to see amazing results.
The techniques don’t use any oil and are fairly light touch but the therapists works on applying gentle pressure and movement to the areas of restriction in order to release them. Once released the body is allowed to move and function the way it is supposed to and starts to eliminate the pain associated with fascial dysfunction. The therapist may also give you some homework so you can continue the therapy in between sessions so that we can get the best results for you.
What can MFR help with?
MFR Therapy can provide relief if you are suffering from symptoms such as:
Back pain
Sprains and strains
Poor posture
Neck and shoulder pain
Pain in arms, elbows, wrists and hands, fingers – loss of grip
Pains in hips, legs, knees and feet, toes
Pain to the head, face, jaw
Localised or general body stiffness, aches or pains
Muscle pain, weakness and tension
Inflammation and swelling
Restricted movements
Poor mobility
Tenderness
Pain and tightness of tissues surrounding the pelvic & abdominal areas
Pain, numbness or tingling of skin
Pelvic floor dysfunction ( External work only)
Face and Neck Atrophy – Age defying, connective tissue restoration, contouring Lift
Painful, tight scar tissue and/or fibrous tissue developing following trauma, surgery or burns Long-lasting/persistent pain despite other treatment therapies/medication
Lifestyle and social stresses and resultant personal issues
MFR Therapy can also provide a solution if you are experiencing the following situations:
You have been told you have to, “live with the pain”?
The results of MRI’s, CAT Scans, EMG’s and X-rays to track the source of pain have been inconclusive?
Traditional therapies are offering little or no relief?
Different pain medications have not helped?
Your lifestyle has changed because of pain?
Does this sound like you? If yes I would definitely recommend you book into our new Pain clinic on a Tuesday and see the difference Myofascial release can have on your quality of life!
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