Myofascial Release (MFR)
-MFR is a gentle hands-on application of sustained pressure into fascial restrictions, allowing hardened, restricted tissue to return to its natural liquid state.
Imagine if your whole body was a knitted sweater. If I took one string in your back and started to pull it, it would pucker and pull into all the surrounding regions. When we have pain, it isn’t just where we feel pain that we have restrictions. With MFR, the client describes the feeling of pain/discomfort, and the therapist treats that area as well as connected restrictions, alleviating the source of pressure on the system.
What to expect during a session: Clients are encouraged to come with or wearing athletic shorts and a tank top or sports bra/underwear that they are comfortable being in for the session. Sessions are either 60 or 90 minutes long and can include a standing assessment as well as lying down assessment of structure and function. The treatment itself involves gentle pressure at the barrier of restriction, and is held for several minutes at a time (time is vital as it takes a minimum of 3-5 minutes for hardened fascia to start to melt and become fluid again). No emollients are used on the skin, and it is ideal if you do not have any moisturizer or makeup on prior to treatment. As with all sessions here, the client is always in charge and the treatment should never be painful. Clients are directed to say “ease up” or “halt” at any time, allowing the client to be fully in control at all times. The goal is to create a safe space where healing can occur.
So, what exactly even is Fascia? Fascia is a type of tissue that composes a body system. One unique feature of fascia is that even though it is its own system, it also is a part of and within all the other body systems. You can’t get away from Fascia. It is in everything.
The fascial system is made up of two main components:
-The fascia, which is the connective tissue fibers made up of collagen and elastin, and
-The ground substance, which is the body’s natural lubrication and has a gel-like quality.
Fascia is the immediate environment of every cell in the body.
The fascial system surrounds, permeates, and connects everything else down to the cellular level. Our entire body is encased within it, a jello-like web of tissue that serves to not just hold the interior together, but is the microtubule superhighway for our energy, nutrients, light, and even our thoughts and feelings.
Great visualizations for this system are a spiderweb, mesh netting, or individual fibers of a cotton ball. We are completely made of fascial fibers, with complete connectivity and continuity throughout the body. This entire system not only helps us live and move with ease, but it also acts as our shock absorption. In that regard, think of the fascial system like oobleck: a non-Newtonian fluid often made in science class with water and cornstarch that stays fluid when approached and interacted with gently, but solidifies when approached aggressively. Like oobleck, the ground substance of our fascial system will solidify when we experience trauma of some kind, but unlike oobleck, it does not reliquefy immediately after the traumatic experience and can stay solidified for years. Solidification in the fascial system can create up to 2000 pounds of pressure per square inch. That’s like a fully grown Clydesdale standing on your chest, or 6 panda bears!
Healthy fascia moves through biotensegrity, a coordinated pull and tug of tension and compression (think of a tent with guy wires). Our body is meant to be in a state of balance! It is also meant to be in a fluid state. When we injure ourselves, the fascia tightens around the injury to protect it. These restrictions (6 pandas on you) can often be the source of the pain problems we experience.
Here is a good visual and example how Fascia maintains the structure, function and stability in the body. Without the tension of the guy wires, the tent even with the poles will fall over. Our bodies are a tensegrity structure!
Tent poles= your bones
Tent fabric= skin, muscle
Guy wire= your Fascia
