Myofascial Release Therapy

Myofascial Release is a bodywork technique that involves a practitioner applying gentle sustained pressure into restricted myofascial tissue. Therapy sessions are performed directly on the skin without oil or cream. This enables the physical therapist to accurately identify fascial restrictions and apply the appropriate amount of sustained pressure. The therapist maintains a gentle grip for 2-5 minutes facilitating a release of the fascia in turn reducing tension, restoring motion, and eliminating pain.

Fascia is a sheath or connective tissue directly under the skin and has a white appearance like the white covering on an orange.  Just like the fascia holds the orange into an orange shape, our fascia gives us a human shape, and the ease (or effort if restricted) in our motion. Our fascia is very densely woven and it covers and embeds every muscle, bone, nerve, artery, and vein, and all our internal organs.  The nature of healthy fascia is smooth, flexible and it easily glides.

The fascia is a continuous fibrous structure that exists from head to toe, fingertip to fingertip, under the skin to the cells, without interruption.  It does become interrupted during surgery, traumatic incidents, and with chronic holding patterns. When our system is stressed, it tightens. Without addressing modern day stressors, overuse, poor posture, and other variables overtime, its health declines, and it hardens and looses fluidity. These changes lead to restrictions. Together the physical therapist and client, can begin to sense the restricted area(s) and better sense that each part of the body is connected to every other part via the fascial system. The hands-on treatments promote structural and postural improvements and create a better environment for all of the internal systems to communicate. The releases in fascial restrictions that occur during treatments can restore joint motion and ease within the body.