How Does Myofascial Release Therapy Work?
The terms "myo" and "fascia" refer to muscle and band. The fascia is a web of collagen and elastin fibers surrounding and protecting other tissue, such as ligament, bone, muscle, tendons, and organs. Like a muscle, the fascia can relax and contract, and it is important for joint stability and movement. If the fascia hardens or scars, the network loses its cushioning effect and pulls other structures out of alignment.
An X-ray, MRI, or CAT scan will not show fascial restrictions and tightness, thereby leaving the patient with unresolved pain due to an undiagnosed fascial condition. Chiropractic medicine focuses on whole-body wellness, whereas traditional medicine focused on treating symptoms. MFR is a whole-body treatment that treats the source of pain and reduced mobility.MFR therapy aims to alleviate pain by easing tension and tightness in trigger points that cause pain. Because determining which trigger point is causing pain can be hard as pain may be referred to another area of the body, myofascial release is used over a broad tissue and muscle area.
MFR therapy is performed in a chiropractic setting during massage therapy sessions. Your massage therapist will massage the myofascial gently and check for any tight or stiff areas. Myofascia is normally pliable and elastic. To help the tissue and relieve tightness and pressure, areas that feel rigid will be massaged and stretched with gentle manual pressure. This method will be repeated on trigger points several times till the tension is released.
Because the
myofascial release works a broad network of muscles, the places that are tight and causing your pain may not be where you experience the pain. These stiff myofascial areas can restrict joint and muscle movement in other areas of the body, resulting in muscle pain.
