Myofascial Release is a soft tissue (muscle, tendon, and fascia) mobilization through manipulation. Skilled manual techniques (active and/or passive) are applied to soft tissue to effect changes in the soft tissues, articular structures, neural or vascular systems.
Examples are facilitation of fluid exchange, restoration of movement in acutely edematous muscles, or stretching of shortened connective tissue.
This procedure is considered medically necessary for treatment of restricted motion of soft tissues in involved extremities, neck, and trunk (1). At Falls Chiropractic and injury this is an important therapy for addressing chronic injuries. When an injury develops, the surrounding muscles, tendons, and fascia develop a lot of scar tissue.
Sadly, this scar tissue inhibits the nerves within the muscles from sending proper signals to the brain causing weakness of the muscles, lack of stability, and persistent sprain and strain leading to chronic pain. Therefore, in many of our treatment plans we recommend that the patient receive myofascial release therapy in which the practitioner uses their hands to “iron out” the muscular adhesions freeing the muscle to work properly allowing the body to be more stable and pain-free!
This therapy it’s not the same as massage. It restores balance to the nervous system and proper mechanics to the surrounding joints. It is usually done with the patient either seated or laying down with the patient as comfortable as possible as the practitioner works on the necessary muscles. Sometimes a tool is used gently on the skin to help this “ironing out” process such as a Guasa tool.