MYOFASCIAL RELEASE
You see that whitish tissue that connects to the muscles in the picture on the right, that’s called fascia. It’s basically like a layer of saran wrap (but fibrous connective tissue instead) that coats your muscles, blood vessels, and nerves and connects 
different tissues types together. Some fascia are very superficial and some layers are very deep. Fascia provide a sliding environment for muscles, suspend organs in place, transmit movement from muscles and bones, and provides a wrapping for nerves and blood vessels as they pass through muscles. Various types of acute and repetitive stresses can lead to adhesions or ‘stickiness’ within the fascia. This means that muscles and other connective tissues won’t glide very smoothly between each other and movements will be inefficient and strained. Myofascial release is a hands-on technique to ‘release’ these adhesions and promote smoother, healthier movement throughout your body. The practitioner applying myofascial release can use his/her fingers, thumbs, knuckles, or elbows to administer the therapy. Depending on the depth of fascia that the practitioner is attempting to reach, the pressure applied can range from mild to moderate and is usually accompanied by a ‘release’ sensation felt by the patient. Because fascia is literally everywhere, these treatments can be applied from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet.
Conditions typically treated with myofascial release are:
- Back Pain
- Headaches
- Whiplash
- Pelvic Pain
- Neck Pain
- Sports Injuries
- Chronic Pain
- Disc Injuries
- Migraines
- Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
- Neurological Dysfunction
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Adhesions
- Carpal Tunnel
- Jaw Pain (TMJ)
- Painful Scars
- Sciatica
- Myofascial Pain Syndrome