● Are you tired of your pain dictating the activities of your life?
● Are you ready to be well?
● Are you open to a new approach to your health care?
● Are you willing to invest in your health and well-being?
● Are you willing to be an active partner in your healing journey?
● Are you ready to break up old patterns that hold you back?
You can expect your MFR treatment to be in a safe and nurturing environment. You can expect to be listened to – as you are the one who knows your body best. We will assist your body in finding it’s way to optimal health through release of fascial restrictions. All sessions are 90 minutes long.
During the first session we will go over your medical history, postural analysis, mobility assessment, treatment and self-treatment instruction. You will receive about 60 minutes hands-on treatment. The cost for 90 minutes session will be $120. Please arrive ten minutes before your appointment to complete the client intake form.
Myofascial Release treatment sessions are often very relaxing. Clients are guided to keep their awareness in their body. Feedback from the client regarding their body’s feelings and sensations will be needed in order to achieve positive results. Often the reduction of pain and increase of range of motion is experienced during or after the treatment.
Some clients may experience a temporary increase in pain or symptoms after the treatment. Please do not be alarmed, this may be the healing crisis period that is often followed by a significant improvement. The healing crisis can last up to three days. When restricted fascia is released, metabolic waste products and toxins are released into the interstitial spaces which may cause muscle soreness. Please drink plenty of water to flush your system from toxins and to minimize the unpleasant symptoms.
To the therapist, the fascial release can feel like taffy stretching or butter melting. The release happens very slowly and is sometimes subtle.
To the client, a fascial release has been described as feeling like waves of warmth or a pulsing in the releasing area. Sometimes when a release occurs, you will feel some therapeutic pain in another area of your body that requires the therapist’s attention.
Be aware that sometimes an emotion or a memory will come up during the treatment. Memories of past traumas, injuries and accidents are stored in the restricted fascia. When fascia is released, these memories are released as well. Please continue to have communication with your therapist about what you feel and experience in your body.
Yes and no. Myofascial Release does not force. The restricted fascia exerts pressure of up to 2,000 pound per square inch and can not be forced. Myofascial release is a very slow, intentional technique. The practitioner applies sustained moderate pressure into the area of fascial restriction and then waits for the release. Once the piezoelectric response starts to take place the fascia begins to shift and to release. During the release, the client could feel a tingling sensation or a mild burn, but never intense pain.
At anytime during the session you can ask the therapist to ′ease up′ the pressure. You, the client, know your body best and are always in control of pressure. Your therapist has been trained to help you soften into the restricted areas so a deeper release can occur and the holding and bracing patterns that no longer serve you, are discharged from your system.
On the molecular level the Myofascial system is organized as organic crystalline. Crystals produce small electrical charge when sustained pressure is applied to them. During a Myofascial Release treatment your therapist would apply pressure into the connective tissue and thereby generate electrical fields.
In all likelihood, this is where the nervous system gets involved. A tight and restricted tissue is not only dehydrated, but also has low electrical potential. The fascia barely moves, and has less strength and power.
The application of Myofascial Release principles increases electrical potential which attracts water molecules, with that rehydrating the ground substance. This phenomenon is often called the motility response of the tissue.
Further, Myofascial Release therapy helps rearrange and organize the collagen fibers of the fascia which leads to a healthier and more movable connective tissue.
*Reference: John F. Barnes article – click here
Some clients may experience a temporary increase in pain or symptoms after treatment. Please do not be alarmed, this may be the healing crisis period that is often followed by a significant improvement. The healing crisis can last up to three days. Please remember that healing does not happen in a linear fashion.
When restricted fascia gets released, metabolic waste products, toxins, are released into the interstitial spaces which may cause muscle soreness. Please drink plenty of water to flush your system from toxins and minimize the unpleasant symptoms.
Since Myofascial Release is a hands-on modality, contact with bare skin is necessary. Women could wear, either a two-piece swim suit, a bra or sports-bra and undergarment or loose-fitting elastic waist shorts. Men could wear loose fitting elastic waist shorts, boxer shorts or bathing trunks.
NO LOTION POLICY Please do not use any lotion on the day of your session, as the therapist’s hands need to be able to grip to the tissue as versus to sliding on the skin during a massage session.
The number of sessions that one would need is very individual. Several variables have to be taken into consideration when answering this question, such as your condition, how you respond to the treatment, your goals and if you are willing to do self-treatment at home.
Everyone responds differently to MFR. Many feel changes in symptoms after a couple of sessions while others require a number of treatments to achieve their state of well-being. Clients are encouraged to have a follow-up session as soon as possible after the initial visit to continue the progress made during the first session.
Listen to your body. Be understanding, acceptant, and gentle with yourself on this healing journey. Remember that it took time and events for the restricted fascia to form and for your condition to develop. Healing is a process, not a one time event that happens over night.
The goals of Swedish massage is to relax the muscles, to detoxify the body, to reduce stress and to improve health by providing temporary relief from chronic pain. However, massage does not seek to alter or change the structure of fascia. Massage is wonderful for all of the above-mentioned reasons, but unfortunately massage does not address the fascial restrictions and until these restrictions are released chronic pain returns time and time again.
Reference: myofascialrelease.com
The John F. Barnes′ Myofascial Release Approach is considered to be the ultimate mind/body therapy that is safe, gentle and consistently effective in producing results that last. John F. Barnes, PT has trained over 100,000 therapists and physicians, is an international lecturer, author and authority on Myofascial Release Therapy. He is a physical therapist and is considered to be a visionary and teacher of the highest caliber. Elena Diaz CMP has been trained by John F. Barnes.