Myofascial Release
This treatment is the cornerstone of my practice and has helped many people with chronic pain in the low back, shoulders, hips, legs, and feet. Trigger Point therapy can also relieve headaches and migraines. So many symptoms of pain can be addressed with trigger point therapy and myofascial release. Manual therapy options should always be considered before more invasive techniques are used to alleviate acute or chronic pain.
Myofascial Release and Trigger Point therapy techniques can significantly reduce pain.
​
Through the application of gentle to firm pressure in very specific areas, myofascial release and trigger point therapy can greatly increase range of motion, while decreasing tension and pain. The slow release of fascia is associated with lasting and dramatic change in the skeletal structure, as in Structural Integration, as well as unwinding of bound soft tissue in local and long tracts of muscle tissue. Together with trigger point therapy, myofascial release can help alleviate chronic tension associated with conditions such as shoulder pain, hip pain, and tight leg muscles.
Dr. Janet Travell is the mother of trigger point therapy. Her work in the 1960's laid the foundation of modern trigger point therapy. The principle of this type of bodywork is to address pain in certain areas of the body by examination of muscle tissue associated with certain pain referral patterns. These patterns have been well documented and studied extensively since Dr. Travell's initial work in the area.
Trigger Points are formed when groups of individual muscle cells are frozen in a contracted state. These groups of cells pull the surrounding muscle fibers taught and can lead to a feeling of localized pain, or pain that is felt in a referral area. Variation in direct pressure and a series of different levels of myofascial stretching are used to manually release these bound areas. The result is a decrease in local pain and tension as well as pain in the area of referral. You may also feel an 'unwinding' of the fascia in distant areas of the body. For instance, if you have pain and tightness in your illiotibial (IT) band, once this is released, you may feel less low back pain on the opposite side of your body. The fascial system is very interconnected and the changes that myofascial release facilitates are truly fascinating.
​
