6 Signs That You Could Benefit From Myofascial Release Therapy (MFR)
As Dr. Jess states in her book Conquering Mystery Pain, Myofascial Release (MFR) is a therapy “that involves the gentle application of pressure at various points of restriction in the fascia in order to relieve pain or restore motion,” (Papa, pg. 1). To understand whether or not you could benefit from MFR therapy, it is important to first know what exactly fascia is.
Fascia is “a thin layer of connective tissue that lays over your muscles and extends all the way down to the cellular level of the body. It covers each organ, nerve, muscle, bone, and vein,” (Papa, pg. 3). Because fascia connects all parts of the body at a cellular level, there are a lot of times where certain pain that you could be experiencing is related to a completely different area of the body. Trauma, inflammatory responses, and/or surgical procedures can create myofascial restrictions that can produce tensile pressures of approximately 2,000 pounds per square inch that do not show up in many of the standard tests. The traditional approach is to medicate or work to alleviate symptoms rather than address those anatomical restrictions head-on. This is why so many patients only have temporary results before they call us or are evaluated with a whole-person approach that MFR promotes. Mental and emotional trauma can cause physical pain in the body even years after the fact, due to the mind and body being connected through fascia at the cellular level. If you are curious about whether or not MFR could benefit you, keep reading along below for 6 signs that you could benefit from MFR therapy.
1. You Have Chronic Pain despite numerous attempts and treatments to get relief - A common pattern that Dr. Jess tends to see in her patients is that they have been experiencing chronic mystery pain for years, and despite going to numerous other doctors, therapists, and getting put on various types of medication, the pain is still there and doesn’t seem to ever go away. Because MFR isn’t as well known and because fascia is a little-known tissue within the body, a lot of times people with chronic pain don’t even take this into account when trying to get to the root of their pain. MFR is a great treatment option for chronic mystery pain because it works to get to the root of where the pain is coming from, and this could be something that was caused physically, emotionally or both. But, this is a process that does require a lot of time and attention, which is something that a lot of people don’t receive in other clinics due to various time or clinic constraints.
2. You have undergone surgery- Having surgery can have a major effect on the body, and more specifically the fascial tissue. Surgery can cause the fascia to become tight, dehydrated, and restricted, which can cause other areas of the body to start to become painful. You may not associate the pain with the surgery at first, especially if it is in a different area or it has been years, but, as Dr. Jess explains, everything is connected through the fascia. If you are experiencing chronic pain in one area of the body and don’t know where it’s coming from, it might be important to consider any surgeries that you’ve had in other parts of the body. This could be recent or not recent at all. This mystery pain could be a result of the trauma of the surgery, which is where MFR therapy comes in.
3. You want to age gracefully- As you get older, you may begin to notice the common, unpleasant signs of aging that make it more difficult to enjoy your favorite activities. Certain aches and pains that have sprung up over the years but have gone ignored can begin to take a toll on your physical (and mental) health as time moves forward. This is why you might benefit from MFR therapy. It is important to keep up with your health as you get older so that you don’t lose precious time not being able to do the things you enjoy because you are in pain. As Dr. Jess explains in her book, “If they only listened to their body from the first warning signs, instead of ignoring or brushing it off, they would be so much better off and would not have lost as much time to their pain,” (Papa, pg. 83). Whether it is being able to pick up your grandchild or being able to enjoy your favorite outdoor activity, you should never wait until you are in too much pain to seek MFR treatment. It is important to listen to the warning signs in your body so that you can get to the root of the pain as soon as possible, and not force yourself to have to lose out on time doing the things that you love.
4. You suffer from chronic stress/tension or have been through trauma- If you have been through any kind of trauma, be it physical, emotional, and/or sexual, you may strongly benefit from MFR treatment. Dr. Jess explains that “Our bodies hold emotions in our fascial system like a storage tank until we are ready to release them. Sometimes, the body holds them in a form we call pain. “When you are experiencing MFR, you are peeling away layers of that pain to expose the emotions that are fighting to emerge,” (pg. 29). The mind and body are connected on a much deeper and closer level than a lot of us realize. When we experience a mental/emotional trauma or even a sexual trauma, this can lead to chronic mystery pain down the line. This is because the psychological effects of this trauma can manifest themselves in the form of physical pain in our bodies. Our fascia holds onto this emotional trauma like a sponge and can absorb it in a way that makes us feel physically unwell. MFR can work to get to the root of this pain not only at the physical level but at the emotional level as well. Sometimes the root cause of our physical pain lies in the mind-body connection, which can sometimes be a difficult, yet very necessary, thing to overcome.
5. You have pelvic floor dysfunction- If you have any kind of pelvic floor dysfunction, you could definitely benefit from MFR treatment. The pelvic floor is one of the core areas of our bodies, and if it is thrown out of its equilibrium this can cause all kinds of pain and imbalances within the rest of the body. Pelvic floor dysfunction can stem from various kinds of injuries, but one of the most common causes of pelvic floor dysfunction is childbirth. Dr. Jess discusses this a lot in her second book, Postpartum Is Forever. She discusses how childbirth can be an incredibly traumatic event for the pelvic floor. This can range from episiotomy scars to broken tailbones to ripped tissue, and much more. Pregnancy and childbirth not only displace the normal placement of certain organs within the body, but they can permanently change certain aspects of the pelvic region, such as the hips. It is important to note that this extremely physically traumatic event, paired with the mental and emotional tolls of becoming a new parent, can cause a lot of pain and discomfort that is absorbed by the fascia. People may not know this, but our pelvic floor is full of fascia! Run-of-the-mill pelvic floor physical therapy can miss out on the important manual therapies leaving many new moms frustrated and not much better. If you have tried pelvic floor PT that was not the right fit for you or are looking to start, give us a call.
6. You are looking for a long-term solution rather than a band-aid quick fix- A lot of times, certain clinics or doctor's offices will offer you short-term solutions to the long-term pain that you have been experiencing. These short-term fixes leave you feeling good and hopeful at first, but that good feeling quickly fades away once you feel the pain start creeping back in. You deserve a treatment option that offers a long-term solution instead so that treating your pain on a constant, short-term level doesn’t begin to take over your life. MFR treatment is meant to get to the root cause of your chronic mystery pain, as Dr. Jess explains, and the purpose of this is to be able to get rid of the pain once and for all once this cause is found. MFR therapy does not glaze over your pain and over you a “band-aid” type of solution that will keep you from having to come back for more treatments. The purpose of MFR is for you to put in the work to find the root cause of your pain, and then from there determine which MFR path will best treat your pain for good. If you are sick of short-term fixes that don’t fully treat your pain, MFR might be the right direction for you.
If you relate to even just one of these six points, then you have come to the right place. Dr. Jess and her team are experts in the field of MFR, and their passion is to help treat you on a deeper level so that you can get to the bottom of your mystery pain once and for all. If you are curious about MFR and what we do here at Arancia Physical Therapy, please feel free to reach out to us online here, or give us a call at 401-602-7006. We look forward to hearing from you!
Works Cited
“About Myofascial Release.” Myofascial Release Treatment Centers & Seminars, https://www.myofascialrelease.com/about/.
Papa, Jessica L. Conquering Mystery Pain: How Myofascial Release Can Help Heal YOU! 2019.