What causes myofascial pain?
A sheath of thin connective tissue called the fascia lines the inside of your abdominal cavity and covers your muscles and organs. The term myofascial refers to problems that affect the fascia surrounding your muscles.
Myofascial pain occurs when your muscles, and subsequently, the fascia are damaged due to repetitive movement, stress-related tension, or an injury. Weak muscles and poor posture can also lead to myofascial pain.
If you have myofascial pain, you may experience:
- Pain when pressing the muscle
- Pain from being in a certain position
- Pain that occurs during certain movements
The affected muscles may also contract, forming a painful knot or lump called a myofascial trigger point.
When might I need myofascial release therapy?
In addition to relieving myofascial pain, you may need myofascial release therapy when you:
- Lose flexibility or function after an injury
- Experience chronic back, shoulder, hip, or neck pain
- Develop temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder
- Develop carpal tunnel syndrome
- Suffer from the ongoing pain of fibromyalgia
- Need relief from migraine headaches
- Have stiffness and pain following a sports injury
- Have muscle imbalances due to sports training
You may benefit from myofascial release any time it feels like tight muscles or fascia limit your movement.
What is myofascial release?
Myofascial release therapy frees the soft tissues causing tightness, pain, and loss of mobility. Your provider relieves these problems by focusing on the fascia. After identifying areas of the fascia that are injured, inflamed, tight, and causing restrictions, your provider uses gentle, hands-on techniques to free the fascia, allowing the fascia and muscles to move freely.
Myofascial release typically requires more than one treatment to achieve optimal results. You may go in daily for a few days or weeks, depending on the severity of the restriction.
Do other integrative therapies support myofascial release?
Your provider may recommend other treatments to complement your myofascial release therapy and accelerate your recovery. For example, you may benefit from:
- Chiropractic manipulation
- Physical therapy
- Cold laser therapy
- Acupuncture
- Gua sha
- Massage therapy
- Ultrasound therapy
If you suffer from ongoing pain or loss of mobility, the team at Body of Beverly Hills Wellness can help with myofascial release and a range of integrative treatments. Call the office or request an appointment online today.
