Myofascial release and trigger point therapy
How Myofascial release and trigger point therapies can relieve your pain today!
Many people who suffer with muscle pain, tight muscles, restricted joints and painful knots think that all they need is a good massage and everything will be fine.
The problem is that if your fascia is contracted, where you are feeling the pain might not even be where source of the where the issue is stemming from in your body.
A good massage of the area might give you short term relief but it probably won’t solve the problem.
Myofascial release and trigger point therapies are modalities that a specialist practitioner can use to target the muscular areas of the body that feel stuck and stiff instead of flexible and supple.
These practices are effective to release the fascia and trigger points that also contribute to referred pain in the body.
So what is fascia? What happens when we don’t keep it healthy? How can these therapeutic techniques relieve your pain?
Let’s find out!
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Related Topics
12 top causes of Myofascial pain and Myofascial pain syndrome
- Diseases such as diabetes or thyroid disease
- Poor posture
- Muscle injury
- Dehydration
- Emotional stress
- Wear and tear from repetitive movement
- Instense workouts or exercise causing muscle strain
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Working or living in a cold environment
- Infections
- Surgery that leads to restrict movement
- Pinched nerve
All of these may be contributing to your fascia becoming stiff and fixed, causing painful trigger points and muscle pain in your body.
What is fascia?
We describe fascia to our clients as web that covers the entire body including their face.
This web connects, surrounds and holds all the connective tissues including your organs, blood vessels, nerve fibres, muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons and even your blood.
Your fascia is primarily collagen and elastin. It looks like a sheet of tissue but it has layers with a fluid called hyaluronan in between that allows it to stretch as you move.
Fascia is classified by layers including superficial fascia, deep fascia and visceral or parietal fascia. It can also be classified depending on it’s function and anatomical location.
If we go back to the analogy of the web just think about what happens when you disturb a web, it pulls, gathers or is disrupted. This also happens to the fascia in and on our body.
Healthy fascia is flexible, supple and glides. When it gets gummy and stuck it is an adhesion.
Check out this great explanation and demonstration about how your fascia works!
What is Myofascial pain?
Myofascial tissue can become tight in all areas of the body. Shoulders, neck, quads, feet, jaw, arms, hips and calves to name a few.
Working out how to know if you have Myofascial pain can be hard especially as it can radiate from the area where you feel the pain and spread.
Fascia adhesions respond well to movement, heat therapy and trigger point and Myofascial release massage as these therapies help the muscle tissue to relax and the facia to return to an elastic state.
Alternatively, when you have muscle and joint issues they tend to feel worse when you move them.
A trained therapist can identify Myofascial tissue stiffness and tightness during a treatment and work with the areas that you are feeling pain or source where it might be being referred.
Mysofacial pain syndrome
Sometimes knots, called trigger points, can form when the muscle fibres are in a contracted state.
The knots can compress and contort the muscle that the fascia surrounds.
You may feel a bump or nodule in the muscle that aches or is painful to touch.
The muscle fibres become stuck in contraction and it stops the blood flow. This allows waste material to also build up and irritate the muscle fibres.
When this happens your brain responds by telling you not to use the muscle which in turn causes the muscle to tighten further.
It then can come become weak, affect the local muscle groups and restrict normal movement function.
Because of referred pain people sometimes have other symptoms such as headaches, shoulder and neck pain, nerve pain or pelvic pain and why Myofascial pain syndrome is often misdiagnosed.
What is Myofascial release therapy?
Myofascial release therapy is a style of massage given by a trained bodywork therapist.
Your therapist will take time to touch the specific areas on your body using their hands to feel for tight or stiff Myofascial tissue.
Once they have located the tight tissue they will use massage techniques, sometimes with their hands or elbows and with tools such as a small ball or foam roller. They may also use specific stretches.
These techniques will release the muscle and eliminate the gathering in the fascia.
The process can be painful, however you should always know your limits and speak to your practitioner during the treatment if you feel that the pain is too much.
With a good therapist you should have immediate relief from pain and stiffness and have an increased range of motion.
What is the difference between trigger point therapy and Myofascial release?
Trigger point therapy is a very similar to Myofascial release in that the therapist uses the same techniques when treating the patient, however they target different issues ie. trigger points, that may be causing your pain.
To help release the trigger point a therapist will often also ask the patient to use deep breathing during the treatment.
As the name describes trigger point therapy focuses on releasing the knots in the muscle and fascia with deeper firm targeted pressure, where as Myofacial release is directed at releasing the fascial tissue with lighter and constant massage techniques.
These techniques go hand in hand.
How long is a trigger point and Mysofascial release session?
A trigger point and Myofascial release session with Studio Australia Barcelona Director Natalia Laing is 60 minutes.
How often should I have a treatment?
We are pleased to say that many people that we care for with Myofascial release and trigger point therapy find pain relief and improved range of motion after their first treatment.
Results from your treatment depends on the severity of the contractions, what has caused the symptoms and how long you have been suffering with them.
For persistent issues we recommend weekly or bi-weekly treatments for four weeks.
Once you relief maintenance sessions monthly will help to keep your fascia fluid and muscles relaxed.
Alternative treatment options to relieve muscle pain
Apart from Myofacial release and trigger point other treatments options to relieve muscle pain can include:
- pain relievers
- dry needling
- acupuncture
- physical therapy
- Ultrasound
- TENS therapy
- injections of medication directly into trigger points.
Contraindications for Myofascial release and trigger point therapies
We always recommend that if you are taking prescription medications or have health issues such as those listed below that you speak to your doctor before having Myofascial release or trigger point therapy:
- You take blood thinners
- Have broken bones
- Suffer from Osteoporosis or weak bones
- Have varicose or deep veins
- Tumors
- Open or healing wounds
Other ways you can treat and care for your fascia at home.
Prevention is better than cure! Caring for your fascia and keeping it healthy isn’t as hard as you might think.
1. Stretch. Stretching your body reduces inflammation in the muscles. You should try to stretch out every day. It is particularly important to stretch after exercise to avoid muscle pain and trigger points. Try this video!
2. Exercise. Pilates is a great mode of exercise as it combines stretching, muscle strengthening and conditioning, muscle release, breathing and mind body connection. If you would like to try a Pilates class to care for your fascia click here!
3. Move. Exercise is important but keeping your body active throughout the day is also essential especially if you work sitting at a desk. Make sure you stand up and move around every hour for a couple of minutes, take the stairs, walk to your meetings! Try this stretch routine at the desk to keep your fascia supple.
4. Posture. Sitting badly at your desk, slouching or compensating for an injury can all cause your fascia to tighten. Be conscious about how you hold your body.
5. Foam roller or hard ball. Use a foam roller to roll out your or release your fascia regularly. We suggest once or twice a week. Here’s a quick lesson about how to roll out your ITB (Iliotibial band) to show you how!
6. Heat. Whether it be a sauna, heat pack or a hot bath heat will help to release the tension in your muscles and increase circulation allowing the fascia to become more supple.
7. Hydration. Your fascia, like your skin, will become dry and flakey if it is dehydrated. Make sure you keep up the water!
8. Sleep. Studies have shown that getting a good night’s sleep, say 7 hours, helps your fascia to regenerate.
9. Self massage. Help yourself to release tight areas of your body by taking 5 minutes every day to self release with your fingers by pressing on the points where you are feeling the discomfort.
10. Diet. Reduce foods in your diet that cause inflammation. eg. refined and processed foods, fried food and red meat.
