Myofascial Release and Trigger Point Therapy

Myofascial release and trigger point therapy is a type of alternative therapy and body work where the therapist will palpate or release with targeted massage techniques ‘knots’ and tight bands of muscle to reduce pain and contractions.

Myofascial Release

The way we explain the myofascial release treatment to our clients is with a simple analogy.

Your muscles are covered with a fine web of fascia or connective tissue.  This fascia can become tight and restricted due to trauma, disease, overuse due to day-to-day activities, especially repetitive tasks like using a mouse and sitting at a computer for long periods of time or bad posture or alternatively not being used enough.

Relaxing this fascia and releasing the muscles improves blood flow and circulation bringing relief from pain, improving movement and reducing tension.

Trigger Point Therapy

Trigger points are described as points in the muscles that are hyperirritable that become contracted and can pull on tendons and ligaments that are related to the muscle and cause pain.

Before your trigger point treatment a good therapist will discuss your pain, lifestyle and habits and in the session will use a combination of pressure, deep tissue massage and stretching to release these trigger points.

Sometimes these points refer pain to other parts of the body often when the therapist is working on releasing the specific nodule or band of fibers in the muscle.  For example you may feel the pain referred in your neck when the knot or nodule is being worked on is in your trapezius muscle.