The world of fascia is an exploding field within medicine to which we have only scratched the surface. The international community has recognized the clinical significance of fascia and has devoted extensive resources to further study its wonders.
Myofascial Release
Fascia is a specialized system of connective tissue within the body that has an appearance similar to a spider's web or cotton candy as it's being pulled apart. The fascial system is very densely woven, covering and interpenetrating every muscle, bone, nerve, artery, and vein, as well as all of our internal organs including the heart, lungs, brain and spinal cord - like saran wrap for the body. The most astounding aspect of the fascial system is that it is not just a system of separate coverings. Instead it is actually one continuous structure that extends from head to toe without interruption. In this way you can begin to see that each part of the entire body is connected to every other part by the fascia - like the yarn in a sweater.
Trauma, inflammatory responses and/or surgical procedures create myofascial restrictions that can produce tensile pressures of approximately 2,000 pounds per square inch on pain sensitive structures that do not show up on many of the standard test (x-rays, MRIs, myelograms, CAT scans, electromyography, etc.)
The medical approach is to drug patients so they are temporarily free from pain, but this does nothing to address the "straight-jacket" of pressure that is causing the pain. Traditional physical, occupational and massage therapies treat the symptoms caused by the pressure of the "straight-jacket" of the fascial system, but does nothing about this pressure that causes and perpetuates the symptoms. This is why so many patients only have temporary results and never seem to get better with traditional therapy. Myofascial Release treats the entire myofascial mind/body complex, eliminating the pressure of the restricted myofascial system (the straight-jacket) that causes the symptoms.
Myofascial Release is a safe and very effective manual technique that involves applying gentle, sustained pressure into the connective tissues restrictions to eliminate pain and restore motion. It's effectiveness has to do with the viscous flow and the piezoelectric phenomenon: a low load (gentle pressure) applied slowly will allow a viscoelastic medium (fascia) to elongate.