Myofascial Release

zenman · Mar 25, 2005

Does anyone have any experiences with this?

I'm a Zen Shiatsu therapist also so have tried a lot of bodywork. While I enjoyed John Barnes book, "Healing Ancient Wounds," I did not enjoy MFR. In my opinion, it is worse than Rolfing...meaning it was torture! Ever hear a grown man scream...and cry! :rotfl:

Gator,SN · Mar 25, 2005

Last February, my husband had pneumonia and while coughing, heard a "pop" and felt pain that put him on his knees. After a lot of run around I finally got fed up, called a ortho. surgeon and he had an MRI. They found bilateral pleural effusions and T7-T8 disc protrusion with slight cord contact and and disc protrusion with cord contact at T9-T10. The dr. ordered him PT/myofascial release. I called a friend that is a PTA and she gave me the name of a therapist that specializes in this treatment. She agreed to see him that very afternoon, though she admitted when I talked to her that she doesn't use it all that often, she understood that he was in a lot of pain. After 2 sessions my husband felt a lot better and he commented that while her hands were cold, he could feel his back get warm during treatment. She put him some kind of chair to stretch out his back, he wasn't crazy about that, but it worked. He also had to do stretching exercises at home. She worked with him a total of 7 times. I can't tell you what a difference it made. He said that she was very gentle and it was never painful. (other than what he was feeling in the first place.) After those sessions he was able to sleep in bed and walkwith some limitations. A year later, he's still afraid and braces his back against the doorjams whenever he has to cough. He does get pain in his back from time to time and uses motrin, but during this whole thing he was taking flexeril (sp) and momentum and sometimes darvocet. My husband is not a candidate for surgery because he is a smoker and overweight and the thought that he would have surgery that opened the abdomen to fix the spine was sickening. Myofascial release was a godsend for my husband.

Hope this helps.

martymoose, BSN, RN · Mar 25, 2005

Ive had myofascial release, and like previously stated, it was excruciating to me too, BUT it did help me regain some movement that I had lost, and it allowed my right leg length to be the same as the left(sacral issues). I think it is worth it if you have a strong tolerance to pain, and also have the realization that the therapist can stop at any time that you want (if it is unbearable)Good luck- chris

kids · Mar 25, 2005

I am not a big fan of alternative therapies but I have seen good results in the 2 people I know who have undergone myofacial release: myself and a 4yo girl with Wernig-Hoffman (SMA type I).

The little girl had some contractures in her hips and was receiving PT. A therapist taught her home care nurses how to gently do myofacial release. It took several months of doing it daily but we did eventually see measurable increase it her hip extension and a decrease in complaints of leg pain. The home care nurses continue to do myofacial release as part of her daily ROM and there has been no progression of the contractures.

Because of what I had seen with the little girl I was open to trying it when my Physiatrist recommended myofacial release.

I have spinal defects (and multiple spine surgeries).

Among other consequences of my back problems are a forward pitched posture and a pelvis that behaves like I have a significantly shortened leg when I have equal leg length.

To put it simply: I have postural problems caused by years of compensating for an unstable spine, that surgery and 4 months of 2-3x a week PT has not been able to improve.

I am currently having weekly sessions and we are all noticing a difference including a new found ability to stand upright and decreased spastitity in my thoracic spine. At first the effects only lasted a day or 2 but with each subsequent visit the the time before I start tightening up is longer.

I will say I was pretty shocked when my first session was incredibly painful because I knew myofacial release doesn't have to hurt. Based on my feedback my massage therapist backed off of some areas and lightened up on others and while I fell like I've been worked on for a day or 2 there is no pain or discomfort.

pediatriclpn · Mar 26, 2005

I had Myofascial Release for myofascial pain syndrome on the right side of my neck. I loved it! Every now and then there would be some pain, at the first I would have increase in pain after the tx. But it was worth it. Good luck to any and all who are in pain. This is an altenative therapy that is worth your time.

RNKPCE · Mar 26, 2005

I have had it on my neck by a massage therapist. It does hurt but kind of a good hurt if it makes sense. It stretches what I can't do alone. When my muscles are in spasm it really helps.

ER-RN2 · Mar 26, 2005

Thanks to those that answered! I have been living on NSAIDS for the past few months and nothing really seemed to help. Plus working 12 hours for a shift doesn't help the matter either. I have an appointment for PT next month. I just hope it helps! I did have some injections put in my back-they helped a lot (although I was sore the next day) but my doc said he only does shots every 3 months. :rolleyes:

seanpdent, ADN, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP · Mar 26, 2005

I am a certified athletic trainer, and i used it often within my scope of practice.

It's very hard for most individuals to understand the concept of mfr, but once you grasp it, you're hooked.

It is based on the theory that our fascia that covers our muscular system can sometimes ( and more often than we like to admit) be thrown out of alignment. As most of us know and understand the straie of our muscles form and follow a certain direction which is in coorelated to the action and location of the muscle within the body. Our fascia is believed to also be aligned a certain way in direct coorelation to the muscle that it covers.

MFR is a form of therapy that tries to 're-align' the mucle's facia when it gets thrown out of whack.

There are many different forms of MFR therapy, so I won't even touch that area of the practice.