
Are you living with stiff or tight muscles? If so, you have what is called myofascial pain caused by muscular irritation. Myofascial release is a type of manual therapy treatment in the form of massage. It helps alleviate pain by relieving tension within the affected muscles.
Our Osteopathic Manual Practitioner Vadzim Siniauski is highly trained in the method of myofascial release, with extensive understanding on what specific pressure points to focus on, in order to bring your fascia back to its elastic form.
What Is Myofascial Release?
Myofascial release is a type of physical therapy often used to treat myofascial pain syndrome. Myofascial pain syndrome is a chronic pain disorder caused by sensitivity and tightness in your myofascial tissues. These tissues surround and support the muscles throughout your body. The pain usually originates from specific points within your myofascial tissues called “trigger points.”
Fascia is a very important part of the body. And it has three layers starting with the superficial fascia directly under the skin. The second layer wraps around all your muscles, muscle fibers, tendons, and creates ligaments. The third layer is the subserous fascia, deep inside the body which wraps around and separates all our organs. Although we divide the fascia into layers, they are actually, all interconnected. This means an issue in any of the layers, can have a ripple effect, and start causing issues all over the body.
Myofascial release focuses on reducing pain by easing the tension and tightness in the trigger points. Though it’s not always easy to understand what trigger point is responsible for the pain. Localizing pain to a specific trigger point is very difficult. For that reason, myofascial release is often used over a broad area of muscle and tissue rather than at single points.
Parts of the body that could use myofascial release
This pain management technique is really good for parts of the body that are used a lot or in fixed positions for a long time. These areas include the:
- Neck
- Shoulders
- Arms
- Head
- Jaw
- Lower back
- Hips
- Quads
- Calves
- Feet
Quality Myofascial Release in Toronto
Our osteopath will gently massage the myofascia and feel for stiff or tightened areas. In general, normal myofascia should feel pliable and elastic. The osteopathic practitioner will begin massaging and stretching the areas that feel rigid with light manual pressure.
The osteopath then aids the tissue and supportive sheath in releasing pressure and tightness. The process is repeated multiple times on the same trigger point and on other trigger points until the osteopath feels the tension is fully released.
If your stiff or tight muscles are limiting your daily life, don’t hesitate to contact osteopath Vadzim Siniauski today to schedule a consultation. He would be happy to meet with you and discuss how myofascial release can benefit you!