Are you looking for alternative treatments for dealing with physical pain? Whether or not your pain is a result of a chronic nature or brought on by the stress of the holiday season, if it is robbing you of your joy it should be addressed.

Synergy Myofascial Release & Rehab, Inc. is an outpatient physical therapy practice located at the Reservoir in Brandon, MS where we take a different approach to treating pain. We offer a one-on-one, hands-on specialized approach to treating pain known as myofascial release. Let me explain how this treatment works. So what is Myofascial? Myo is defined as combining form of muscle, relating to muscle and Fascial describes the connective tissue in our bodies called the fascia.

The Fascia runs throughout our whole body and is one continuous system that has no beginning or end. The fascia is often referred to as a spider web. Just like a spider web the fascia is all connected. So when adhesions develop the whole web or fascial system is disrupted creating in some incidences full body pain. Typically the fascia is in a fluid like state until it is disrupted. The fascia goes all the way down to the cellular level in our bodies. There are many different things that can disturb our fascial system and cause adhesions to develop.

Take for instance, the onset of muscle imbalances that are brought on by poor posturing or repetitive movement patterns where the muscles develop a memory and results in a holding pattern. Often we see these conditions in someone who in example works at a desk on the computer. Day after day of sitting in a sedentary position at the desk in front of the computer can cause a patient to develop muscle imbalances throughout their body. Typically this person will have shortened knee extensors (hamstrings), hip flexors (psoas), increased lumbar lordosis and increased sacral flexion, shortened pectoral muscles causing a rounded shoulder posture and in turn causing a forward head position, and starts looking like their ears are connected to their shoulders. It is this repetitive sitting and posturing that creates holding patterns in these muscles and our fascia in turn shortens along with the muscle fibers and acts like glue holding us in this position. Other times our fascia can become disturbed when we have traumatic accidents like a whiplash injury in a MVA or a fall down the stairs where our muscular system goes into spasms and the fascia becomes adhered or constricted throughout our bodies in an attempt to protect us from further insult or injury. Other types of injury that can occur are surgeries where scar tissue develops and adheres to the fascia as well.

So how and why does this cause pain? It is thought that when the fascia becomes adhered that it can put up to 1,000 pounds per square inch of pressure on our nerves, blood vessels and other soft tissues making it hard, sometimes next to impossible to move. Your body begins to fight itself, it is like wearing a straight jacket and needing someone to loosen the strings. Your skin will become tight and no matter how much you stretch you are unable to get relief of the tightness which quickly turns into pain. This pain starts causing sleep disturbances and reeking habit on your life.

Relief can be found and myofascial release is the solution. This hands-on treatment to release the fascia starts with an evaluation to determine what has caused your pain and how your body is holding onto the pain. You will undergo a postural analysis to find these holding patterns with a holistic approach to finding the underlying causes to your pain. Your therapist will then look at your skin mobility and flexibility of your muscles to pinpoint what imbalances need to be addressed. Myofascial release is performed with the therapist using their hands with gentle pressure to your tolerance to create a pull into the fascial layer that allows us to wait on the release to take place. This is where myofascial differs from massage. Instead of the therapist working on the tissue until it releases the therapist holds and waits of the fascia to release itself creating lasting results and decreased holding patterns.

Once we return you to your correct posture we then incorporate flexibility and strength training into your treatment plan to maintain the goals we have achieved and decrease the risk of postural imbalances occurring again. This is a process and requires a commitment on your part to make the necessary lifestyle changes of incorporating a healthy lifestyle of nutrition and exercise to create long lasting results.

We believe that we are mind, body, spirit and soul. We must look at the whole picture when trying to conquer our physical pain. It is as important to our physical bodies as to our spiritual body to feed in truth and life. Proper nutrition, hydration, meditation, physical exercise and prayer is the foundation to wellness and healthy living. Don’t let the stress of the holiday seasons interrupt this balance. Wellness can be achieved.