What Is A Myofascial Release Massage? – A Happy Trigger

A mayo what? No, myo, please come again? What is a myofascial release massage!? Grr…

Don’t worry if you don’t know the meaning of this unearthly word, I have your back…literally. A myofascial release massage is a hands on technique that involved adding small sustained pressure into what is known as you myofascial connective tissue restrictions in attempt to eliminate your pain and restore your motion all together.

The purpose is to stretch out your fascia muscle, and relax your tense and deep tissue.

Believe me when I tell you that it is very safe and effective, and did I mention it feels great after you are done? If it’s after a matter of minutes, or a 30-minute session, you’ll be jumping up in joy(well not exactly jumping since that can hurt your back), and you’ll honestly feel like a brand new person. Why is this technique so effective?

We’ll get to the bottom of this question in a matter of seconds, but if you’d like to know “how” to do it, you can read more in this article here.

Here’s a very therapeutic and calming short video on what a myofascial release massage is and looks like:

Who Is this Unique Massage For?

A myofascial release massage is very therapeutic, so much so it doesn’t need the use essential oils, creams, or any form of additives to give you the good works. That says a lot…

Most conventional massages go hand in hand with some form of cream, coconut butter, or oil to get deep into the tissues of your skin and into the muscles. But guess what? It’s big brother “Myofascial” doesn’t require that. How will that benefit you?

1. You get the exact trigger areas of your body to release
2. Your whole body gets released

Drawing the rough sketch, a myofascial release massage is great for people with chronic pain who have severe muscle tightness, and is caused by sensitive motions. The pain comes from what is called your trigger points. They are the areas in your tissue that cause your pain to resonate.

I Strongly recommend getting a myofascial release massage if you have sever chronic lower back pain that causes you to ache all over your body. And if a conventional massage can’t release your:

• stress
• muscles
• tissues
• tension

… Then its time to give this form of trigger point therapy a look. There’s a really inspiring and amazing article of a lady who thought the use of this form of therapy would work but little does she know, she was in for a life changing moment, see here.

How Are A Conventional Massage And Myofascial Release Therapy Similar And Different?

In a massage your body is basically getting an up and down stroke movement with kneading into the tissues, and while there is pressure involved, it’s not like a deep tissue effect to it. Practitioners actually will press into your tissue directly for a myofascial release, most of the time being hard. I once had a Myofascial release done to my entire back, and I might have left with a new body but oh man did I wake up sore as hell!

This is a great sign though…the practitioners target the actual fascia tissue rather than your muscles underneath. In a Myofascial release massage, it’s about breaking the adhesion and leaving less scaring in your tissue.

Here’s more of a longer video on the differences between a any other regular massage, and a myfoscial release massage that you should check out:

Are there more ways than one?:

The most common method is to get a hands on experience from your practitioner, but in my experience, a foam roller or a myofascial release massage ball will work just as well. These are tools for your Convenience , so you don’t have to make every trip over to your health Practitioner , rather spend the time if you can to massage yourself.

You can learn more here on the “how portion of it”, that will ensure you have the right tools or people to get your pain under control.

The Process Overview:

Now that we’ve covered everything from what a myofascial release massage is to who its for, it’s time to just break down what a therapist might do.

You’ll remain fully clothed and will lie with your belly down on a massage table. You’ll get a slight firm pressure. and therapist will work their way into your pain. Meaning they are not limited to just using fingers, but:

• arms
• elbows
• first
• or extra deep work

Every technique varies, but it’s usually common to apply firm pressure on your specific points that are causing your lower and upper back pain.

1. During your myofascial release massage, your therapist will locate myofascial release areas that are feeling stiff and fixed instead of elastic and movable under other forms of light manual pressure.
2. He/She will run their hands gently and little by little up and down the whole area of your back with all their fingers
3. From time to time, you’ll get palms with applied pressure, and in other moments a couple fingers will be applied to add extra supplemental pressure

Don’t forget to check out our “how to myofascial release page, you can click right here to see it.

It’s Conclusive, Not About “What” But “How”

Up to this point we covered everything about what a myofascial release massage is and what it is most certainly not. It’s a very specific form of massaging that many people are not familiar with. Why couldn’t a better word be chose for it, so we can all remember it easier? I don’t know, but I wish it were.

This form of a massage is extremely helpful if you have muscle knots, and you need an extra supply of blood flow and nutrients through your fascia, the deeper tissues, and a more therapeutic approach to a massage.

My experience doesn’t stretch beyond 2 visits to my massage therapist for a myofascial release massage, and in those two times I can say that I really was happy they had my back…literally!

If It was not for this massage, I would have not know how to do a myofascial release massage on my own, which you can learn about more in this article.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to send me a massage. I’m always here to help.