Pouring Water on a Stone
Written by John Barnes
Myofascial Release is a safe and very effective hands-on technique that involves applying gentle sustained pressure into the Myofascial connective tissue restrictions to eliminate pain and restore motion. This essential “time element” 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.
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 in many of the standard tests (x-rays, myelograms, CAT scans, electromyography, etc.)
The use of Myofascial Release allows us to look at each patient as a unique individual. Our one-on-one therapy sessions are hands-on treatments during which our therapists use a multitude of Myofascial Release techniques and movement therapy. We promote independence through education in proper body mechanics and movement, self treatment instruction, enhancement of strength, improved flexibility, and postural and movement awareness.
Hands-On Treatment
Each Myofascial Release Treatment session is performed directly on skin without oils, creams or machinery. This enables the therapist to accurately detect fascial restrictions and apply the appropriate amount of sustained pressure to facilitate release of the fascia.
Fascia is a specialized system of the body that has an appearance similar to a spider's web or a sweater. Fascia 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. The most interesting aspect of the fascial system is that it is not just a system of separate coverings. It is actually one continuous structure that exists 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 in many of the standard tests (x-rays, myelograms, CAT scans, electromyography, etc.) A high percentage of people suffering with pain and/or lack of motion may be having fascial problems, but are not diagnosed.
Fascia: A Liquid Crystalline Matrix- by John Barnes
My experience has shown that much of what you and I were taught has been known to be obsolete for close to seventy years! Despite the fact that the information has been known to be outdated, it is still being taught in most medical, dental, and therapeutic schools, leading to the frustration of temporary results and a health care system on the verge of bankruptcy and collapse.
It is time to change and update our paradigm, which is a shared set of assumptions, a model of reality. Our society's model of reality is logical, but a terribly flawed and incomplete paradigm.
I hope to share with you the principles that I have developed from my own personal experience with pain and gleaned from patients from around the world over decades. We will explore an exciting new paradigm of the Myofascial system that is emerging and the important concepts of piezoelectricity, fiber optics, mechanotransduction, fluid dynamics, quantum physics, fractal geometry, complexity and chaos theory, and cellular consciousness.
Fascia plays an important role in the support and function of our bodies, since it surrounds and attaches to all structures. In the normal healthy state, the fascia is relaxed and wavy in configuration. It has the ability to stretch and move without restriction. When one experiences physical trauma, emotional trauma, scarring, or inflammation, however, the fascia loses its pliability. It becomes tight, restricted, and a source of tension to the rest of the body. Trauma, such as a fall, car accident, whiplash, surgery or just habitual poor posture and repetitive stress injuries has cumulative effects on the body. The changes trauma causes in the fascial system influences comfort and function of our body. Fascial restrictions can exert excessive pressure causing all kinds of symptoms producing pain, headaches or restriction of motion. Fascial restrictions affect our flexibility and stability, and are a determining factor in our ability to withstand stress and perform daily activities.
for more information please go to: www.myofascialrelease.com
ANOTHER ARTICLE BY JOHN BARNES:
The fascial system at the cellular level acts like a sieve. It’s fluid is easily flowing through it. As we become restricted, the ground substance that has solidified is clogging up the sieve so your cells are not getting the nutrition, oxygen and information that they desperately need.
As you know, the fascial system is a three dimensional web, but what you and I have also known for a long period of time, which most people have ignored, is that the ground substance of the fascia ideally should be fluid. The fluid component of the fascial system, is the main transport medium of our body, carrying the oxygen we breathe, the food we ingest, the fluid we drink. It also carries all the biochemicals, hormones, information and energy that our trillions of cells need to thrive.
Also, of course science has ignored consciousness, and it turns out that it is consciousness that flows through the fluidity of the fascial system as vibrations of light (photons). The problem is that as we go through various traumas, that which should be fluid becomes more and more viscous so it can no longer carry the information and nutrition, etc. to the cellular level.
Inner and outer beauty.
Basically, Myofascial Release and fascial facials can make you and others obtain a more youthful appearance.
Our inner beauty is extremely important also. Not only do myofascial restrictions create pain, headaches, the symptoms of fibromyalgia and a multitude of diagnostic labels, they also seem to speed the aging process internally and externally. Myofascial structural and unwinding techniques can provide a much more vibrant appearance to your clients.
Obviously the internal beauty and functioning of our physiological health is very important. The environment of every cell, the fascial system’s ground substance ideally should be fluid. Trauma surgery and thwarted inflammatory responses tend to solidify the ground substance. The pressure of the restricted fascial system interferes with the cells delicate inner mechanisms. Recent research shows that debris, waste products and toxins have become trapped in the cells and may be what leads to the decline of the aging process.
I believe that the solidification of the ground substance blocks cellular excretion causing toxins to build up and cannot reach the lymphatic system. So they become trapped and unable to be flushed out to purify the cells.
It seems that excessive pressure and the dehydration of the fascial system’s ground substance forces our molecules to tangle and stiffen with age. Cross links form, attaching the molecules together. Cross links stiffen our collagen and make our skin wrinkle. Chemists call this Advanced Glycation End products or AGEs. The goal of Myofascial Release is to release the cross links to eliminate the pressure on our cells and therefore enhance our function and rehydrate the inner and outer environment of our cells.
