Throughout each day we use almost every muscular aspect of our bodies. As we utilize our bodies, continuous “wear and tear”, acute injuries, chronic stress, physical holding patterns or natural aging can begin to manifest as pain and restriction in specific areas. When this occurs, our physical structure can be in need of outside support to help facilitate the healing process.

 

The Manual Approach works primarily with myofascia, a specific type of connective tissue that surrounds all of our muscle fibers. Myofascia is tough, dense connective tissue composed of elastic and collagen fibers that help hold together our bodies physical structure. Healthy myofascia is supple and adaptable, but it can tighten in response to physical changes brought on by internal or external stressors. When this occurs, the myofascia can begin to thicken and become sticky—this “gluing together” creates a connective tissue adhesion. Over time an adhesion can worsen, causing the fascia to compress the muscle it surrounds. This can trigger pain responses by constricting the nerves and result in hard, tender knots in the muscle fibers known as “trigger points”. Movement can also become restricted in areas bound by adhesions. Fortunately, mysofascial tissue is flexible and resilient by design and responds extremely well to manual pressure, stretching and lengthening.