A form of manual therapy, soft tissue release is a hands on technique used to treat muscles and their surrounding tissue called Fascia. You can think of fascia like a spider web. This stringy tissue is densely woven throughout your muscles, bones, nerves, arteries, veins and organs. Your fascia is one continuous structure throughout your body. Each part of your body is connected to it in some way. That’s why if there’s a snag in the tissue in one part of your body, it can cause pain in another part of your body.
Normally, fascia is flexible and stretchy. But it is also strong. It provides support to your body and protects your muscles. Fascia is usually able to move without any restrictions. When your body experiences trauma, your fascia can lose its flexibility. The tightness can lead to pain and loss of motion and can affect your quality of life.
Your sessions will take place in a private area at our clinic. Your provider will first locate the fascial tissues throughout your body that feel stiff and tight. These areas are commonly called trigger points or knots. Once they find the knots, they’ll apply gentle, constant pressure to these areas
Your provider will use direct contact on your skin. They won’t use any oils or lotions. They need to be able to feel the tightness in your fascia. The pressure will be applied slowly in an attempt to lengthen your fascial tissues. Your provider will knead and stretch your fascial tissues repeatedly. When they feel the pressure and tension release, they’ll move on to other areas until your treatment is completed.
After your provider performs myofascial release therapy, you may feel sore in the areas they stretched. But the soreness should go away fairly quickly. You should feel a lot looser in those areas than you did before.
At Newcastle Village Physiotherapy the use of soft tissue release can be expertly combined with appropriate exercise prescription, and other complimentary therapies we offer, as part of a goal directed personalized Plan of Care designed to meet your individual needs.
You can explore the many skills we can use to help you by further exploring the other information available in this section of the website. You can also contact us at the Newcastle Village Physiotherapy Clinic by telephone or e-mail. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have or to book an appointment today.
We would welcome the chance to assist you with your physical recovery.