Myofascial release therapy

[Bluecanoe]

Has anyone tried myofascial release therapy for chronic pain? I would be most interested in your experience with it. I tried it, and at first I thought it was just the thing for me. Unfortunately, I had some very horrible side effects that convinced me otherwise. It was a very painful experience, and when I tried to tell the massage therapist that we were going too deep, too quickly, she acted like it was all my fault, and if I would just stick with the program, all would be revealed, and I would be cured! Why are alternative practioners all like true believers in their particular religion? What makes them think they know my body and problem better than I do, when I've been living with it for over thirty years? And why do I feel like such a sucker, any time someone says, "you don't have to live like this"?

[Kira]

My physical therapist uses myofascial release as part of my PT (we do a lot of other stuff too). It has really helped loosen up a lot of the scar tissue & calcification in my muscles that I had from repeated episodes of rhabdomyolysis due to my mitochondrial myopathy.

I agree that it can be painful, especially if they are too aggressive or happen to work on a particularly tender area. If you are too sore afterwards you can always have them back off and be more gentle the next time. For me, it mostly feels good (a good hurt) though sometimes it can hurt bad when they are working on a tender area. The next day I sometimes feel a little sore/"beat up" but it passes quickly and is not bad enough to where I need to do anything about it. My PT always asks if I was sore afterwards, and will adjust what he does accordingly.

I think it is the kind of thing that anyone can SAY they are doing it but it makes a big difference if they are actually good at it/well-trained or not. And they need to actually understand what is wrong with you so they don't do more damage and make your condition worse. I trust my current PT and he really seems to know what he is doing, but I would NOT let just anyone mess with my muscles. I would be concerned that this person is acting like she can "cure" you if you just do what she says, and I would be really concerned that she didn't back off some when you told her it was hurting. If they don't know what they are doing, this type of therapy seems like the kind of thing where they could inadvertently make things worse or even cause injury/damage. Plus, since it is a massage therapist, I'm assuming you're paying out-of-pocket for it, so you stand to lose money on it. How confident are you that this therapist knows what she's doing?

Also, is she just doing the myofascial release, or is she having you do stretching & strengthening stuff at home, too? My PT has said multiple times that you really need to do the daily home stuff for the myofascial relase stuff to work and last.

The hands-on, passive stuff (manual PT) is only part of my therapy. At a PT session, he does a lot of stuff to loosen up, stretch, and mobilize the tight parts where I have had the most tissue damage. We also do stuff with stretches and exercises, my home regimen, exam/assessment, equipment (walker, brace, traction, etc), and so on. The manual PT stuff (including myofascial release) does take up most of the time at appointments.

Something just sounds "off" about your therapist's attitude. I am always skeptical when someone acts like they can "cure" you if you just listen to them and keep showing up and giving them money. My PT would never say that any of this would "cure" me... his/my expectations are a lot more realistic, things like decreased pain, better range-of-motion, less restriction from scar tissue, etc. Plus with my other exercises and stuff, other goals are better core muscle strength & posture, improved tolerance of exertion (or at least slow down my decline), better functioning with various ADLs, etc. No impossible talk of "cure" or unachievable goals like running a marathon or even climbing several flights of stairs... but small/moderate, reasonable, measurable goals.

I don't know what condition/disease you have that you are going to this therapist for, but would it be possible to see a good PT? You still would have to be careful because they vary so much in terms of knowledge and skill and stuff. My last PT didn't do much with me at all, but my current one is great. The good thing is that my insurance pays 100% and my PT does the manual work (including myofascial release) for most of the session every week. There is no way I would be able to afford to see a massage therapist 30 min/week!

I hope that this therapist turns out to be better than she seems right now, and that it really helps. But if she keeps making you hurt, still doesn't listen to you, or keeps acting like she can "cure" you if you just do what she says... I would be inclined to find someone else. Depending on what your condition is, though, the myofascial release stuff can be helpful... it might be that you just need a different therapist who is better at it. Or maybe it just won't work for you/your body. Hope you can get some relief somehow, though...

[facehurts]

Can someone provide more info about myofascial release therapy?