WHAT WILL MY MYOFASCIAL TREATMENT INCLUDE?
Sheri Brimm, Physical Therapist, will do a full physical therapy evaluation of your posture, medical history, symptom screening, range of movement, and special tests to determine throughout your body factors that are contributing to your pain. The first visit will last approximately 1 hr and 15 minutes and will include myofascial release treatment as well. Please be prepared to give a history of surgical procedures, medicines, pain complaints, and any problems or symptoms you are having medically.
You should be prepared for a full body evaluation so that we can evaluate you properly.
Women should wear a 2 pc. bathing suit or shorts and tank top or sports bra. Men should wear boxers or shorts.
This Is YOUR “HEALING PATH”, with the ultimate destination being empowerment to help heal yourself! We will make sure you have the tools you need to treat yourself.
HOW DOES TREATMENT WORK?
MFR therapists treat the WHOLE body, not just one section. Usually the pelvis /lower back area is most out of balance so I will most often need to start there for your first few treatments. If you have a specific severe pain area, I may work there at first but likely will eventually need to work on multiple areas of your body where fascial tightness is “pulling” you out of alignment. You will also receive home exercises to do for self treatment. Duration of visits can be scheduled in 60 minute, 90 minute, or 120 minute sessions. The number of visits can vary per each patient, but you can expect to have some changes in the way you feel even at the first visit.
IS THIS A FULL BODY MASSAGE?
This is not your “typical” massage. We do not use oils or lotions. These techniques take a minimum of 5 minutes, and can be up to 15-20 minutes for each area I’m treating depending on the tightness we find and how long it takes to release. We wait until the tissues soften rather than wait for a predetermined amount of time as other techniques often do. We will not be doing a lot of “rubbing” on your skin.
EMOTIONS AND TRAUMA
Thanks for considering MFR for your healing journey. We will work through this together. Through MFR I also encourage patients to “let go” of the emotions and memories associated with trauma. Some of the memories are stored at the cellular level in the fascial tissues like an “imprint”, causing tension and muscle guarding patterns. An example of this is someone who has a car accident at a certain intersection, then later every time they come to that intersection their muscles “tense” and they grip the steering wheel. This response comes from the tissues as a protective mechanism.
WHAT IS A HEALING CRISIS?
When a patient has fascial restrictions, sometimes as these are being treated there can be an increase in pain or soreness, or even a change in the location of the pain. Fascial release occurs by moving fluid through “stuck” areas. This fluid movement also sets off a chain reaction of ion movement in/out of nerve and muscle cells which can cause muscle twitches, spasms, tremors, soreness, and other strange sensations. This is called piezoelectricity and is the basis for cell action in our bodies.
This sensation may occur during your treatment and sometimes up to 24-48 hours afterward. Don’t worry, this won’t last long term. It is very important that you continue to attend your next scheduled appointment and let me know what you felt and where as this will guide my treatment for the next sessions. These symptoms tell us both where the fascial restrictions are located in your body!