The answer to that question depends on who you ask, and what their training was. Some practitioners do very deep myofascial work (think Rolfing) and mobilization. Other practitioners like myself who have been trained in Barnes Myofascial Release are using more of a gentle/slow engagement with the fascial barriers to encourage the fascia to rehydrate.
Coming from a deep tissue massage background, the approach to MFR is quite different. Since the fascia takes 5+ minutes to begin to release/rehydrate, we stay with the techniques for at least that long, if not longer. Since the fascia covers every part of our body, including muscles, bones, organs, and even cells, having a restriction in one part of your body can pull on the rest of the body. This is why an old ankle injury can be pulling your hips out of alignment and making your neck hurt.
Therefore, the approach isn’t giving a head-to-toe direct treatment like a massage would, but instead find the areas of restriction and the holding patterns, and coaxing them to release at the fascial level, thereby relieving the tensile pressures of approximately 2000 pounds per square inch caused by these restrictions. This tensile pressure acts like a “straightjacket” on muscles, nerves, blood vessels and bones, producing the symptoms of pain, headaches, and restrictions of motion. I will continue to write on this topic in the future as I have had my own personal amazing results from receiving MFR.
In a nutshell, we are working to release your areas of chronic restrictions and holding by engaging with the fascial barrier in a gentle and prolonged way. So if you’ve tried other modalities and not had lasting relief, Myofascial Release may be the technique that helps long term!
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