Beyond the benefits of reduction of pain, spasm, and increased range of motion and function achieved by Myofascial Release, the elimination of fearful behaviors, compulsions, and anxiety attacks is possible.

Other therapeutic approaches are based on the “neuronal doctrine” which has shown to be obsolete as the old, outdated scientific paradigm.  The physiological aspects of Myofascial Release eradicating fear is now being supported by the “new” science.

The following is an excerpt from the March/April issue of Discover Magazine by Oril Van Mourik in an article titled, “A Future Reminder:  Reshaping the Past”.

“Remember your first encounter with a stove?  “Don’t touch that!  It’s hot”, you were warned, and the message was clear.  “Stove=-Danger”.  Eventually, of course, you came to understand that stoves are pretty harmless, provided you avoid the burners.  And just like that, you unlearned your fear of stoves.

Unlearning a fear may sound simple, but for years neurologists believed such emotion was entrenched, set in stone by fixed neuronal networks in the brain, and thus unaffected by new information.  Now a study led by Bong-Kiun Kaang at Seoul National University has altered that view.  Every time a long-term memory or an associated emotion, like fear, is retrieved, proteins found in the synapses between neurons are degraded, allowing that memory to be updated by incoming information”.  You can go to http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/1150541v1 for more in-depth information.  1

This physiological response corresponds with our Myofascial Release experience.  As the mind/body gets in touch with unresolved emotions and/or memories the structure releases and authentic healing begins.

The following excerpts from my book, Myofascial Release:  The Search for Excellence, Chapter 8 (www.myofascialrelease.com) may help to explain the scientific aspects of Myofascial Release.

New neurobiologic research and Selye’s classic work are concerned with the phenomenon of state-dependent memory, learning, and behavior.  State-dependent memory, learning, and behavior is the general class of learning that takes place in all complex organisms that have a cerebral cortex and a limbic-hypothalamic system, and pavlovian and skinnerian conditioning are specific varieties of it.

Memory and learning of all higher organisms fall into two classes of internal responses:

1. There is a memory trace on the molecular-cellular-synaptic level.
2. n involvement of the amygdala and hippocampus of the limbic-hypothalamic system in processing and encoding, and recall of the specific memory trace may be located elsewhere in the brain.

The limbic-hypothalamic system is the central core to Selye’s general adaption syndrome, the three stages of which, the alarm reaction, the stage of resistance, and the stage of exhaustion, take on a profound significance.

To ask how the mind communicates with the body or how the body communicates with the mind assumes that the two are separate entities.  My experience has shown me that they are a single unit.  The body is not just a reflection of the personality, it is the personality.

Therefore mind-body awareness are two sides of the same coin, different aspects of the same spectrum, immutably joined, inseparable, connected, influencing, and communicating constantly.  Myofascial release techniques and myofascial unwinding allow for the complete communication necessary for healing and true growth.  I believe that the body remembers everything that ever happened to it.

The link between mind-body awareness and healing is the concept of state-dependent memory, learning, and behavior (also called déjà vu).  We have all experienced this, for example, when a certain smell, or the sound of a particular piece of music creates a flashback phenomenon, producing a visual, sensorimotor replay of a past event or important episode in our lives with a vividness as it if were happening at that moment.  I would like to expand this theory to include “position-dependent memory, learning, and behavior”, with the structural position being the missing component in the state-dependent theory.

Studies have shown that during periods of trauma people make indelible imprints of experiences that have high levels of emotional content.  The body can hold information below the conscious level, as a protective mechanism, so that memories tend to become dissociated or amnesic.  This is called memory dissociation, or reversible amnesia.  The memories are state or position dependent and can therefore be retrieved when the person is in a particular state or position.

Myofascial Release is the wave of the future.  Enjoy the ride!

John

John F. Barnes, P.T., LMT, NCTMB

John F Barnes is the President of the Myofascial Release Treatment Centers in Paoli, Pennsylvania and Sedona, Arizona.  He is the author of Myofascial Release, the Search for Excellence (Rehabilitation Services, Inc., 1990) and Healing Ancient Wounds, the Renegades Wisdom (MFR Treatment Centers and Seminars, 2000).  Barnes is on the Counsel of Advisors of the American Back Society and the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies; is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association.  For more information call 1-800-FASCIAL (372-2425 or visit www.myofascialrelease.com

1.  Bong-Kuin Kaang, et al.  Synaptic Protein Degradation Underlies Destabilization of Retrieved Fear Memory. Science. February 2008

<http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/1150541v1

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

John F. Barnes, PT, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania as a Physical Therapist in 1960; he holds physical therapy licenses in Pennsylvania, Arizona, New Jersey, Delaware, Colorado, and Hawaii.  John is on the Counsel of Advisors of the American Back Society; is an Editorial Advisor of the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies; and is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association.

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Traditional therapy has viewed pain from two different perspectives.  One school of thought was to avoid pain, “mask” the symptoms and teach the patient to cope with his or her problem.  This approach did not cause direct trauma, but forced people to be satisfied with limited results.  There was the possibility of cumulative trauma since untreated restrictions caused microtrauma to the patient’s system over time.  This microtrauma was like a ticking time bomb left in the system, forcing a return of symptoms or a shift to another area.  This is rarely a satisfactory solution.

The other school of thought was “no pain, no gain.”  Too many times patients were instructed to exercise and force their way through the pain.  The result:  a lot of strong patients in agony.  Or manipulation and other aggressive manual techniques produced force into osseous structures while paying no attention to the tight surrounding myofascial environment.  The aggressive force used created the possibility of increased pain, injury or a return of symptoms because the environment of every osseous structure, the myofascial system, had not been released first.

Myofascial release can safely and effectively free the osseous structures and/or create a more open environment to enhance the effectiveness of manipulation, mobilization procedures, muscle energy techniques and exercise and flexibility programs.

Is there a possibility of another option for the relief of pain and the restoration of motion?  I strongly believe the possibility exists, based on my years of experience and the experience of over 20,000 physical therapists (one-third of the profession) that I have had the opportunity to train in this approach.

I would like you to consider the possibility of a third treatment option of relieving pain and restoring motion:  therapeutic pain.

One aspect of the myofascial release approach is where the therapist applies gentle, sustained pressure into the fascial system, creating what the patient reports as a feeling of good pain or a good stretch.  Release of the pressure of the fascial system around the muscles, nerves, blood vessels and the osseous structures creates a free mobile environment of these pain-sensitive structures, producing consistent results in relieving pain and restoring functional mobility.

Another aspect of myofascial release is the sophisticated facilitation techniques called myofascial unwinding.  The fascial system is a piezoelectric tissue, so when the therapist applies gentle sustained pressure into the fascial system through compression, traction or twisting the fascial system, or moving a particular body part (taking gravity out of the system), it creates a flow of the body’s bioenergy.  This flow triggers the mind/body complex into spontaneous motion.  This spontaneous therapeutic motion allows the body to assume positions in space that represent positions of past traumas.  These positions of trauma represent one’s subconscious fear, negative memories and/or pain that have created holding or bracing patterns which have impeded progress of traditional therapeutic approach.  It is these positions in space and the re-experiencing of this pain memory which is never injurious, that takes the threat out of the system and allows the mind/body complex to let go of these holding or bracing patterns so that healing can commence.

Working in reverse, myofascial release, and myofascial unwinding, release the fascial tissue restrictions, thereby altering the habitual muscular response and allowing the positional, reversible amnesia to surface, producing emotions and belief systems that are the cause of holding patterns and ultimately symptoms  Thus it is important for the therapist to quiet his or her mind and feel the inherent motions.  Quietly following the tissue or body part three-dimensionally along the direction of ease takes the patient into the significant restrictions or positions.  With myofascial unwinding, the therapist eliminates gravity from the system.  This unloading of the structure allows the body’s ***RUSS***righting reflexes and protective responses to temporarily suspend their influence.  The body can then move into positions that allow these state- or position-dependent physiologic or flashback phenomena to reoccur.  As this happens within the safe environment of a treatment session, the patient can facilitate the body’s inherent self-correcting mechanism to obtain improvement.

The myofascial release approach is more than just an assemblage of techniques. Instead, it creates a whole-body awareness allowing the health professional to facilitate change, growth and the possibility for total resolution of restrictions, emotions and belief systems that impede patient progress.

About the Author:

-John F. Barnes, PT, conducts myofascial release treatment in  Paoli, PA and Sedona, AZ.  Additional information on Myofascial Release Treatment Centers and Seminars can be obtained by calling 1-800-FASCIAL

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Linda Stewart
Lansing, Michigan

Dean wishes to thank the following people who have impacted his professional life:

Dr. Leon Chaitow, N.D.D.O.
Great Britain

John F. Barnes, P.T.
Sedona, Arizona

Lilias Folan, C.Y.I.
Columbus, Ohio

Sandra Cochran-Fritz, C.M.T.
Lapeer, Michigan

The Problem Bottom-Lined:

Because of recently published medical studies, health professionals are beginning to understand the importance and the role of the fascia system, an entire physiological system profoundly influencing all other structures and systems of the body.

Trauma and inflammatory responses are the myofascial restrictions that are capable of producing tensile pressures of up to 2000 pounds per square inch on pain sensitive structures.  These restrictions do not show up on any standardized tests (x-rays, myelograms, CAT scans, etc.)  This enormous pressure acts like a “straight jacket” in muscles, nerves, blood vessels, and osseous structures, producing the symptoms of pain, headaches and restriction of motion.

Medications, traditional therapies treat the symptoms caused by the pressure of the “straightjacket” of the myofascial system, but do nothing about the “straightjacket” of pressure that causes and perpetuates the problem.

Dean Soupal, CMT, NMT, AMTA, is a highly trained and highly skilled massage therapist with an impressive educational background.  With over 15 years of clinical experience, Dean prides himself on utilizing superior manual therapy techniques based on anatomy and physiology of the human body.  Dean’s immense clinical knowledge and advanced techniques will help you with proven manual therapy methods, providing positive clinical outcomes.

Dean’s approach treats the entire myofascial system, eliminating the pressure on the mind/body complex.  Individuals from all over the country have experienced relief from chronic pain when medicine, surgery or traditional therapy did not produce the desired results.

Dean Soupal is a certified Advanced Neuromuscular Therapist specializing in Myofascial Massage serving the communities of Troy, Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham, Auburn Hills, Clawson, Berkley, Ferndale, Rochester Hills and beyond! Advanced Techniques Massage Therapy is located at 2833 Crooks Rd. Troy, (Oakland County) Michigan  48084.

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