So, the next time you're feeling stressed or emotional, remember that it's not all in your head – it could be in your fascia too.
Muscles and fascia play a significant role in our emotional states, and tension in these tissues can perpetuate feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression. However, there are several ways to release this tension, including stretching, massage, yoga, mindfulness, and paying attention to our daily habits.
The fascia around the psoas is one of the most common areas I have seen patients store trauma. It makes sense with trauma that when our brain is not able to process what is happening it stores it away in the fascia.
Myofascial release therapy is a type of gentle, constant massage that releases tightness and pain throughout your myofascial tissues. First, your healthcare provider will locate trigger points, or knots, in your fascial tissues. Then, they'll gently apply pressure until they feel the tension release.
As fascia is lengthened, it stores mechanical energy, which is released as it shortens and returns to the original resting position. As much as 40% of muscle force is generated by the mechanical efforts of fascia.
Signs your body is releasing trauma can sometimes be subtle or surprising, but recognizing them is key for moving forward in your healing journey. Here are some signs to look for: Sudden emotional outbursts such as crying or laughter. Changes in physical health, like reduced muscle tension or headaches.
Massage therapy: Schedule multiple therapeutic massage sessions with an experienced therapist who can find and apply pressure to release knots. Acupuncture: The insertion of acupuncture needles into trigger points can cause tense tissue fibers to relax.
The guiding goal of myofascial release therapy is to find and fix the root cause of tension and release it, resulting in total-body relaxation. Additionally, the nature of the approach we us also supports a restoration of emotional flow, resolution, and wellness.
Stress triggers the release of cortisol, a hormone that, in high levels, can lead to inflammation throughout the body, including in the fascial tissues. Chronic stress can cause the fascia to tighten and become rigid, leading to increased pain and decreased mobility.
When fascia releases, it can feel like taffy softening. Sometimes people may feel cold or heat, tingling or buzzing, burning, or a sense of water or air moving through the area. They may also notice a sensation in an area other than that being treated.
Myofascial pain syndrome symptoms include: Pain that's aching, throbbing, tight, stiff or vice-like. Trigger points (small bumps, nodules or knots in your muscle that causes pain when touched and sometimes when they're not touched). These commonly develop as the condition worsens.
Heat therapy: Applying heat to sore muscles can help relax the fascia, improving your range of motion and reducing muscle pain. 5. Foam rolling: Foam rolling, or massaging your muscles with the help of a foam roller, helps stretch and loosen your fascial tissue.
Depression and anxiety were highly significantly linked with increasing levels of neck pain. In addition, deficits in social support were associated with neck pain.
Often remarkable improvement is noted immediately during or after a treatment. Sometimes new pains in new areas will be experienced. There is sometimes a feeling of lightheadedness or nausea. Sometimes a patient experiences a temporary emotion change.
That is, local fascial tissue tightness can be a “dam in the river” just as easily and as much as bone, disc, or ligamentous tissue. Even easier, in fact, because it can pinch a nerve much more quickly than other tissues when it contracts.
While magnesium is particularly beneficial for those with plantar fasciitis, it offers a wide range of health benefits: Muscle and Nerve Function: Magnesium helps regulate muscle and nerve function, ensuring smooth muscle contractions and proper nerve signal transmission.
The techniques known as myofascial release or myofascial unwinding are hands-on methods for initiating traumatic memory release. Myofascial work locates and physically frees the restrictions in muscle and surrounding fascial tissue that house traumatic memories.
But with adrenal insufficiency, the adrenal glands don't make enough cortisol to meet this need. And that can lead to adrenal crisis. Adrenal crisis results in low blood pressure, low blood levels of sugar and high blood levels of potassium. This complication needs treatment right away.
The body can hold information below the conscious level as a protective mechanism, so these memories tend to become dissociated. During these times of trauma or injury, our fascia system stores a “holographic” image of our body's position, complete with all the fear, anger, sadness, etc. that was present at that time.
People who often feel stressed and anxious may be more likely to get trigger points in their muscles. One theory is that these people may be more likely to clench their muscles. Clenching is a form of repeated strain that leaves muscles open to trigger points.
Although some therapies address trauma, somatic therapy specifically targets how trauma is held in the body, aiming to release it through physical and emotional processing. It often involves mindfulness and present-moment awareness, helping you be more attuned to bodily sensations and emotions.
When fascia is too tight, muscles and joints are restricted, and such restriction can cause pain not only in the area of restriction but in other areas of the body connected to that fascial chain. Fascia, muscles, and joints must work together to enable proper bodily function.
Self-myofascial release, or self-massage, can help you work deep into fascia, breaking up scar tissue and adhesions, or knots, and making the tissue more pliable, says O'Connor.