Three conditions that myofascial release therapy can treat

Have you ever felt a knot in your neck? How about in your lower back? If you have, then you’ve experienced the pain that problems with your fascia can lead to. 

These knots are actually areas of fascia, or connective tissue, that have become hard and inflexible. They are also called trigger points. Often, they develop as the result of an injury or cumulative damage from repetitive movements. Myofascial release therapy, or trigger point therapy, is a hands-on technique that physical therapists can use to treat many issues caused by trigger points. 

These three conditions can benefit from myofascial release therapy

During myofascial release therapy, your physical therapist will apply pressure to the affected area with their hands. The pressure helps increase the flexibility of the fascia. In turn, it can also help reduce the pain of many different conditions. 

A few of the conditions that can benefit from myofascial release therapy are: 

1. Fibromyalgia — This issue occurs when people experience long-term pain over large areas of the body. Fibromyalgia affects up to 12 million Americans. A medical study reports that 18% of fibromyalgia patients have active trigger points, and these can increase the pain they’re experiencing. 

Trigger point therapy can help break down these trigger points and reduce pain. One study of this technique shows that it helped reduce fibromyalgia pain by nearly 29 points after six months. 

2. Plantar fasciitis — This issue can occur when trigger points develop in the plantar fascia, which is found along the bottom of the foot. Plantar fasciitis affects about 10% of the U.S. population. A study of trigger point therapy found that it helped decrease plantar fasciitis pain by almost 21 points. 

3. Lower back pain — This is one of the most common conditions in the U.S. In fact, it’s estimated that about 45% of people experience lower back pain annually. Often, lower back pain is caused by knots that develop in back muscle fascia. Medical research shows that trigger point therapy can be very effective for decreasing lower back pain. One study reveals that this technique helped patients cut their pain by 62.6% after just four weeks. 

Advent Physical Therapy offers effective myofascial release therapy

You won’t have to look far to find top-notch myofascial release therapy, and this is just one of the therapy methods that our Advent Physical Therapy team can use to help you. We’ll start by doing a free screening to determine which body parts have developed trigger points. Then, our physical therapists will build you a personalized therapy plan to treat your pain. This plan can include trigger point therapy and other techniques like: 

• Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM)
• Virtual therapy
• Joint mobilization
• At-home care
• Dry needling
• Muscle energy techniques

Contact our team today for more information about all the ways we can help treat your pain or to schedule an initial appointment.