Myofascial release (MFR) is not a household expression, but perhaps it should be. As the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies explains, MFR is using the hands to apply “a low-load, long-duration stretch to the myofascial complex […] to restore optimal length, decrease pain, and improve function.” The myofascial complex is the network of connective tissue that surrounds and holds in place organs and muscles throughout the body.

Peer-reviewed research has demonstrated the efficacy of MFR in reducing disability due to low back pain, reducing neck pain, improving neck range of motion, and treating scoliosis-related pain and movement limitations. It can be delivered as an acute therapy – manipulating the myofascial network to release specific areas of tension known as “trigger points” – and as a regular routine of therapy to promote supple fascia.

MFR is most often practiced by licensed massage therapists (LMTs) and physical therapists (PTs). Master practitioner John F. Barnes, who has trained more than 100,000 professionals, is the best known MFR instructor in the US. He has headquarters in Sedona, Ariz., as well as an Eastern Treatment Center in Malvern, which is run by Chief Physical Therapist Valerie McGraw.

McGraw came to Barnes for a clinical internship during the final year of her PT program at Temple University. After completing her final assignment at a clinic in New Jersey, she returned to Malvern, and has never left.

“Fascial restrictions form from injuries, stress, trauma, inflammation over the course of a lifetime,” she explains, “and they don’t show up on any of the standard tests done today [such as MRI], but we can feel them with our hands, and this allows us to treat the cause of the problem, not just the symptoms.”

Over the past several decades, McGraw has seen and participated in the healing of patients from all over the world, with long-standing conditions, carrying a variety of clinical diagnoses. Some come to Barnes after trying traditional PT, which was inappropriate for their stage of dysfunction. McGraw notes that traditional PT aims to strengthen the body.

“Strengthening is only going to perpetuate the problem, because the body, from injury stress and trauma, is bracing; it’s a subconscious protective mechanism,” she explains. With MFR, however, “Our goal is to free the body of the ‘bracing and holding’ patterns that perpetuate pain and dysfunction.”

Hourly or

‘immersive’ therapy

Patti Calkins, a licensed physical therapist assistant (PTA) and an LMT based in Richmond, Va., has been practicing MFR for years. Recognizing the value of stretching and warming up her patients’ muscles so that they could participate in their therapy without pain, she decided to open her own practice so she could devote more time to that aspect of healing. “I knew the hands-on work was the tool that was going to make a change” for patients, she said.

Patients come to Calkins for a variety of issues, from chronic pain, to pain that remains unresolved after surgery, to sports injury-related pain. Some choose to be treated for an hour a week for several weeks, while others prefer the option of an “immersive,” with 6 or 12 hours of MFR in a single week. As specific problems near resolution, Calkins supports the patient’s healing journey.

“I help my clients move better, and then I connect them with a trainer, or with an activity that can help them build strength in areas where they’re deficient,” she said.

A powerful, yet

gentle, approach

Sara Estrada offers massage and reiki at her home-based studio in Nazareth. She calls the fascial system “an unlocked secret that can hold the key to a lot of profound healing.” Explaining that training sessions involve MFR therapists practicing on each other, she shares her own experience.

“I was coming back after a weekend class, I was able to run up the stairs, and it felt like I had buoyancy and ease … It was a direct result of the work I had just received.”

Estrada notes that MFR differs from Swedish massage, particularly in the amount of force applied by the therapist. Barnes-trained MFR therapists apply long holds – sometimes for several minutes – without forcing the client’s body.

“The beautiful part about this work is that it’s very gentle,” Estrad said, “and practitioners go with the pace of how the client’s body lets go. It’s not a deep tissue massage, where the client is almost bracing, yet you’re affecting those deeper tissues.”

Healing sessions, plus homework

Amanda Russo is an LMT in Clinton, N.J. Trained by Barnes, Russo notes that his technique “treats the whole person, and doesn’t force the body.”

Russo’s clients generally come to her without planning to attempt a health insurance claim; they see MFR as an investment in their health.

“You save money to go on vacation,” she points out, noting that putting your health first involves prioritizing expenditures in that area.

Her patients seek relief from problems like back pain, neck pain, TMJ, sciatica and frozen shoulder. “When they come to me,” she says, “their bodies are screaming at them,” and they often have multiple complaints.

Russo’s practice involves giving clients “homework” so they can participate in the work of healing even after a 60- or 90-minute session ends. Her intention is for her clients to start a self-care routine that they can use to help themselves outside of their sessions with her. She gives them a small rubber ball and teaches them how to use it to engage their fascia.

“It’s really about slowing down,” she explains, “and giving your body that space to feel.”

Help for athletes

and people with

chronic illness

Sharon Poll is a PT who provides direct access, fee-for-service care at her Allentown clinic. Patients do not need a prescription or a referral to see her unless treatment is needed beyond 30 days. Patients may be reimbursed by their insurance companies, depending on their coverage.

She sees a wide range of patients: infants with issues like torticollis; teen athletes involved in intense training; and adults with conditions from anxiety to concussions to TMJ dysfunction.

Poll finds working with young athletes particularly rewarding, because “they understand their bodies […] and what it’s like to perform at your peak, when your body is where it should be.” They’re also more open to “allowing themselves to feel […] without their cognitive side yelling back at them.”

She notes that young athletes “do a nice job communicating to their parents that they need to come back and see me – ‘It’s starting to feel like before I got hurt last time’ – and putting themselves on a self-reflective maintenance program,” so she treats them before they sustain a season-ending injury.

However, she has also had notable successes with adults who have diseases not generally associated with physical therapy. One patient with cystic fibrosis experienced dramatic symptom reduction with the recently approved combination drug Trikafta, only to find that his lung capacity had been held back by years of living with CF. Poll treated him with MFR, and his lung function was so greatly improved that his pulmonologist tested him a second time to verify the results.

“Now that gentleman is hiking,” Poll celebrates.

Barnes-trained MFR therapists can be found online (mfrtherapists.com/search). The therapists in this article can be found at the following locations: Patti Calkins (Exhale MFR, 2405 Westwood Ave. in Richmond, Va., exhalemfr.com/); Sara Estrada (The Healing Bee, 99 Schoeneck Ave. in Nazareth, thehealingbeepa.wixsite.com/thehealingbee); Sharon Poll (A Touch Above Physical Therapy, 5513 Hamilton Blvd. in Allentown, facebook.com/Atouchabovephysicaltherapy/); and Amanda Russo (Rooted Elements, 1630 NJ Route 31 in Clinton, rooted-elements.com/).