People are looking for answers when they are in pain. They want to know 3 main things. What is happening? What is causing it? And, how can they get better? So where does everyone go to get their answers? Many people use the internet to find answers and solutions to many of their health concerns. But is the information they are getting always accurate?
A study found in 2015 that across all symptom checkers, they studied, the correct diagnosis was listed first in 34% of regular patient evaluations, listed in the first three diagnoses 51% of the time, and listed in the first 20 diagnoses 58% of the time. This was not strictly about WebMD but about many symptom checkers including WebMD.
WebMD is a great place to start when researching a medical issue, but should never take the place of an actual diagnosis. You should consult your physician to get an accurate diagnosis to be properly treated in any case.
But what about those who are hesitant to go to the Dr. and are looking for other alternatives in caring for themselves or for a loved one? Who can they turn to? What about homeopathic or naturalistic remedies? There are many various forms of practice if you are searching for a more natural way to go in your healing process. One of which I would like to put emphasis on is Massage.
Massage in general has many beneficial factors. It relieves tension and pain in the body for some people. Massage helps circulate blood flow, and activates the lymphatic system to help rid the body of its natural toxins creating a very relaxing and therapeutic experience. A spa-like massage is something most people are more familiar with. A place to go to relax when under high amounts of stress, or somewhere to go to pamper yourself. But is there another form of massage that can be even more beneficial than just a light rub down under a sheet? I say yes.
Deep Tissue Structural Integration, or Myofascial Release (MR) is going to be by far the best alternative form of massage you will get in looking for a way to become more pain-free. In the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, MR is a popular intervention used to enhance a client’s myofascial ability and joint discomfort using a variety of tools that increase muscle performance. One specific and more known tool is the foam roller. Studies using the PEDro scale have shown that 14 articles met the inclusion criteria of foam rolling pre and post-performance. It appears to have short-term effects on increasing joint ROM without negatively affecting muscle performance. However, everyone has an opinion, right? and in my profession as a Myofascial and Movement Specialist, I am partial to the foam rolling system. Why? Foam rolling can be extremely painful because of the knotted or tight tissue that is being pressed on. Foam rolling in my opinion does not release the knotted tissue that is deeply bedded in the body. Though it has some beneficial factors as the results have stated, it is short-term nonetheless.
Here is where things can get deep and descriptive. As you read, please have an open mind as I continue to explain.
Our body is encompassed with the largest organ by what doctors are calling an Interstitium, which is a wide-body network of interconnected, fluid-filled spaces supported by a lattice of strong, flexible proteins, or in other words, FASCIA. A fantastic organ that is just coming to be learned about in Western Medicine. (The Pharmaceutical Industry). Eastern Medicine, (Chinese Medicine), has known this organ for centuries. Learning more about this tissue will create the biggest change in the medical industry when dealing with people’s pain and dysfunction if dealt with correctly. Why I say that because there are many varieties of practices in dealing with Myofascial Release. Fascia is a very sensitive, delicate, yet intelligent organ.
Fascia is a web-like connective tissue that wraps around EVERYTHING in the human body, from the smallest of blood vessels/cells to the organs, tendons, ligaments, vessels, and everything you can think of that is in your body, it is covered with this thin, transparent tissue. It is extremely tensile in strength, much stronger than steel. It is a sensory organ that senses pain more intensely than our normal nueorceptors can. It is a very transparent material that cannot be viewed on any of our scans via X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, etc. because of its transparency, unless it has bundled into a knot, that has calcified over the years, then this tissue cannot be seen.
The best way to describe what this tissue looks like is to think of a spider web that wraps around everything inside your body. The spider web-like tissue is what holds you together, and keeps you functioning. So what happens when you have a “fascial adhesion,” or a “knot”? You can usually feel this when the knot is pressed on, whether it is during a massage, or when someone presses on an area of your body that is super tender, sensitive, or ticklish. Knots like these, if untreated will cause major dysfunction and compensation in the body later down the road as the body ages. It can create circulatory and neurological blockages that have huge effects on all the major functioning organs of the body. For example, some people that have digestive issues may have blockages from tissue forming into a tight knot after a major emotional trauma or any invasive surgery that has had to build scar tissue to heal. The scar you see is the Fascia that has been building to close the wound. However, though things look great from the surface, it is the things you cannot see beneath the surface that is the issue. Scar tissue is alive and spreads like roots of a tree but slowly through the years grabs onto other tissue such as muscles, ligaments, and tendons pulling them into the areas that is needing to seal and heal. If this knotted scar tissue from a stomach surgery or invasion of any sort goes untreated, it will affect areas such as the intestines which can pull or bind another adhesion that can squeeze the intestines to the point that waste is not able to pass through, creating a chain reaction of issues in liver, kidney, gallbladder and stomach organs, etc..etc.
Fascia is a live tissue that when this tissue gets injured, say in a car accident, a fall off a ladder, a sprain in basketball, or a tear in a muscle from overstretching, the body will go into repair mode and build more Fascia, better known as (scar tissue). However, this is where things get tricky. Fascial adhesions, or knots do not just appear. They form over time, much like frost on a window, or winding a fishing reel. When you have a knot form, Fascia will grab another fascia in the body over the years to hold the injured area together in a way to protect the body. But that pull is having a negative reaction to other muscles that are being pulled from to help protect this one injured area, causing the body’s postural dysfunctions. Like not being able to lift overhead, run normally, postural holding patterns, etc. The Positive side of an injury is called inflammation. A word many people have been born to fear thinking it is a bad thing for the body, when in fact, it is the first process necessary in healing an injury. This is also where Fascial knots begin to form the inward or outward scar. It’s the “Swelling” that you must watch out for. (redness, fluid-filled, warm to the touch, and/or tender).
These knots will not be felt for years by some people. For instance, a 5-year-old girl falls off her bike and breaks her R arm. She is right-handed and is now in a cast which has debilitated the movement of her elbow and wrist for 8 weeks. She has been having to depend on her L side to do all the things her R side would have normally done. During her healing process, scar tissue has been forming around the injury and seizing her arm in a bent formation for 8 weeks. Try holding your arm in a bent position for 1 day, and see how it feels to straighten it. Not easy unless you are super flexible. The scar tissue has formed into hard knots creating a lack of range of motion for this young girl. Once she gets the cast-off, she would have to have to undergo physical therapy to regain joint strength and movement which takes time as well, especially if she is over-caring for it. 17 years later, she has now felt its maximum (Now this is just considering she has had no other accidents, or trauma to the body during these years of 5-25.) This injury and cast she wore when she was little has now caused arthritis in her wrist, and tennis elbow. She also suffers from shoulder pain on the opposite side, but Why would that be? Her lack of Range of Motion (ROM) on the R side as a young girl has had her compensating to her L side. Remember that when scar tissue develops, it pulls from other muscles and tissue in the body to help protect the injured area, that later forms into hard knots, creating debilitating pain in most people.
This is the beginning of the end for a lot of people who are in grueling bouts of pain every day. They are in search of answers to what, why, and how pain is happening in their body and how to get rid of the pain. For some, surgery, and medication can do that for them, but not without side effects. This is why this is the beginning.
