The Root of the Matter

The Root of the Matter

This past May, I found myself traveling to Madison, WI for a weekend long seminar on myofascial release through the, John F. Barnes Myofascial Release Seminars (http://www.myofascialrelease.com), series called ‘Fascial-Pelvis’. We spent the weekend learning that when you help to correct imbalances in the pelvic girdle and surrounding structures, such as the illiopsoas muscle; balance can start to occur throughout the whole body because the pelvis is a main fulcrum point in the human body. For example, if you experience symptoms of TMJ Dysfunction, chances are likely that similar tension patterns are present in the hips.

Stated several times during the workshop was the phrase, “find the pain, look elsewhere for the cause.” This statement is a foundational teaching in the John F. Barnes Myofascial Release Approach because everything is connected within the body through the fascial system (or commonly known as connective tissue) and what may be occurring as painful symptoms on the surface may not necessarily be the root cause.

For a moment, I invite you to imagine the fascia as a spiderweb that embeds and interconnects everything, down to the tiniest cell, in the body. When one end of the spiderweb is pulled out of place, what happens? The rest of the spiderweb follows suit. Same as the fascial tissue. When one area of the fascia is pulled out of place or traumatized, it starts to pull the rest of the tissue in it’s path along with it and as a result, the symptomatic pain is the fascia that followed along for the ride rather than the original place of trauma. Not always is this the case, but generally speaking this is a common example of what can occur.

Now that you have a basic idea of how the fascia generally affects the body; treating just the symptomatic pain can create immediate pain relief but no long lasting effects. Treating the symptomatic pain along with the root cause can not only help to create short term pain relief but also long term beneficial changes in the body to help prevent the symptomatic pain from reoccurring again.

With this all said, “find the pain, look elsewhere for the cause,” is one of the reasons why I’ve fallen in love with the John F. Barnes Myofascial Release Approach as a practitioner and as a client. Not only have I experienced long term pain relief myself but I’ve also witnessed this with you as well. As a result, myosfacial release will be making a larger presence at my practice now and for years to come.