Fascinating Fascia | Myofascial Release, Trauma and Chronic pain

Approximately a year after starting my own clinical practice in 2008 – I had a patient who changed the way I looked at chronic pain and facia forever.

She was in her early 40s and spoke very softly and timidly. Her shoulders were curled forward and she resisted making eye contact. She had come to see me for chronic lower back pain after trying physiotherapy, acupuncture and massage therapy for years with no relief. She attributed her lower back pain to her job in administration where she spent most of the day sitting at a computer.

Whenever someone comes in with low back pain the first area I check is the psoas muscle and its related fascia. While the psoas is primarily involved in flexion of the hip - it also attaches directly to the lumbar spine (lower back).  As I began to work on the fascia around the psoas she burst into tears and became distressed.  I immediately stopped the treatment and asked her what she was feeling. She said that as I was releasing her psoas - she had flashbacks to being sexually abused as a child. She hadn’t mentioned it when I asked about trauma earlier on in the visit and said that she never talks about it and was surprised at how overcome she was during the treatment. We discussed what happened and I recommended that in addition to the myofascial release treatment she also see a therapist to discuss what was being released as we worked through the fascia and psoas muscle.

Prior to this patient – I had never learned about the connection between fascia and trauma despite countless myofascial release and osteopathy courses, a degree in pharmacology and a doctorate in chiropractic. It was at that point that I became fascinated with fascia and its link to trauma.

And over the years I found that every patient who came in with chronic pain had some form of trauma. And the trauma varied - car accidents, disconnected caregivers, abusive relationships, assault, wars, bullying, toxic workplaces, death of a loved ones, divorces and more

And often as we worked through the fascia and talked about the emotions and memories being released into the conscious mind – slowly but surely patients got better. When we experience trauma - our mind can only deal with some of it in the moment and these rest gets stored. Some in the subconscious mind and as we know some now – also in the fascia. This can lead to digestive issues, inflammatory conditions, autoimmune issues and chronic pain.

When we store trauma in our body its primarily in our fascia and this ‘holding’ of tension not only leads to pain but also prevents healing. Imagine walking around in a suit of armour – the weight of it – the effort it takes to move through the world. Perhaps by releasing some of the trauma and tension from the fascia we can help to remove the armour. I find that in practice the fascial work I do helps to at least loosen the armour up so that my patients are more open to facilitate their own healing. Sometimes you need someone to at least unscrew the armour so that you can then take it off yourself and that is the basis of myofascial release for chronic pain.

For example – I’ve had patients who have tried yoga before to help with their chronic pain but quit early on because they couldn’t get into many postures or find their flow. However after a couple of myofascial release visits they were able to get into a new yoga routine and stick with it – finding their balance and peace in the postures.

If you have experienced trauma – and this can be anything from micro-aggressions, a disconnected upbringing to an accident that lead to injury – you will benefit from myofascial release.

Additionally - an area that is often overlooked is the fascia in our face and how the emotions expressed at the time of trauma may be stored in the fascia. This is likely the reason why stress and trauma seem to accelerate aging – especially in our faces. This is why patients will often comment that they feel like they are floating or that their entire bodies feel amazing after my face fix treatment.  By releasing the fascia in the face as well as the rest of the body – significant gains can be made in both physical and mental wellbeing.