First published in Austin All Natural, Issue 12, June -07
Charlene Blakley, LMT, NHP

Myofascial Release and Joint Pain

Does it feel like your body has you in a straight jacket? A common belief is that joint pain is a part of getting older and many people self-diagnose that their knee pain, for instance, is probably “just” arthritis. Pain is the body’s messenger that some attention is needed in the area. If we pay attention to this message, we can avoid pain, serious problems, and possibly surgery later on.

Over the counter pain relief manufacturers have heavily marketed the belief that it is okay to medicate pain, hoping it will simply disappear by morning. It never completely goes away, so we keep that bottle of pain relievers handy.

Physical injury, emotional trauma or even knee or hip replacement can severely restrict our myofascial (soft tissue) system, creating a host of symptoms from knee pain, back pain, and headaches to fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. A physical/myofascial prospective adds another important dimension to Dr. Caroline Myss’s profoundly accurate insight that “our biography becomes our biology.”

We may notice the knee pain initially, but then when another problem arises elsewhere in the body, the brain will often register the pain or dis-ease at the “new” location instead of the original site. Knee pain that is not acute (that is, not from a recent injury) is chronic, and the problem builds over a long period of time, generally caused by several different factors.
Usually, one of the factors involved in knee pain is related to fascia tightening down. Fascia is a web-like connective tissue that runs throughout our body. Myofascial restrictions create a strain pattern that shortens the fascia and musculature, creating abnormal tension on the neural, vascular, and osseous structures.

These abnormal compressive forces can surface as different symptoms in each system:

•When they act on the neural structure, they can manifest as symptoms of either pain or numbness.

•Compressive force on the vascular or circulatory system in the early stages can show up as symptoms such as edema (swelling) in the lower extremities, or painful and/or cold feet.

•Strain on the muscular component can create nerve impingements, limit range of motion, and reduce strength; a common symptom, especially at night, is recurring leg cramps or restless legs.
All of these “symptoms” indicate possible compression in the fascial system which may originate in the neck or the shoulder, but the pain actually shows up in the knee. After many years of this stress and strain on the knee or hip joints, the only alternative may be surgery.

The time to give your body the attention it needs is when a problem first becomes apparent. The fascial system does not release quickly, or all at once. (Remember, you may have been tightened down for years.) Over time, the tissues feel much more like rope unraveling, releasing one strand at a time. This creates change in tension.

The sensitive, trained hands of a therapist trained in Myofascial Release Therapy can follow this change in a three-dimensional manner, facilitating the fascial release and allowing the tissue to move like the original design allowed, which may remove the cause of the pain. Generally a few therapy sessions (that may include a combination of therapies) will release the fascial restrictions and stress in the system, and help return a person to a pain-free active life.

The therapies of Myofascial Release ™ and CranioSacral Therapy are safe, relaxing, and can be highly effective for reducing pain and restoring motion and optimal function, often on a permanent basis. These techniques assist the entire myofascial muscular complex, thereby releasing old patterns that may be held on the physical and emotional level. Once the strain pattern is released, many people comment that they used to feel like they were in a straight-jacket.

First published in Austin All Natural, Issue 8, February 2007
Charlene Blakley, LMT, NHP

There are a lot of common beliefs regarding pain - that it’s an accepted part of growing old, that we have to live with it, medicate it, push through it, or ignore it, hoping it will go away.

Pain is the body’s natural “alarm message” mechanism that calls attention to some deficiency. Many people take better care of their car than their bodies, and wouldn’t think of pushing their car beyond appropriate limits or going without changing the oil or checking the tires’ air pressure. However, they’ll push their bodies physically and emotionally, rarely paying attention until the red warning light comes on. In the body’s case, that warning light is pain.

Medicating or numbing pain interferes with the body’s communication to the brain and doesn’t resolve its cause, any more than ignoring the red light on a car’s dash fixes the problem. Maintaining you body should receive the highest priority, which means paying attention to your body before the “red light” comes on. (This is what preventive health care is all about.)

Sometimes, as strange as it sounds, people simply are not aware of pain. Fee ling out of sorts, tired, or just plain grumpy can frequently be precursors to unrecognized pain. Pain may also be a combination of many different factors- toxicity, parasites, chronic illness, injury and/or surgery, connective tissue restrictions, scars, and cellular memory can all contribute to conditions that cause or precede severe pain.

These conditions may be resolved without drugs or surgical “solutions” by using a combination of natural techniques, including advanced manual therapies, bio-energetic nutritional support, detoxification, BioResonance therapy, far infrared saunas, low level lasers, and ionic footbaths.

Manual therapies include Myofascial Release, CranioSacral Therapy, manual lymph drainage, reflexology, and JMT BioEnergy therapy.

Low Level Lasers, also known as cold lasers, emit a focused, coherent beam of photon energy that passes through the skin layer and is received within the cell membrane, promoting and accelerating physiological changes that have been documented to reduce pain and inflammation and increase range of motion.

BioResonance Therapy (BRT) is based on the scientific field known as Bioinformatics (the study of cellular communication). BRT is said to help focus and harmonize proper functioning of the body by influencing cells with precise frequency, amplitude, and phase necessary to promote healthy cell communication and regeneration.

Far Infrared Saunas emit a light that vibrates in the same frequency range as many human cells, to help stimulate blood and lymph circulation, mobilize and eliminate toxins from cells, and speed up the healing process.

Ionic Foot Baths also create an energy field that can stimulate cellular energy, enhancing the body’s ability to cleanse itself naturally at an increased rate.

Charlene Blakley, LMT, NHP focuses on resolving pain, not simply managing it. Call Charlene today for a complimentary phone consultation.