Fascia can come in 4 groups. It can be:
The brain communicates through all of these, letting you know where you are in space, telling you something is off through pain, and communicating things like body feedback. There’s also different stages of shut down of stuck, blocked, dry and knotted up fascia. So while two people could have fascia issues, one could have an over communication of feedback and pain, and one person the body is in deep survival mode and communicate absolutely nothing. The latter could one day end up needing surgery because one of the few ways fascia communicates is through nerves and joints. Some surgery could be avoided, but after a lifetime of neglect and misinformation, some people need surgery to improve their quality of life. If you’re the determined person, you may be able to manage symptoms to put surgery off.
Fascia dehydrates and adheres, and is said to stick with the force similar to duct tape! While that is incredible force, it doesn’t have to be painful to release adhesions and improve flow. By doing fascia release yourself, you’re in control, pressure can override pain signals, the ability to breathe through the pressure is your guide (meaning if you can’t breathe, you should back off), and you get feedback on how your body is truly feeling. The areas you may think are the causes of pain, may or may not be. Once you educate yourself on the way to look at the body like an engineer, we respect nerves, the spine, joints and limitations, and repeat and get deeper into layers of fascia and muscle. Ive personally had to work for months on an area where I overuse a muscle, would need to release it, and one day woke up realizing I didn’t need that spot as much and I could focus on a new area.
When fascia dehydrates, it can change from a more fluid material to a less fluid material, resembling similar to honey crystalizing. It can bind up the webbing and have it stick together, like we see the wind blow a spider web and it catches itself. Or maybe relating it to a basketball hoop or rope net would make more sense in how when its all supported how it looks and feels, and if one piece gets torn, or falls off a hook, the integrity of the rope netting isn’t as supportive.
If the webbing of feedback to the brain and the support system of the muscle is faulty, the response may also be faulty. Maybe you use the muscle unevenly, maybe your body decides not to use the muscle it should because it's compromised. If you keep moving, the body will also rise to the occasion, it just may do it at the expense of an issue down the line. It can also restrict fluid and the fascia and muscles ability to glide and cause some parts of the body to work less and others to work more.
This is very common for Achilles heel and plantar fasciitis. The calf should be what takes the brunt of the lengthening and shortening, but from overuse in one direction, flexing and pointing of the foot, the calf starts hardening and makes the ligaments or tendons overwork. Often, if we address the meat of the muscle, we get the cramps and tightness back, but the pain closer to the joint is less. Muscles we can work more with than ligaments and tendons as ligaments and tendons don’t have as much fluid potentials in them, so they can’t heal and aren’t designed for the load we put on them. Cramping and tightness can be annoying but often doesn’t stop us from doing activities because of pain. You can decide for yourself what you prefer!
My niche is working with those wanting or needing to learn more than your average person that works out. I work with a range of people that, like myself that loves learning and will never stop, someone that hurts if pushed too hard, has a complicated relationship with being sore because of a history of decades of undiagnosed soreness and Lyme disease.
I want to be efficient with time, understand the "why’s". It's then easier to know what to do and when. I want you to feel better and move onto things that feed your soul. You know you'll have a safe space to come back to when you hurt and feel empowered!
To me, fascia has been misunderstood and under appreciated and is still being learned about. I am always learning and bodies often teach me. I learn as I work with them, seeing that some things are set in stone and some things evolve over time. Some people fit into some categories, and some don’t. It's really up to the body. By working with me, it is experimental on how it feels to your body. I also encourage people to come see me when in pain because I can figure out the thing you may be doing alignment wise causing pain and ways we can manage it. I also stay in my scope of practice. I don't diagnose medical issues, however, there are times when something may not sound like it's coming from muscles and fascia. I may suggest not coming in and ask that you see your primary care physician.
Joseph Pilates believed working out too hard may cause the body to have to work harder to heal, making benefits harder to come by. Exercises done with lighter weight allows room for alignment adjustments and allows for muscles to work together in groups, rather than in isolation.
I've seen a lot of pain come from improper form because the nerves or a sensitive area get compressed or overused. This can be ok for a while, until it isn’t. Your nervous system might decide it’s had enough of alignment dysfunction when you’re doing something simple like tying your shoe or insert any basic function we do regularly.
The machines are a brilliant way to support movement and teach the body alignment. I use Pilates as a foundation of education. I find if people stop here and do it for more than 8 years, rigidity and overuse of some muscles starts becomes an issue. In this instance, we would employ a complete different strategy of movement needs to be learned. Fascia release compliments this nicely and can allow a further anatomical understanding.
No. Yoga is more stretching and has different poses and no machine work. Pilates is strengthening with some stretching. I think Pilates is safer in having people remain active in a stretch, so not to overstretch. Blood does not circulate in your stretch that happens with yoga, so if you have stagnant blood and fluid flow, yoga could cause more harm than good. Also, if you’re really good at stretching, you may be Hypermobile and this could make things worse.
Yoga is amazing for the mind, community and for some bodies. For me, it doesn’t feel good to my body. Most of the people I work with think it’s misunderstood and that it teaches people the myth of that kind of stretching being good. If it doesn’t open up pathways and change adhesions, you could only be pulling in one direction and could cause damage down the line. If it feels good to you and you like it, that’s up to you to decide to do it. Maybe your body likes it more.
These methods were my foundation. I use balls similar to Yamuna balls, to start people off with, if they’re tight or in pain. I find these methods address the myofascial and superficial layers of fascia, but don’t go deeper.
I like the way they address the feet and hands and are a great place to start. When you’re ready to progress to deeper adhesions and stuck fluid, wood is a wonderful next step. I still go back to the balls and will never get rid of them in my repertoire, but I’m phasing plastic our of my life. Wood can mimic bone density more and I think could help bone density more. When one's bone density score gets better after using wood and not much else has changed, it makes me wonder.
The difference between my program and block therapy is that block therapy offers a program all on the blocks, unless you use towels. I think block therapy is amazing and something I do almost daily, although, I am happy that I started with balls, years ago. If you don’t do regular massage, haven’t worked on your fascia before, or your body hurts constantly, you’re probably more sensitive. So using the balls you will start the loosening and hydrating process, and that can come with a healing period after. This can include soreness for a few days to few weeks, bruising and other healing processes.. The balls allow for a little less intense and more superficial releasing of the adhesions, and a great start for most people who are needing to do fascia releasing programs. When I work with people, I start with balls and people having a reaction on the intense tightness is common. Even if you have worked with balls, the wood is still intense to progress to, let alone begin with. I thought once I had the wood, I wouldn’t want to use the balls anymore, but I realized how different the balls and the wood feel on the different layers of fascia. I also use the ball to support me a lot when I’m using the wood and sometimes I use the wood and the balls together because I think that they’re so complementary to each other. The wood teaches you to be still, which should also happen with the balls, but people often forget and roll around with the balls. Whenever I sit for longer periods of times, I use the block.
FasciaBlasting can be very superficial and take a long time to get the depth that my program does. Ashley Black's book on cellulite is wonderful and if you want to know more about fascia and cellulite, I suggest it. Her program covers the whole body. She’s also been a pioneer in fascia programs, and has done the research.
With blasting, you rub yourself with your choice of her pretty extensive options of tools. It can be tiring, if you have shoulder or arm injuries. You may be limited, and need to be warm. Use oil or be in the shower, and keep up on it because it deals more with superficial tissue. It can be helpful for deeper stuff but because I work deep tissue with the block, I may not be the best judge on what’s happening. She’s big on icing, which has its own debate, and expect to bruise as part of the process. Bruising can be a part of the unwinding process. If you FasciaBlast, there can be a lot of surface tells things are working. More cellulite, bruising and the blasting itself can be painful. Starting with the balls, which is part of my program not FasciaBlasing, we can release stuck areas without visible reactions.
I am one! I feel like I am a little lower lower on the range of motion spectrum. However, I feel high on the area of tightness from bracing. What used to be easy, like touching my toes, can be hard work, especially after a minor car accident injured my left leg.
The pain I can manage and I had to learn to move differently because what came natural to me, I learned the hard way, shouldn’t always be done. Just because I can doesn’t mean I should, is a constant mantra for me and my studio. I can teach you what being within your strength range of motion is, add bands to give your body feedback and support the loosen joints, teach you how things should feel, show your muscles what it feels like to work correctly and then see if you can back off on external braces.
You should not feel deep joint areas, which is common when things don’t hold you together. you should not sublux, or dislocate when trying to strengthen. I may not know until I see it happen in real time because every body is different. I often find hyper mobile people are overloaded with sensory feedback because they can’t hold themselves together which takes energy. Then to add movement on top, with less feedback, support, and strength, its so confusing! Some people need months of release and a lot of hands on support and trials with external braces. Some people may need more basic than what I offer and I can refer you out, and some people recover faster than others.
We may need to have a conversation. I can suggest programs and things to do, but some conditions should absolutely not do, what others can. You can try with some courses I offer and see how you feel and when we do have a conversation check in, the suggestions and feedback might make more sense.
This is what I want to teach you but a huge rule I follow is if you’re working virtually, leave the lower back and neck alone, leave nerves alone. They are what hurts but it isn’t what’s causing the problem. An overactive, too tight and strong muscle is forcing the bones to move and go on the nerve. Your Dr. might suggest nerve ablation and you may have diagnosis but the treatment will be the same which is to look like an engineer at the body, use anatomy to take pressure off your nerves. Also add corrective exercises, done correctly, to hold the adjustment.
Sometimes there’s relief right away. Sometimes things get worse before they get better because your incorrect pattern that’s causing pain hasn’t changed. Until it does, you'll have to manage. An irritated nerve may need time to heal, even if the muscle pattern has changed. The long term goal should be getting better. If you're not feeling better, what you’re doing is not good for the problem.
If the force of some of the adhesions are that of duct tape, some releasing could have some feeling. Too much pain and not enough breath does not mean its doing good. Easier could release just as well. So a towel, yoga block or a ball may help remove tension and increase fascia flow. Pressure can override pain and you are in charge.
Trust your intuition and if in the bigger picture you’re still working on things, take your time! You can do another area that doesn’t hurt so much. Sometimes I’ll move up or down a micromovement, off a painful area, because that may need work too and be less painful. Then if I go to the original tight area, it may be easier to deal with. Bruising, swelling, cellulite, and sounds are all part of the process of moving layers of fluid and webbing. Too much swelling that doesn’t flush, isn’t a good thing. You may need to work on areas further from the affected area. Check the lymph system and release around there to help the fluid drain.
Physical therapy is usually managed by insurance. Only one issue can be addressed at a time and there’s already a formula and program to follow. It rarely addresses the reason for the injuries that don’t come from surgery or an accident. I cannot diagnose. I’m more dialed in to the client that knows their issue and thinks the whole body alignment is important.
Your shoulder issue may be causing you to swing your ribcage less, which makes your hips change, which may end up affecting your knees or ankles. Physical therapy isn’t designed to look at the whole body. Your specific therapist might, but there usually needs to be measurable results to be covered by insurance. I practice by feel and sight. I see your body moving incorrectly, figure out what strategy you may need to get you there; words, imagery, hands on, bracing with bands, balls, and different exercises.
Is it a "you" problem or a "brain" problem? Some people understand what to do on one side. Then when we ask to do it on the other side, the brain cannot figure out what to do. That's ok, you know what to do, but your fascia has a miscommunication.
People haven’t found me through word of mouth for no reason. If I had not experienced it myself first hand, I may not have believed it. I guess I’m making lemonade with the lemons I was given earlier in life.
Some people are fortunate to never need to question everything when they can’t find an answer. In the end, what I can say is, it's usually a multi layered approach to heal. Some days you may need different things than others. If you learn that and have your “toolbox’ ready, it will be ok. If it's not, let's have a chat about it.. maybe your path needs releasing at this time.
Maybe you need smarter movement strategies. Today, maybe can only do 5 mins. Tomorrow, maybe more. Some people just feel awful one day, and find the next. This is when I can say fascia releasing is perfect for the low days. It's still doing something; building a habit. Easy does it, too. Some people come in weekly, others check in monthly and do virtual. There are options available and I’m flexible. My passion is to help people!
