Ann Frederick, who created the fascial stretch therapy (FST) procedure, made a living in the ’90s only by teaching athletes assisted stretching techniques in the first place. In this way, Ann significantly improved the performance of the athletes using the fascial stretch therapy system. Ann also explicitly evaluated the causes of injuries and soreness common in sports to help athletes recover much more quickly.
Thus, Ann considerably developed the fascial stretch therapy system and focused on the connective tissue mechanism, also known as fascia. The benefits of fascial stretch therapy are endless. This method is prevalent, especially in athletes.
Fascia is the connective tissue surrounding muscles, bones, nerves, organs, and joints. Experts consider it a tension fluid system that connects and supports all body contents. According to experts, this is like a suit that covers the body from head to toe. If you apply tension to one case point, it will likely break in an area other than the traction point. This is when clinical symptoms such as headache, knee pain, or tingling in hand sometimes occur in unrelated distant sites.
Fascial stretch therapy is a unique treatment for the muscular and fascial systems. It is a manual technique for mobilizing soft tissues (muscles and fascia) to biomechanically treat facial pain and pain syndromes. In this treatment, you can often hear the word trigger points.
This branch of physiotherapy focuses on the treatment of connective tissue, which, according to experts, is one of the pillars of the motor system, which many people still don’t consider today.
When there is a limitation in the movement of connective tissue due to injury, trauma, or incorrect posture, there is a corresponding increase in density at specific points. Such a situation may cause pain and limitation of movement, developing an unpleasant clinical reality for the patient.
Fascia stretching therapy aims to expand the range of motion and relieve the patient from painful symptoms and other uncomfortable sensations such as heartburn, numbness, and tingling. We think that fascia stretch therapy is also essential in stimulating the central nervous system to improve motor coordination. This therapy is ancient because we produce this tissue by performing a regular massage.
Fascial Stretch Therapists
Fascial stretch therapists are specialists who treat fascia, the connective tissue that surrounds and penetrates muscles, tendons, and internal organs. They prefer this procedure to treat both musculoskeletal and internal problems. Therefore, fascial stretch therapy includes systems and organs. Experts with fascial stretch therapy certification go down to the essence of treatment.
Fascia stretch therapy focuses the treatment from treating the symptom to direct intervention towards the cause. In addition, fascia stretching therapy is an innovative approach that improves the patient’s health status in the short and long term.
How is Fascial Stretch Therapy Performed?
In the fascial stretch therapy procedure, the fascial stretch therapist first tries to find the cause of the change in the fascia. The therapist prepares the patient’s medical history file, taking into account traumas, accompanying pain, and current and previous pathological conditions:
- Next, the therapist identifies the points of the body responsible for the ongoing dysfunction after identifying the causes.
- Maneuvering requires at these points, which correspond to fascial layers that have lost their function and therefore no longer adequately slide on each other.
- In response, the fascial stretch therapist performs a manipulation maneuver. It is pressures and frictions that develop an endogenous heat that reactivates functionality.
- At the points treated by the therapist, a momentary inflammation may develop necessary to repair the fascial problem. This situation lasts about 2-3 days and may accompany pain, redness, and swelling. This is perfectly normal, and the therapist will let it flow. This inflammation allows for the modification of loose connective tissue, i.e., the lubricant that will guarantee correct gliding between the different muscle layers and the fascia.
- This inflammation, which occurs in the treatment, breaks down the thickened hyaluronic acid molecules, allowing them to return to a more fluid consistency. Thus, it restores the correct flow between the muscle and the fascial planes.
- These sessions in the clinic usually last about one hour per week to allow the body to complete the rebalancing processes triggered during the session.
What Problems Does Fascial Stretch Therapy Treat?
Fascial stretch therapy treats musculoskeletal and internal dysfunctions. This therapy can prefer by individuals of all ages, including the elderly, children, and babies. Patients can use the fascia stretching therapy procedure in acute and chronic phases. Check out the problems the fascial stretch therapy treats:
- Migraine, head, neck, knee, sciatic pains
- Lumbosciatalgia
- Periarthritis
- Herniated disc
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Epicondylitis
- Groin pain
- Tendinitis and tendinopathies
- Thyroid disorders
- Gastro-esophageal reflux, gastritis, and the feeling of a lump in the throat
- Abdominal swelling
- Menstrual pain and menstrual irregularity
- Recurrent cystitis
- Pains, dyspareunia, and vulvodynia during pregnancy
- Urinary incontinence and edema after mastectomy
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2- https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/641590