Huh? What's that and how in the world could it possibly help me get pregnant? Myofascial release is an amazing blend of both stretching and massage, employing hands-on manipulation of the entire body (however as you'll see in a movement, there are specific parts of the body we're a little more interested in than others!)
The two main benefits of this therapy are the promotion of healing and the alleviation of pain. You may better understand the term if you know a little about the origin of the word. It may not help you pronounce it any better, but when you see it, you can at least understand why it's called that.
The term comes from the Latin "myo" which refers to muscle. The "fascia": portion of this word means "band." And no even before you ask not the rock and roll bands!
The band in this instance is the band of fibrous connective tissue, which is actually called the fascia. This tissue surrounds the various muscles of your body -- all parts of your body.
Both dense and elastic, sheaths of this connective tissue weave about your blood vesels, bones, as well as your neres. They form a complex, three dimensional web that supports your organs and your joints from your head to your toe. You can think of fascia as your body's shock absorber.
So you can probably recognize already that this part of your body is going to "take a lickin' and keep on tickin'" as those old Timex commercials used to tell us.
It's not unusual for scarring or injury to occur here. And when it does, it can indeed inflict some pain on you. You may also know when scarring or adhesions appear because your range of motion in certain areas are inhibited as well.
Myofascial therapy tries to ease these problems by stretching and thereby breaking up or "releasing" the constrictions in these bands of tissue. Individuals who suffer from conditions like fibromyalgia, chronic headaches, and chronic back pain may find this therapy works wonders on them.
In addition, people who experience sports injuries are also pleasantly surprised many times at the quick relief this treatment can provide.
If you're wondering why you may not have heard of myofascial release, it's probably because as therapies go, it's relatively new. Of course, new in the medical community takes on a slightly different meaning than new in the fashion world.
It was first developed in the 1970s (I told you "new" was a relative term!) and the medical community really didn't give it much credence until the 1980s. That's when you can begin to see occasional references to it in the professional medical journals.
Osteopathic physician Dr. Robert Ward of Michigan State University taught the very first course on it. Even at that, the roots of this procedure can be seen in some of the practices of osteopathy as far back as the nineteenth century.
Some experts speculate myofascial success at curing infertility comes from its ability to remove adhesions or scar tissue -- very often the exact cause of infertility in a woman -- depending on her health condition.
The muscular adhesions may actually physically interfere with your ability to get pregnant by compressing various reproductive structures, these experts explain, including such organs as the ovaries and the fallopian tubes.
Others suggest the deep muscle massage and stretching therapy may work on a second level as well. These wide swaths of muscle, you'll recall, surround every system and organ in your body, even the glands that comprise your endocrine system.
In the process of relaxing and 'unknotting" the fascia surrounding this system, some experts contend, myofascial releases actually restores the hormonal balance.
Let's look at this concept just a little closer, for it's pretty instrumental in your understanding of the functioning of this procedure. The pituitary gland -- that master gland of your body -- for example is housed inside a bone called the spheroid bone. It's located in your skull.
A restriction of the facial muscular structure in the neck and surrounding areas may be the root cause of hormonal imbalance here -- and then the ultimate cause of your infertility.
Releasing this restriction then helps to release the gland from the tightness -- almost choking effects -- of the muscle. That's why the process is referred to as a "release."
In turn, normal functioning of the endocrine system emerges, thus restoring eventually your fertility.
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