What Is Fascial Counterstrain? It Could Address the Root of Your Pain

by | Sep 23, 2021 | Physical Therapy

Do you suffer from chronic pain due to a condition such as fibromyalgia? In such situations, the inflammation affects the connective tissue that protects your entire body. This tissue is known as the fascia. Fascial Counterstrain can heal the inflammation you are experiencing to allow your body to replenish.

The fascia covers your nerves, arteries, veins, lymphatic vessels, bone, and internal organs—every structure in your body. Consider how an orange looks when you open it up. A white skin covers the peel and every slice, both interior and exterior. That’s similar to how the fascia functions.

When you experience injury to one of these structures, your body naturally produces an equal reaction to protect itself. Embedded in the fascia are many nerve endings—the nerves signal the fascia to tighten or contract in response to trauma or strain. A natural neurological reaction is for the immune system to produce inflammatory chemicals and muscle spasms to protect the healing area. However, contracted tissue does not drain quickly. A backup of chemical production or trapped inflammatory substances can lead to chronic swelling and pain, leaving the area tender to the touch. The trauma can result from any number of factors, such as surgery or long-standing postural issues.

Every piece of your body works in complete unison. If your spasm reflex persists in one location, it can produce hundreds of other tender points in your body.

What Can Fascial Counterstrain Do For Me?

Fascial Counterstrain is a gentle, manual therapy technique designed to release spasms in the affected tissues in your body. To help provide you with relief, a practitioner uses only their hands to find and fix any painful areas in your fascia.

How Does This Therapy Work?

Fascial counterstrain is performed by gently positioning the affected tissue and body against the strain trapping the inflammation. Hence, the counterstrain produced at the correct tissue level treats the root cause of your condition.

Your pain pattern and symptoms provide access to a blueprint as to the exact tissue involved and where within the body the Fascial Counterstrain treatment should begin. A manual shortening of the affected tissue is applied until there is a pulsation at a specific tender point in your body. Holding the shortened position on average for 30-45 seconds allows the nervous system to reset or release the contracted tissue and halt the ongoing inflammatory process you are experiencing.

Will It Work For Me?

The significant part about this hands-on therapy is that it helps treat many ailments and all kinds of patients.

Acute or Chronic Injuries

You may have more acute injuries that occurred because of an accident, such as ankle sprains or lower back pain, or head injury. On the other hand, you may suffer from a chronic illness or disease that causes substantial pain, such as arthritis, nerve entrapment, or loss of function.

Fascial Counterstrain works for both types of injuries.

Young to Elderly Patients

Since the technique is so gentle and healing to the body, it can work for even the most fragile among us. Infants, elderly individuals, and pregnant patients can also benefit from this treatment.

A More Pain-Free Life Awaits You

Please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask about how Fascial Counterstrain could benefit your unique situation. We can talk about what you are going through and develop a plan to get you to move and live a more pain-free life.