Unwinding the Body

In a country where every other commercial is an ad for a prescription drug that catalogs an interminable list of side effects, modalities like myofascial release (MFR) offer an osteopathic alternative that is safe, effective, and proven over more than a hundred years.

But what is it?

“MFR is a safe and effective form of therapeutic touch that restores elasticity and life to dried, stuck connective tissue,” says Caroline Richardson, a practitioner of MFR based in the Highlands-Plateau area. “Fascia is an all-connecting collagen web that runs head to toe and skin to bone, surrounding, supporting, connecting, and protecting every structure in your body, down to the cellular level.

“This transportation, communication, and lubrication gel can harden and dehydrate through various inflammatory processes, which inhibits all these crucial processes,” she goes on. “‘Aging’ is just another word for when our tissues dry out and lose their resilience. MFR hydrates them again.”

To explain it in more layman’s terms, MFR is a form of manual therapy—like massage—used to treat myofascial pain syndrome and various other types of chronic pain, as well as reduced mobility and muscle stiffness. It can even be used to reduce scar tissue adhesions and improve post-op mobility.

“What sets MFR apart from other modalities is the phase change that happens in the crystallized fascial fluids,” says Richardson. “This happens when the fascia is stretched to its edge of resistance and held until this melting is given a chance to happen. By not using lubricants on the skin, and maintaining tension on the connective web, these tissues rehydrate internally, restoring their form and function.

“Most people struggle with shortening across their chest and down the front of their bodies, often from sitting, looking down habitually, and all the other things we do with our arms,” she continues. “They come in for problems with their head, neck, shoulder, back, or sciatica, thinking the ‘tightness’ is on the back side, when the muscles opposite the shortened areas are actually sending pain signals asking us to balance and bring some length and lightness back to these chronically shortened, dense areas.”

Practitioners like Richardson trust MFR for its reliable potency as well as its holistic nature. “It truly is medicine for the body, mind, and spirit,” she explains. “There’s a lot of letting go, which is important, because the stresses in your mind start to affect your body, and it’s hard to relax!

That alone is huge, but the emotional healing aspect lies in revealing feelings and memories that were locked away in the body’s memory system.”

Richardson goes on: “During MFR, the supportive deep relaxation combined with a revitalization of compromised tissues provides peak conditions for unveiling and integrating these forgotten parts of ourselves. It’s a great way to cut to the root of psychological loops, while leaving the story or anyone else’s guidance out of it. I think it can pair well with talk therapy, but so many of our issues are in our tissues that just spending time in the body, at the fascial edge, can be extremely therapeutic for the mind.”

MFR is an incredibly useful tool when combined with physical therapy and fitness training, as well, because it increases not only flexibility but also muscular power. Richardson also suggests undergoing sessions before and after surgery to decrease recovery time and complications.

Each session is, of course, tailored to the needs and goals of the client, but Richardson contends that any treatment should feel gentle but substantial. “When a client comes to me, we’ll talk about symptoms, history, and goals, and I’ll assess any imbalances I can see visually before they get on the table,” she says. “Through palpation, I’ll find fascial restrictions (dense and relatively immobile tissues) and apply a moderate ‘just right’ pressure and maintain it until I feel a change. Then I take out the new slack and repeat the formula until a decent amount of softening and lengthening has occurred. Sometimes I start near the chief symptom and work my way to the root, but sometimes the root is more obvious from the beginning. Depending on the goal, I get different results, but the most common feedback is a feeling of lightness and spaciousness. Some soreness can follow as the body completes the transformation process—and hydration is crucial.”

As is patience. Richardson explains that palpable results can often be achieved in one session, but it can take quite a few treatments to get fully “ironed out.”

While Western medicine is often dominated by quick fixes and pharmaceutical solutions, myofascial release offers a slower, more intentional approach—one that works with the body rather than against it. By addressing restriction at its source and inviting both physical and emotional release, MFR provides a pathway not only toward reduced pain and improved mobility, but toward a deeper sense of balance, awareness, and well-being.

Follow Caroline Richardson on Instagram @carealignedmfr  or contact her directly at (864) 590-4661