← Return to Myofascial Release Therapy (MFR) for treating compression and pain

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@helennicola

Hi busterbrwn, I was wondering if your insurance covers the MFR sessions, as you had mentioned previously the high cost of steroid injections which are usually covered. When I located a MFR specialist in my area he charged $175/hr. and insurance did not cover it. My husband did not end up going as he ended up having surgery. If my P/T performs MFR (not a specialist) it would be covered. I am curious as to the difference between a specialist performing this as opposed to a general P/T. Helen

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Replies to "Hi busterbrwn, I was wondering if your insurance covers the MFR sessions, as you had mentioned..."

@helennicola my dr said insurance doesn’t cover myofascial as it is considered a massage type which is not covered. Everything I’ve read said to make sure the therapist is trained by the Barnes guy but if your PT knows the technique and then insurance would cover it it might be worth a shot. I do feel better today yesterday was my 3rd session. I haven’t had to use my TENS yet just icing down. And slightly less urge to pee every 30 min or so.

@bustrbrwn22 @helennicola If you see a PT who does traditional physical therapy and who is also MFR certified, you get the best of both worlds, and they know how to write their notes so insurance will cover it. If they just said it was only MFR treatment, insurance probably doesn't want to pay. Have that conversation with your therapist. Insurance wants to see that yes, there is a need for therapy with some kind of issue to solve, and they want to see steady progress over the course of treatment with measurements and progress reports that show range of motion and strength. If you have an issue that takes longer than a few sessions to solve, you would have time to see if adding MFR will work. You may need to do some traditional work too, and that may be able to be home exercises and have the therapy sessions be the manual work with MFR. Also ask about a cash rate if no insurance is involved that would be equivalent to what insurance and a copay would cover. $175 an hour is building in surplus for the "discount" for being in network with the insurance that comes off the top. Of course they need to cover business expenses too, but a cash rate might be closer to half the retail cost. See if you can negotiate the rate if you need to pay cash only.

Another suggestion that doesn't involve insurance would be to take the workshop that John Barnes' practice does for the general public to teach MFR techniques which you can do as a couple. It is probably taught once a year, and they change where the location is from year to year, so you may need to travel to go. Info would be on the MFR website and they do sell out early. Once you learn how it works and understand how it feels when it is done correctly to yourself, you can figure out your own ways to self treat and actually feel when the tissue starts to slide and release. A person can't get every thing from every angle themselves, but you actually can do a lot to help yourself. It would be nice if insurance and medical practices were more accepting of the benefits, and some are, but remember in med school, they don't learn on living tissues, and all of the properties of living fascia that can convert to a liquid and reorganize itself are lost.