Myofascial Release Therapy (MFR) for treating compression and pain

@bude MFR helps problems caused by fascial restrictions. For example, I do get spasms in my neck and shoulder that affect my spine. I also have a scar from cervical spine surgery in my neck that tightens up periodically. Doing MFR and stretching, helps relieve this and get my body moving better. I sometimes find myself unable to turn my head or with some pain in my jaw that can be brought on by stress. In addition to working on MFR stretching, I also address my emotional well-being by going out and doing some fun things to give myself better things to think about. All of that helps me. I learned a lot from my physical therapist who showed me various ways to self treat with MFR stretching.

Do you know what is the cause of your back spasms?

Thank you for sharing

No, that is part of the issue. I fell against a railing over a year ago. I have degeneration in the back and have for years but did not start getting the spasms until after the fall. I have done PT, trigger points, nerve blocks, prednisone, ablation, Chiro, massage, acupuncture, etc. Only the nerve blocks seem to help for the very short time that they are serving the purpose - to do the ablation. I stumbled onto a discussion here regarding intercostal nerve issues and the symptoms were almost identical to what I had been experiencing so the last nerve block was with a steroid in that area to hopefully make it last longer but not a lot of improvement with that either. Nobody can seem to tell me what is causing it. Is there somehow that I can find that out so we are treating the correct issue?

@bude Do you have a recent MRI of your spine? That is a first step to determine if you have nerve compression in your spine from an injury or arthtritis. Injuries also affect muscles and form fascial scar tissue. MFR could address that, and you could try it and see even without knowing the cause. I do hope the Chiropractor had imaging done before working on your spine. I won't let a Chiro touch me because I know how easy it was to rupture a bulging disc. All I had to do was turn my head and it popped, then it caused bone spur growth and I was on a path to later surgery as I came to discover. If you have ruptured disc, MFR won't fix that, but it could help posture and movement which can decrease pain by keeping things ergonomic and where they belong. If you have vertebrae slipping and sliding past each other because of deteriorating discs, that is probably a job for a spine surgeon.

Would you consider a consult with a spine specialist to assess your current status?

Only therapist in my area charges hourly--does not accept insurance.

I did have an MRI. Nothing except the degeneration seems to be showing up on the x-rays and the MRI. I also saw a physiatrist and he didn't seem to think he could be of help for the issues I was experiencing. My PT person & massage person thought I might have a rib out of place or at least an issue with the rib area. I asked a number of times if the MRI could show if there was nerve or muscle damage because that is what it has felt like but the answer has been no or not quite a straight answer about it. I think the focus has been mainly on the degeneration because they can't see anything else significant showing up.
I only went to the Chiro twice and I did send him the x-rays & MRI prior but I couldn't deal with the pain of it. When the affected area gets aggravated I can't even get up from a bed. I maneuver quite well during the day but have the biggest issue when I try to turn over in bed or do any kind of twisting or turning. And I am not in significant pain. The pain is mainly when those muscles on the right side spasm.
At the last nerve block we talked about an impinged or pinched nerve. Apparently if the nerve is very small it cannot be seen.
Yes, I might consider a spine specialist since everything else that has been tried has kind of been shooting in the dark it seems.

@bude Do you have the radiology report that goes with your MRI? That may give details about what can be seen. Degeneration could be something like arthritic bone growth that can close down spaces where nerves exit the spinal cord or it could be something compressing the spinal cord if a disc is collapsing. You need the details on the report to understand what conditions may be present. Sometimes pinched nerves do cause major muscle spasms. Because I get muscle tightness through my chest, I sometimes have a rib start to twist if it gets bad. Myofascial release does fix that by stretching everything, and a shifted rib is very painful. I also have a condition called thoracic outlet syndrome which makes one side of my chest and neck too tight. MFR and stretching helps that and tends to equalize both sides of my neck. Nerves exiting the spinal cord can be seen on MRIs. You could also have a pinched nerve somewhere else in the body. Neurologists do testing to find these pinched nerves because it slows down the speed of electric transmission in the nerve. They send a shock and measure how fast it goes between 2 points. Often a spine specialist sends patients to a neurologist that they like to work with for testing, so if you want to consult a spine specialist, you may want to see them first. If you are having nerve blocks, they must know something about which nerve is compressed and where it is. I always read my medical records so I understand. Often you can do that on a patient portal.

Pain in the neck.. I am 86.. I developed a very sore neck, the muscles from base of skull to shoulder are hard preventing 90 degree head rotation.. I had epidural at local hospital..saw spine surgeon there to.. went to Mayo MN talked with neurologist and surgeon.. surgery is no longer considered.. high (radio) frequency ablation (nerve trimming) was considered.. now 1st step of Myofascial release treatment is scheduled at Mayo.. What has been results from that kind of treatment for others?

@ken82 I'm glad to hear that you will be doing some myofascial release therapy. This therapy has helped me tremendously. Can you tell me what department or doctor at Mayo is recommending this to you and where you will be seen there? I wasn't aware that Mayo was doing this and I'd like to learn more.

I see you are a spine surgery patient and I am too. I had a cervical fusion and also have thoracic outlet syndrome or TOS. Sometimes I find myself with muscle spasms causing me not to be able to turn my head and I use what I have learned from my physical therapist to help myself when she isn't able to see me. Once you learn how this works, and you develop body awareness so you can feel when the fascia begins to move with stretching, you'll be able to figure out ways to help yourself because you can find the tight areas. Starting this when your muscles are locked with tightness may be a bit confusing and you may not develop the awareness until you work through several layers of tight fascia. We all have patterns of tightness from injuries, surgeries, scar tissue or our habits and posture that limit movement.

There is a lot of information collected in our discussion,
Neuropathy - "Myofascial Release Therapy (MFR) for treating compression and pain"
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/
The first pages in the discussion have a lot of information links and videos of John Barnes treating a patient. He developed this therapy. The key to success is to go slowly so you don't tear the fascia with aggressive stretching because that will just create more scar tissue and compound the problem you are trying to solve.

I'd love to hear more about your provider at Mayo who is recommending this to you! Please also keep in touch and share your progress. I think this will help a lot and I am excited for you!

@jenniferhunter ... I had all of my appointments about this cervical pain in the neck through the Spine Center .. neurologist, surgeon, then a phone call with a neurologist specializing in Radio Frequency ablation (nerve trimming), .. and she, after looking at all my x-rays, MRIs and other nerve conductivity tests ... These offices were in the Mayo and Gonda buildings... recommended the Myofascial release treatment as the first step to relief.. a Dr. Hardesty.. who trained initially as a Chiropractor.. but has retrained to do the MFR treatment.. she assured me that he was not going to do the typical Chiropractic bone crunching... I'm going to Rochester Sept 7 for that treatment.. and that day cannot come soon enough..Ken