Myofascial Decompression™ is cupping, paired with movement science, to assist in correcting movement inefficiencies stemming from restrictions in the soft tissues that contribute to muscular imbalances.
“Backgrounds in biomechanics, kinesiology, and functional anatomy are essential to identify and treat range of motion restrictions and muscular imbalance. Interventions include neuromuscular re-education, active assisted movements, and PNF, making the patient an active participant in their treatment.
Traditional cupping does not include active movement, and often is targeting energetic imbalances from a traditional Chinese medicine perspective. MFD is a novel approach to musculoskeletal treatment, utilizing negative pressure tools and western medicine based movement science. These applications are very effective for orthopedics, sports medicine, contractures, post-op recovery, overcoming dominance strategies, postural syndromes, hand therapy, neuro re-education, and scar mobilization.”
What does an MFD session look and feel like?
The information garnered during your evaluation and the soft tissue restrictions palpable during a manual assessment will inform the therapist if MFD is applicable and for what goal. The therapist will then place 1-6 cups that run the length of the fascial sling the restrictions run in. What is a fascial sling and what are these restrictions? If you can imagine a street with speed bumps, you can imagine a muscle or group of muscles with these speed bumps, they hinder the efficiency of these muscles. These “streets” or fascial slings, can run in either vertical, horizontal, or diagonal directions. The pressure placed into the cups will vary on the goals of the treatment and the patient’s tolerance. Some people enjoy the tension relief and some describe it as a pinch. While the cups are still on, the therapist will either move the area or have you do some dynamic stretches. The cups will then be removed and you will be asked to do a simple exercise that will drive home the desired outcome of the treatment. The total time the cups are on is usually under 5min, as opposed to 15-20min in Chinese medicine. An MFD session can involve a couple of different plans of action, meaning different groups of muscles are targeted that run in different directions, limiting you in different directions, and then paired with different exercises. MFD can be utilized in repeated visits depending on the issue at hand. MFD is not as effective for issues that are solely inside the joint, but works best on the soft tissues that support joints. For example MFD won’t fix arthritis but it can help the flexibility of the muscles that have been lost due to decreased movement from protecting the joint. It is a quick and effective tool that we are happy to answer any questions about!
