Last fall I started getting regular myofascial massages at a great place in town, Holistic Health Associates. There I discovered Aaron Exum, a fantastic LMT.  Aaron has a gentle demeanor mixed with kick-ass anatomical and physiological know-how. I can tell him what’s hurting and he’ll know exactly where to put the perfect amount of pressure to get me back on track.

I always left a session feeling fantastic, only to be right back to where I started from upon waking the next day. That’s a big problem with chronic conditions. Sometimes relief is simply temporary and unless you’re independently weathly, you can’t justify spending a ton of money on procedures that only last a day.

What Aaron did do however, was teach me was how truly interconnected my body is. Sometimes after he worked on my left shoulder I would notice changes in my right hip. That’s because the fascia system covers our entire body. Per Wikipedia, Fascia is a thin, tough, elastic type of connective tissue that wraps most structures within the human body, including muscle. Therefore keeping the fasica elastic and as supple as possible is very important.

Although myfascial release didn’t help my foot drop, it did get me moving more and a lot of my pain has gone away.

To fully understand the importance of fascia watch this short video (Gil Headly’s Fascia and Stretching: The Fuzz Speech) and I promise you’ll stretch on a regular basis. And when stretching isn’t enough, get yourself to a great massage therapist so he or she can manipulate it for you.