Immediate effects of myofascial release on neuromechanical characteristics

 

Myofascial release had been used to restore altered soft tissue function. There have been arguments whether this manual treatment really affects the tissues’ mechanical properties or affects the neural components of the body.

A study by Christine Lohra and IvanMedina-Porqueres tried to clarify this argument by measuring the immediate neuromechanical alterations of myofascial release on patients with lower back pain. The study was published in Clinical Biomechanics.

The study recruited 30 participants, where 15 were diagnosed with lower back pain and 15 other were healthy individuals matched by their age, sex, and body conditions. Their bilateral lumbar erector spinae muscles were assessed via an instrument called tensiomyography before and after a 6-min myofascial release treatment of the lumbodorsal fascia. The MFR includes cross-hand stretch and deep longitudinal strokes across the erector spinae. The tensiomyography testing measured muscle displacement, velocity of muscle contraction, and lateral symmetry.

The results showed that 6 minutes of myofascial release created changes in the erector spinae muscles’ neuromechanical characteristics, especially in participants with lower back pain.

In particular, there was a significant increase in the velocity of contraction, a measure of muscle contraction speed, on both sides of the lumbar erector spinae for participants with lower back pain, but not for the healthy controls.

In terms of muscle displacement, a measure of muscle stiffness, there was a significant increase in both groups’ left-hand side muscle. There was no change in lateral symmetry.

The authors suggested that myofascial release alters neuromechanical characteristics in subjects with low back pain, improving muscle efficiency.