If you enjoy yoga, please be kind to your fascial web.
A woman in her 30s presented with many issues, but the most puzzling was that she had pain in both hands and fingers. When I held them, I could feel fascial strain.
Her father was riddled with arthritis, and she felt that she may also be developing that condition. I always question that diagnosis because it can be a catchall term for the medical community.
When I encounter this phenomenon, the patient is constantly on the computer for work. The forearm flexor and extensor muscles are usually very tight.
I will help work out the fascial strain in both arms and have the patient do some daily cross-fiber massage to free up their muscle tissue. That therapeutic combination usually does the trick.
This patient worked on her computer forty hours a week and seemed like a classic case. But, on examination, she had no palpable strain in those muscles.
For 15 years, she had done weekly yoga, and 70% of the time she was in a downward dog pose. I had to review that pose to judge the vector forces in the body.
In deducing the causative root of her problem, I believe that she had created a chronic repetitive strain injury in her hands and fingers. By holding that pose for an extended period of time, the fascia had become tight in her hands and fingers.
She begged, “Please do not take my yoga away.” I do not tell people what to do but just make them aware of a problem.
John Barnes correctly taught us that stretching and exercise do not release fascial strain. In the Gillespie Approach, the provider needs to hold the tissue and revisit the trauma for authentic healing.
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