After a while, the therapist will sense movements around the shoulder joint. The arm is then supported under the therapist’s elbow and wrist, and a light compression toward the shoulder joint can be added. For example, in arm and shoulder unwinding, the client lies supine while the therapist lifts an arm. The unwinding process can be carried out either on the body as a whole or on specific body parts such as arms, legs, the neck, and even the jaw. In an alternative method, the therapist adds compression to the joints in the area or holds a part of the body in a relaxed position. According to Kern, ( 3) when the effect of gravity is removed, any strain patterns held in the tissues become more easily clarified. Motion is usually induced in the body by lifting and holding certain body parts to remove the influence of gravity and to overcome the reactive proprioceptive postural tone-a technique often used when working with the limbs. The release is set in motion with the therapist’s touch, but the client soon takes control. These effects, however, are not well reported.ĭuring treatment, the therapist acts as a catalyst or facilitator by placing the client’s body in certain configurations that allow it to unwind and release. The phenomenon of unwinding, in which parts of the body move spontaneously and involuntarily, can appear mystical, and yet its therapeutic effects are known both anecdotally and clinically. This response can be thought of as a spontaneous expression of movement. The client responds to the induction with spontaneous bending, rotating, and twisting of the upper or lower limbs or the whole body in either a rhythmic or a chaotic pattern. Therapists use an induction process to initiate fascial unwinding in a client. Its forces are localized using the sensations of ease and bind over wider regions.” From these two definitions, we can therefore infer that fascial unwinding is a type of indirect myofascial release (MFR) technique. ( 1) Furthermore, the Glossary of Osteopathic Terminology ( 2) states that fascial unwinding is “a manual technique involving constant feedback to the osteopathic practitioner who is passively moving a portion of the patient’s body in response to the sensation of movement. Mosby’s Dictionary of Complementary and Alternative Medicine defines fascial unwinding as a manual technique in which the therapist passively moves some part of the client’s body, with constant feedback as to the sensations of motion being given by the client. Fascial unwinding can be used to “release” fascial restriction by encouraging the body or parts of the body to move to areas of ease. Fascial or myofascial unwinding is a process in which a client undergoes a spontaneous reaction in response to the therapist’s touch.
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