This type of therapeutic stretch, used by athletes since the 1990s, is a cousin to myofascial massage, but with less pain and more focus on joint flexibility and connective tissue around muscles.
Written and Reported by Lisa Schuetz
Contributing Writer
Finding a specialty in massage that best fits your skills may lead you beyond kneading muscles into relaxation. Fascia stretching is a specialty in which practitioners gently assist clients with stretching to relax the connective tissue around muscles.
Fascia stretching is used to increase flexibility, mobility, and range of motion in a manner that’s relatively pain free. In fact, stretch studios are popping up all over the country now that it has a reputation for speeding up recovery and improving athletic performance.
Therapy Overview
Fascia stretching therapy, similar to myofascial release therapy, focuses on fascia, the connective webbing surrounding all muscles and nerves. Therapists use sustained pressure on their clients to loosen and lengthen fascia and free up muscle tension.
Some practitioners use gentle assistance to stretch the fascia and manipulate the joints around the muscles to create an enhanced state of relaxation. Often, practitioners will use a table with straps to help stabilize the client while using their body to gently help their clients stretch.
Fascia stretch therapy is said to decrease pain and stiffness and increase flexibility, mobility, and range of motion.
The therapy is said to be a game-changer when added to the toolbox of competitive athletes. In fact, stretch practitioners are often found working with Olympians, professional sports players, and competitive amateurs, using the technique to enhance their clients’ performance and recovery. Fascia stretching is relatively pain-free and is said to decrease pain and stiffness and increase flexibility, mobility, and range of motion with better posture and recovery time.
Massage therapists specializing in fascia stretching can find themselves working in gyms, physical therapy offices, and sports medicine clinics.
Fascia stretch therapy seems to be having its moment, says Lisa McNeil, M. Ed, CFSS-M, a Wisconsin-based licensed massage therapist at the Momentum Movement Clinic. She works with athletes for the U.S. Olympic Committee as well as amateur athletes.
“Currently there’s a strong trend in bodywork towards stretching,” says McNeil. “In fact, if you notice, there are more boutique stretch and flexibility companies popping up.”
What are Employers Looking For?
Ann Frederick, co-director of Stretch to Win Institute, a fascia stretching training center in Chandler, Arizona, says the following skills impress employers most:
Being able to assess a client’s condition and goals
Creating a treatment plan customized to the client
Being able to suggest a home stretch program that will allow the client to maintain results after your treatment
Knowing when stretching may not suit the client given other underlying conditions
Training and Education
Fascia stretching therapy training can take the form of continuing education through an accredited massage school or a specialty certification program through a school or business that focuses on this type of training.
The practice is increasing in popularity for licensed massage therapists, physical therapists, sports medicine practitioners, and athletic trainers.
The American Massage Therapy Association, a nonprofit trade association for massage therapist practitioners, students, and schools, suggests that participants have accomplished the following before studying fascia stretching therapy:
Experience as a general massage therapy practitioner is recommended before enrolling in a fascia stretching therapy program
The type of training you choose will depend on what you want to do in your career, says McNeil.
“If (massage therapists) desire to work with pro teams and elite athletes, they need to understand (that) experience and reputation are important,” she says. “If they desire a more medical setting, they need to have a solid understanding of anatomy and gain training in science-based modalities that can be used with Western medicine clinicians.”
Do I Need a Specialty Certification?
While a specialty certificate in fascia stretching is not required to practice, the skills learned in a certification program will make you more knowledgeable about the therapy and…
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