Can these treatments affect my emotional state?” I was recently asked this question by a patient whose first fascia release treatment had started to relieve his neck and back pain, while also leaving him with a deeper sense of well-being.  

I shared with him that positive mental and emotional outcomes often result from manual therapy that releases fascia restrictions. Fascia is the fibrous connective tissue, which covers and protects all other tissues. These mental and emotional improvements might not occur for everyone who experiences fascia release therapy, but many do report enhanced well-being, an increased ability to cope with stress, and even relief from anxiety or depression. 

There is a scientific basis to explain the “emotional releases” that sometimes occur with hands-on fascia therapy. As a member of the Fascia Research Society, I attended a seminar by Dr. Joeri Calsius, a clinical psychologist and research scientist who uses fascia therapy as part of his treatments. He discussed how the neurology of fascia can influence a person’s emotional state. I was interested in this because of the emotional responses that some of my own patients often experience following a treatment.   

Fascia contains innumerable nerve endings that are involved in feeling pain and creating position sense. But it also has other lesser-known nerves linked to pathways that continue along the spine to an area of the brain called the insula. This part of the brain is involved in processing pain, love, emotion and self-awareness. A brief summation of the insula’s role in daily function would be to answer the question, “How do I feel (emotionally) about how I feel?”  

Dr. Calsius postulates that, in addition to improving pain sensations and position sense, it is also possible that the release of fascia restriction can improve the emotional state by restoring normal signals on those pathways to the insula. While this is still just a hypothesis, it would help to reinforce many of the reactions that I observe in my patients. These include endorphin releases or deep sense of relaxation during a treatment, as well as improved stress management and an increased sense of well-being afterward.    

Shelly, another patient of mine, once told me at the onset of a treatment visit that she had a new concern. “I’m worried that I don’t feel worried,” she remarked. She went on to explain that she was used to living in a constant state of mild worry about many facets of her life, both small and large. However, since her fascia release treatments for a painful shoulder, her constant worry had begun to dissipate, and she was able to focus more on just the large-scale issues in her life. Because she was not used to this, she felt concerned that it was abnormal. As time went on, though, she learned to enjoy this decrease in stress.   

I will point out that I do not treat mental or emotional issues. However, my clinical experience has shown me that improving the health of fascia will often enhance mental and emotional well-being—more so than simply relieving pain with medications. If fascia can affect how you feel, what steps can you take to maximize its health? Here are a few tips: 

• Fascia needs hydration, so consume an adequate amount of water on a daily basis. 

• This fibrous connective tissue does not respond well to inflammation, so eating a nutritious, non-inflammatory diet can also help to maintain its function. Cut back on red meat and fried foods. Increase vegetables and whole, plant-based foods. 

• Many forms of exercises can keep your fascia toned and supple, too. These include yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonics, and fascia stretches. Restorative yoga can activate the fascia nerve pathways to the insula, which helps relieve stress and optimize well-being.   

When your fascia has restrictions from prior injuries, nutrition and exercise can only do so much to keep it healthy. In these cases, fascia release treatment can restore stiff fascia to a more supple, flexible state, which helps it communicate more normally with the nervous system. This can improve both mental and emotional well-being, relieve pain, increase range of motion, and restore both alignment and stability to the joints.  

Continual research is being conducted to examine the effects of fascia therapies on emotional wellness, and it is possible these hands-on therapies will be incorporated more often in conventional psychological therapies. For now, I will enjoy hearing about my patients’ positive side-effects when I treat them for other problems such as back and knee pain.     

Eric Winder, DC, uses gentle manual therapy to help patients with a wide range of pain and injury problems. Dr. Winder’s offices are in Sarasota and Osprey. For more information, call 941-957-8390 or visit https://gentlebay.com/