Myofascial release and CFM ? Forearm Tendonitis

[Felix Schreiter]

I developed elbow/forearm tendonitis in both arms. So far icing and some massage helped, but I have problems when I try to do low weight bicep curl eccentrics or anything that is higher intensity than non weighted arms. In everyday life I do not have any pain, so I think it is not that bad. However I have it since 2 months or so, so I backed off from any exercise completely. I have exams right now so it does not bother me too much, but I have the feeling that I cant get back into strength training and that it always comes back. My question is: What exactly is myofascial release and what is cross friction massage? They are often recommended for tendonitis treatment, but I could not find a proper explanation/tutorial on the internet..Any other advice on the treatment is appreciated as well.

cheers

Horst

[Scott Malin]

Myofascial tissue is a type of connective tissue in the body. The best way I've heard it explained is to imagine that there is plastic wrap around every muscle fiber, every group of fibers, and every muscle as a whole. The myofascial net has a huge role in the way your body molds itself to move. A restriction happens when the tissue adheres to itself or impedes on structures running through it. Now imagine how plastic wrap sticks to itself but imagine that the plastic wrap has the consistency of a used tired. Myofascial release uses mechanical pressure and the heat resulting from it to make this tissue more pliable and to relieve some of the problems that come from it. Myofascial work is very very slow and is done without any lotion. Typically it'd be about 90min for a session for a specific myofascial train or section of tissue.

Cross fiber friction is a technique to realign collagen fibers. When your body heals it lays down new fibers in a criss cross fashion. The body is more efficient when the fibers are aligned the same way so this massage stroke works to do that. This can typically be done in a shorter ~20 min treatment for the area.