Is pain waking you up at night?
Have you ever wondered why our bodies tend to hurt more when we are still and resting?
Gil Hedley, a renowned fascial researcher, has a simple way of explaining why this is. Our body is made up of lots and lots of sliding surfaces allowing us to move freely and without pain. What happens when we are still, especially when we are asleep, is a layer of “fuzz” builds up between these layers. Mostly, when we wake up in the morning and start moving again, this “fuzz” dissipates and we go about our day as usual. Movement melts this “fuzz” and it doesn’t cause us any issue.
Side note: If you like a little bit of science, then the fuzz is known as the perifascia, or loose areolar connective tissue. It looks fuzzy, because the organization of collagenous fibres is felted rather than in layers so when it comes apart it can look like cotton candy! Hence it being referred to as “fuzz”!
But what happens if we have a slightly achy shoulder? We then we go to sleep, the fuzz has done its thing of building up, and in the morning, we don’t really want to move that shoulder because we are scared it will hurt; the night’s fuzz does not get broken up. Then we go to sleep again the next night, and the next day again we don’t move it.
After a few nights or weeks, we have built up a whole load of restriction in that shoulder and it begins to wake us up at night. It is screaming at us that it is restricted and needs to move or be released but it now hurts too much and we are tired from not sleeping and we are scared to move because it hurts.
That’s where myofascial release, and myofascial yoga can help. Sometimes, when the tissues are in this state of built up restriction in the fascia, we can no longer release them ourselves. We need help. Safe, gentle, hands on treatment from a qualified myofascial release therapist can help to melt the restrictions away, encourage a return of movement, and reduce pain levels.
Myofascial yoga can help teach you ways of moving so that you do not have a recurrence of the problem and you are empowered to support yourself to stay as free of fascial “fuzz” as possible.
And then, a restful night’s sleep will return!
