By clicking the following link, you will be directed to the latest reference list used to support the work taught in the Foundations in Myofascial Release Seminar for Neck, Voice, and Swallowing Disorders. The list will be updated frequently. References MFR for Neck, Voice, and Swallowing Disorders Seminar Cheers, Walt Fritz, PT I am a… Continue Reading
Synopsis of the Foundations Seminar Approach to Manual Care
What if the effects of manual therapy/myofascial release were less about the things we think we are doing with the tissues and more about the engagement we are having with the patient? I just finished putting the finishing touches on another full syllabus revision for my Foundations in Myofascial Release Seminar for Neck, Voice, and… Continue Reading
Manual therapy/MFR during radiation therapy for head neck cancer
Research Monday. Another of the resources I use as validation of the manual therapy/MFR approach to my MFR for Neck, Voice, and Swallowing Disorders workshop. www.FoundationsinMFR.com. Krisciunas, G.P., Golan, H., Marinko, L.N., Pearson, W., Jalisi, S. and Langmore, S.E. (2016), A novel manual therapy programme during radiation therapy for head and neck cancer – our clinical… Continue Reading
Manual therapy/MFR with head neck cancer and dysphagia
Working to build an evidence base for the style of MFR that I teach, I’ve brought together a good many resources that show that an MFR style of engagement can have positive impacts in many conditions. Here the authors looks at swallowing issues with head/neck cancer patients. Many of you know my take on… Continue Reading
Fear-Instilling Behaviors
A recent post in one of the many groups here to which I belong got me thinking about how easily swayed patient can become to accept the views of the clinician. These views often conflict with what the patient’s primary MD or medical specialist might put forth and often stem from the results of testing… Continue Reading
Myofascial Release: An Evolving and Simple Definition
Urged on my peers on both sides of the argument, here is an initial version of what I hope becomes a more permanent way to describe the work I use and teach. Comments, suggestions, and criticisms are always welcome (post below). Edits will be made to this post as comments come forward, both here as well… Continue Reading
Rabbit Holes: Recognizing the rabbit holes of (our) bias
Rabbit Holes: Recognizing the rabbit holes of (our) bias In the Spring 2018 edition of the Canadian RMT magazine, you’ll find an article I wrote regarding one of my favorite topics: rabbit holes. You can read the full article, as well as the rest of this great magazine, at this link: Rabbit Holes Cheers,… Continue Reading
The Changing Face of Myofascial Release
The Changing Face of Myofascial Release “My work is called Myofascial Release due to the style of engagement that most resembles traditional gentle, sustained myofascial release treatment. While a popular belief, I no longer believe that I am able to singularly and selectively target fascia (connective tissue) beneath the skin to the exclusion of all other tissues, as many… Continue Reading
The Negotiation of Pressures (II)
This is an adaptation of my original blog post by the same title, one I wrote for Terra Rosa’s newsletter (here). With the multiple modality brands and styles of branded and nonbranded manual therapy — each seeming to claim such a wide range of tissue-specific targets and effects — it is difficult for the therapist and… Continue Reading
Why I teach like I do and what might you expect to learn at my workshops
I believe it to be important to be transparent when describing my course content. If you are expecting to be taught an approach to manual therapy that describe fascia/connective tissue as the primary target, then you may be disappointed in my workshops. If you are seeking a style of manual therapy that places a priority… Continue Reading
Introducing Neurodynamic Technique into Clinical Practice
I’ve recently begun including a newer paper into my body of evidence to support my Foundations in Myofascial Release Seminar for Neck, Voice, and Swallowing Disorders titled, “Integration of a neurodynamic approach into the treatment of dysarthria with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease: A pilot study”. I’ve been a proponent of using the concepts of neurodynamic technique… Continue Reading
Myofascial Release and Swallowing Disorders Podcast
I was honored to be interviewed recently by Theresa Richard, SLP, CCC-SLP, BCS-S for her podcast, Swallow Your Pride. We spoke at length about the evidence/research for a myofascial release (MFR) and manual therapy approach to dysphagia and related disorders, as well as the question of palpation validity. While our ability to palpate what we… Continue Reading
The Negotiation of Pressures
In manual therapy/massage literature there is little, if any credible, repeatable peer-reviewed evidence to show one type of pressure being superior than another… “Using a soft touch which is generally no greater than 5 grams – about the weight of a nickel – practitioners release restrictions in the soft tissues that surround the central… Continue Reading
Rabbit-Hole Science
I originally intended to post these comments to a blog on one of the manual therapy/massage magazines, one giving some pretty special power to one named modality (OK, craniosacral therapy) and its ability to improve a disorder (autism) that effects thousands of people and their families, but I realized that my comments would have sidetracked… Continue Reading
An Interview with Myself
There is irony in that those who have long-considered themselves therapeutic rebels for bucking conventional beliefs are now old-school, clinging to the past. Everything evolves. -Walt Fritz, PT One wonderful aspect of being an educator in the manual therapy field is that others ask to interview you! Here is an interview I did for Budiman… Continue Reading
Pathologizing: Our Words Matter
Pathologizing: Our Words Matter As a physical therapist trained in the early 1980’s, biomechanical explanations for pain and movement disorders were the norm. As I drifted into a myofascial release manual therapy in the early 1990’s, the biomechanical model was reinforced and made more narrow through the beliefs that pain and movement dysfunction stem from… Continue Reading
