How much time is required to modify a fascial fibrosis?

Abstract

The perception of what appears to be connective tissue fibrosis, and its consequent modification during therapy, is a daily experience for most manual therapists. The aim of this study was to evaluate the time required to modify a palpatory sensation of fibrosis of the fascia in correlation with changes in levels of patient discomfort in 40 subjects with low back pain utilizing the Fascial Manipulation technique. This study evidenced, for the first time, that the time required to modify an apparent fascial density differs in accordance with differences in characteristics of the subjects and of the symptoms. In particular, the mean time to halve the pain was 3.24 min; however, in those subjects with symptoms present from less than 3 months (sub-acute) the mean time was lesser (2.58 min) with respect to the chronic patients (3.29 min). Statistically relevant (p < 0.05) differences were also evidenced between the specific points treated.