Equine Myofascial Release - More than just a transient effect? Or more feel good massage stuff?

[FatCatFarm]

Someone recently recommended myofascial release for my horse but the cost is $200 a session. Not sure I’m a true believer. A good massage certainly feels good but I’m dubious about any lasting effect; I realize this is a tad more involved. Have had chiro work done, and basically the same take-away unless I knew something was off kilter, like the youngster who sat down hard on his tailbone and had a wry tail as a result – which a chiro was able to straighten back out for him.

In this horse, he’s always been a little sticky in the stifle on the right side (estrone helps) and my vet who has flexed him and found no lameness, said to just get him fit and through. He’s big, 17hds, so that’s a real undertaking and will take time. I just hate to spend money that I might as well set on fire. There’s enough of that with horses in general as it is without going looking for a new way to do it.

[Jungle_Monkey]

My horsie massage does it as part of a normal massage if it’s needed but she is also trained in it, Bowen and Cranio Sacral. No extra charge. Good results. My mare loves it and responds really well to it. I notice a difference when I ride after they’ve been worked on.

[findeight]

200 is a lot of money for an unproven technique from a (probably) unlicensed practitioner.

[Jungle_Monkey]

Sorry, meant to mention that I definitely do not pay $200.

[LilyandBaron]

I’m a huge fan of myofascial release, for horses and myself. In humans, it’s well-accepted as a form of occupational therapy, and many top sports teams have personnel on staff that practice this technique. I do not pay $200, though, but my area doesn’t have a crazy high cost of living, either. I have found it far more helpful than chiropractic. One key, though - you should not need more than a few visits, max 3-4. If it’s not improving things at that point, it’s not working. I’ve only done it once at a time for my mare. Most recent example was her moving really short, but not lame on one leg, in a lesson. Just really reluctant to move out. I knew it wasn’t behavioral - not her go-to protest. She had spooked the week before, and I’d been thrown forward in the saddle. She was tight in the shoulder/neck as a result, one treatment and some follow-up stretches/massages for me to use, and we were back to normal. I pay $65-$95, depending on the practitioner, for one hour (more or less - they treat the problem, not watch the clock). For chiro, I paid $75-$100 per session, so similar costs, way better outcomes with myofascial.

[Scribbler]

How is myofascial release different from a regular deep tissue body massage? Would a deep tissue massage effectively release the fascia as well as anything else? Because to get to the muscles, you are certainly working on the fascia, the connecting tissue under the skin.

[bt1]

You are affecting the fascia to some extent when you work the deeper muscles…but there is a whole nother set of moves used to release the fascia in humans so don’t see why it would be different in humans. Fascia is kinda like saran wrap, you can move it and what is under it by manipulating it one way and stretch it by manipulating it a different way.

[LilyandBaron]

@Scribbler

How is myofascial release different from a regular deep tissue body massage? Would a deep tissue massage effectively release the fascia as well as anything else? Because to get to the muscles, you are certainly working on the fascia, the connecting tissue under the skin.

Yes, it’s quite a different technique. I’ve not had success with any other form of massage equivalent to myofascial. Other massages may be relaxing/spa-like at times, but myofascial seems more like chiropractic of the muscles, if that makes sense?

[poltroon]

Done right by someone who knows what they are doing, I think it is a very helpful treatment, and can have dramatic positive results in certain cases, especially for clear situations of muscle injury.

The number of people who offer it far exceeds the number of people who are really good at it.

I like to see someone with years of human experience, not someone who just went to some six week horse certificate course.

For $200/hr the person should either be driving a long way to come to you or should have a national/international resume/reputation, the equivalent of Jack Meagher himself. I would pay that for one or two sessions from someone extraordinary, because it can be that valuable, but not for an ordinary local person.

This kind of work is more like physical therapy than like a spa/relaxing massage.

[FatCatFarm]

My understanding is that it is for the session, however long that lasts, usually a couple of hours. Still, it’s pricey. That and this is more biomechanical I think than muscular. I’ve had someone else recommended to me who is $100 which is more in line with expectation. Still mulling it over.

[Scribbler]

@poltroon

Done right by someone who knows what they are doing, I think it is a very helpful treatment, and can have dramatic positive results in certain cases, especially for clear situations of muscle injury.

The number of people who offer it far exceeds the number of people who are really good at it.

I like to see someone with years of human experience, not someone who just went to some six week horse certificate course.

For $200/hr the person should either be driving a long way to come to you or should have a national/international resume/reputation, the equivalent of Jack Meagher himself. I would pay that for one or two sessions from someone extraordinary, because it can be that valuable, but not for an ordinary local person.

This kind of work is more like physical therapy than like a spa/relaxing massage.

My massage therapy (deep muscle massage) is not spalike or relaxing!

[IPEsq]

I sometimes use a certified Rolfer who also works on horses. That is more fascial and alignment type work. My horse is kind of meh about massage. Sometimes likes it, most of the time doesn’t. He likes acupuncture, chiropractic, this kind of dynamic chiropractic like stretching stuff one practitioner does, but he LOVES Rolfing. Usually it takes him a while to warm up to anyone touching him, but not for Rolfing. The Rolfer isn’t the cheapest of all of his bodyworkers, but she can get into his abdominal area, groin area, and SI. Most others (myself included) who try to touch his barrel or groin get a lifted rear hoof and not in a good way. The chiropractor can do a little with his ribs mostly because she does it up high and is quick. He will also let the Rolfer really get into the fascia in his neck, whereas the only other neck work he tolerates is acupuncture and e-stim. He totally goes to sleep, so I’ve become a believer. I’ve also gotten it done on myself, and I can’t really describe how it’s different from massage, but I seem to get longer lasting results, which has been helpful because I put myself on the back burner for a long time while I wrote a lot of checks to the vet. I’m only marginally sound, so I need my maintenance too!

[FatCatFarm]

I’ve continued to research equine massage therapists in my area and everyone seems to have a different certification. That and they charge more than I make in an hour with 25+ years of experience. Not to mention, all the new wave, hocus pocus therapy they tout like cold lasers, Kinesiology tape, and other “energy work” not proven to have any benefit whatsoever. There’s even one who advertises crystals and aromatherapy!

I’ve gotten three recommendations at three different price points; really expensive, moderately expensive and reasonable. Reasonable doesn’t do myofacial work which I am still on the fence about even being necessary, so I’m going to start there and we’ll see. Miss Moderately priced does incorporate myofacial bodywork on both horses and people for $100 a pop. I think the going rate for human massage sessions is what, $70. Miss Reasonable is $65 for a horse. Of course they all have additional “add-on” therapies.

[SonnysMom]

I think it is hard to compare prices between human massage therapists and horse ones. Where I go for my massage they have a patient every hour and the patient comes to them. I admit they then have a facility they pay for. My horse massage therapist has travel time and likely won’t have any or many back to back appointments at the same facility. Generally she spends more than an hour with my horse compared to 50 minutes for the human MT. Horse MT doesn’t have a facility to pay for but she has a car that she is putting a huge amount of miles on so it depreciates quickly. I think many horse MTs need to charge more per massage since they cannot do as many in a day as a human MT can. Part of their fee is the travel time where most human MTs don’t have any travel time since we go to them.

My horse MT uses a lot of pressure point/accupressure type massage. My horse chiropractor actually does a lot of prep before she does the adjustment. She seems to do a lot of myofacial release and accupressure as part of that prep. My chiro sells a grooming tool called Posture Prep. I use it to help maintain Carson between sessions. It comes with an instruction book and she has videos on her website. Most of the focus is to loosen up the skin from the muscle. Lots of grooming across the muscle fibers and using the hard curry on the legs to release there too.
I rather like it as a basic curry even if I am not taking the time for his longer massage grooming. He has a love/hate relationship with it. There are parts of his body he really leans into it and others he tells me he doesn’t like it.

[Scribbler]

Our bodywork practitioners schedule multiple appointments on one day at our barn.

I think driving a car is cheaper than renting an office suite for several thousand a month. You could buy a new car every year plus car isurance for the cost of a year’s rental in a central area.

Horse MT tend to have less stringent qualifications than human RMT at least here.

Also human RMT often have patients with extended medical insurance.

I wouldn’t pay my horse MT more than my human RMT charges.

[Jungle_Monkey]

$100 for a session is reasonable for quality and good references. The other massage therapist I use for deep tissue is $95. Can you get references?

I am very careful about who I use because they can really mess your horse up. Careful if they want to do stretches with your horse.

[FatCatFarm]

Each one was recommended by someone I know personally so I really wouldn’t have any qualms about having any of the three out. The three friends vary from New-Agey/Holistic eventer who goes for chiro and even laser pulse therapy, a foxhunter, and a friend who shows reining horses and does some training on the side, respectively. He started my youngest horse under saddle for me. Just to give you an overview.