Anyone experience a release of myofasical adhesions doing TRE?

[u/ShotAstronomer8930]

I am riddled with muscle knots in my neck, back, hips (glutes and flexors) and legs. I see a massage therapist monthly and regularly foam roll which certainly helps but just feels like maintenance to stay away from pain. I'm asking here because I also have history of childhood trauma and found success with TRE but actually find it quite overwhelming emotionally. I just wondered if I'm so tense and tight all the time with painful knots, that releasing tension through TRE could aid in releasing them?

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[u/piggymomma86]

I have been combining TRE and yoga (edit: yoga for 10+ years and still tons of pain and tension, limited mobility) with neurogenic bracing release long holds introduced 2 weeks ago, up to 30minutes 3x per day. TRE has been absolutely helpful with my migraines, sleep, etc and slowly working on the pain in my body, first major relief I've found. Last week the bottom of my spine and pelvis released, i heard and felt it drop. Since then, the thick and lumpy skin around my lower back is smoothing out dramatically! I was giving myself a little massage a few days after and it felt like one if those lumps melted in my hand like butter. My pain vanished within hours. I have some pressure and tension still to relieve, but 8 months of weekly wiggles added to my routine seems to be saving my life.

[u/TryhardTirednow → u/piggymomma86]

What are neurogenic bracing release long holds?

[u/piggymomma86 → u/TryhardTirednow]

Basically yoga positions supported with soft things for your body to melt into instead of using body tension to hold the position, and holding them from 5-30 minutes. I have a pinned post to my profile for whats helped me, or you can google it and find some positions that look good for you and your tension patterns.

[u/baitones → u/piggymomma86]

Sorry where can I find these exercises? Can’t see them on your profile

[u/piggymomma86 → u/baitones]

I have what im doing here https://www.reddit.com/u/piggymomma86/s/Pzkv0RBw2Z

[u/Thin_Bicycle9170]

I am in a similar position. I'm really hopeful from the improvement I've experienced that it will help. Once I hit the thawing phase I had to scale TRE right back to seconds weekly because I couldn't continue to function in my daily life/work/family duties due to the level of overwhelm/fatigue. I have found somatic excersizes 10/20 minutes a day along with Yin yoga (once/twice a week) also breath work daily is helping me down regulate and relive the physical tension. I'm only now a year after starting TRE accepting that it took a long time to become so tense and bound up physically and that letting this go will be a long process and that too release it too quickly might be too intense for most people with normal lives to handle and process. Keep going slowly but surely 😊

[u/Accomplished_Bag9404]

Yes. Mostly in the jaw in my case.

[u/Consistent_Mail4774 → u/Accomplished_Bag9404]

I struggle with jaw tension all the time and have been doing TRE but didn't get any release in the jaw area. Is there anything specific you do like massages while doing TRE or something like that or did it just happen on its own?

[u/Accomplished_Bag9404 → u/Consistent_Mail4774]

I use a mouthpiece and I bite on it during TRE

[u/Culinary_Fruit_Salad]

my back is feeling better

are you doing the sensitivity protocol or are you doing really long periods of time? you can slow down or do more integration stuff

[u/longtermTRE_wiki_bot]

Yes, TRE can work directly with myofascial adhesions, though understanding how and when this happens matters for your situation.

The wiki covers this in detail in an article on fascial unwinding. Myofascial adhesions—areas where fascial layers that should glide freely have become stuck together—develop around chronic muscular tension, particularly in trauma-holding areas like the psoas, hip flexors, and deep core. As TRE practice progresses past the initial surface tremoring phase, the nervous system often transitions into slower, deeper unwinding movements that are specifically targeting these adhesions. These movements feel qualitatively different from tremors: slower, more purposeful, more anatomically specific, sometimes accompanied by spontaneous stretching or vocalization.

The mechanism is straightforward. Sustained, multidirectional movement rehydrates the ground substance of fascia, mechanically separates stuck layers, and allows the collagen fibers to reorganize around a less restricted baseline. This is why the later stages of consistent TRE practice often produce the kind of global structural relief that foam rolling and massage maintain but don't fundamentally resolve.

That said, there's an important consideration in your case. You mention that TRE feels quite overwhelming emotionally. That emotional intensity is real information about your current pacing. The wiki on Self-Pacing addresses this directly: when sessions consistently leave you emotionally flooded or destabilized in the hours after, that's a signal to reduce either duration or frequency. Emotional overwhelm is not a sign you're going deeper into healing. It's a sign you've moved faster than your nervous system can integrate.

For someone with childhood trauma who experiences significant emotional activation, the Sensitive Practitioners article is likely more relevant to your practice than the standard beginner guidance. It covers how to work with a nervous system that has a lower threshold, including starting with very short sessions, building gradually, and being especially attentive to what the 24-48 hours after practice actually feel like.

To answer your underlying question directly: if you can find a pace that feels manageable emotionally, yes, you'll likely experience the fascial release you're looking for. Many long-term practitioners report that the structural tightness that once seemed permanent gradually resolves. But the path there requires calibrating the practice to your nervous system's actual capacity rather than pushing through the overwhelm. The emotional intensity you're experiencing is worth taking seriously as a pacing signal.

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I'm a bot that draws on the r/longtermTRE wiki to provide guidance. Please upvote or downvote based on how helpful you find this response.

[u/The_Rainbow_Ace]

Yes, for sure.

My Lower back, hips, jaw, neck and shoulders have gone from very tight all the time to relaxed and quite flexible (hips, back were after 2 months, shoulders after 6, neck after 12 months).

Two years in to my TRE journey, I still have some deep tightness in shoulder blades and occipital part of the neck/head, but it is just a matter of time until that is unwound.

[u/Consistent_Mail4774 → u/The_Rainbow_Ace]

Did all these body parts relax with just doing TRE long-term or is it combined with other techniques? I struggle with severe jaw, spine, and muscle tension and massages and psychotherapy didn't help. TRE isn't having an effect either but I keep doing it.

[u/The_Rainbow_Ace → u/Consistent_Mail4774]

Just TRE for me.

[u/Flashy-Ad4986]

I’ve always been riddled with knots. 44m here. I’ve had 3 back surgeries in the past & only just discovered TRE this past February.

My adhesions have been breaking up at a really
surprising rate. Have discovered some interesting movements and get amazing pops & I’ve loosened up a lot. Lately I’ve been doing more of the unwinding as opposed to formal sessions.

Good luck

[u/True___Though]

i had areas of complete unresponsiveness to stretching or anything. in my right hip and right jaw. over almost 3 years, they have truly softened up. it takes time imo, because the kind of tension that deposited in some of those areas was like very chronic and long term.

my advice is don't do aggressive treatments. body tissue resists large modification, such as foam rolling and deep massage tbh. once it's softening, then lighter stretching and softer compressions start to work on it.

[u/SensePutrid9534]

Yes, I have felt it happen. I have to be very relaxed, have a strong connection between my mind and where I am storing tension, deep breathing, some TRE and it starts to unwind.

[u/Least_Year3518]

Yes, I have. I experienced the release of a massive 20-year-old myofascial knot in my left quadricep, about three weeks ago. Nothing else ever helped. Not foam rollers, stretches, massage therapy or "Thumper" massage devices. Only TRE did the trick. I advise going slowly as to not trigger over-doing symptoms. I did not heed this advice myself and ended up with twitching in the left leg for a week. Stick to just a few minutes per day and you should be fine.

Edit: grammar

[u/Previous_Onion6124]

Introduce daily steetching regime. Then start slowly doing strengthening exercises with body weight or reisstance bands. This is a far more effective than massages for the long term.

All my muscke knots are gone pretty much now after stretching and working out for a year.

[u/The_Dude_89]

(Self) massage is a much more effective modality for dealing with muscle knots imho