I’ve had persistent back pain for about six months. It’s been so long I’m not positive when the back pain started, but I am positive that after using myofascial release and light therapy together, my back pain is gone.
Since I experienced this amazing transformation, I wanted to learn more about how these two tools work together so I could understand what’s going on in my body and pass on what I‘ve learned to you.
This article explains the science behind myofascial release (MFR) and red light therapy (RLT), also known as photobiomodulation, when used in tandem, how to use these two tools, and their benefits individually.
I’ve not written this article alone! I teamed up with Chris Marshall, Mary Lee, and Aaron Rogers, who co-authored this article with me. Chris Marshall is an experienced health and fitness writer and has a Master’s in Sports Science from Loughborough University. Mary Lee is a stretch and flexibility coach and she designed a myofascial release device after suffering fascial pain in her neck and shoulder. Aaron Rogers is a photobiomodulation pro and has a Master’s in Photonics Technologies from Tampere University. Through this article, you can expect their incredible insights into these exciting technologies.
Before we get into how myofascial release and red light therapy work together, let’s introduce the two tools and what they’re good for individually.
Understanding Myofascial Release
Let’s start with myofascial release.
What is Myofascial Release?
Myofascial Release (MFR) is a hands-on, manual therapy technique used to relieve tension and restrictions in the fascia (see where it gets its name?) I’ll explain fascia in a moment.
The MFR therapy involves applying sustained pressure to areas of fascial tightness to improve mobility, reduce pain, and restore function.
Unlike traditional massage, MFR targets myofascial trigger points and adhesions to release chronic patterns of tension. With MFR, you identify a trigger point and allow pressure to work for you. You don’t need to massage.
What is Fascia?
Fascia is a connective tissue network that surrounds and supports muscles, bones, and organs.
When healthy, the fascia is flexible and allows smooth, pain-free movement.
However, dysfunction in the fascia can lead to chronic pain, reduced mobility, and tension throughout the body. I mentioned my back pain earlier. When my fascia was dysfunctional, I had backache constantly, across my lower back. It was extremely uncomfortable.
Although fascia is a new concept to many (it was to me!) you might find your more familiar with it than you thought.
You will be familiar with muscle knots—those tight, sensitive spots that can make your muscles feel stiff or sore. What you may not realize is that these knots often form in the fascia, not just the muscle itself.
So, when you go for a massage, and the masseuse works on a knot, there’s every chance this knot has occurred in your fascia.
Think of fascia as a thin, stretchy web that wraps around your muscles, much like a cling film around food. When it’s healthy, it’s smooth and pliable, allowing your muscles to move freely. But when fascia becomes tight or restricted—whether due to stress, poor posture, or injury—it can bunch up, stick together, or form adhesions, creating those painful knots.
How myofascial release can reduce pain.
In my experience, the main way myofascial release reduced pain was by breaking up knots in my back and hips. I share more about this below, but in short, knots in the fascia (and the muscle itself) reduced movement, and the tightness caused short, sharp pains when I stretched (even putting socks on!)
I wanted to give you a more educated steer on how myofascial release works, so I asked Mary Lee to help me here!
Releasing Fascial Restrictions
Tight or stuck fascia can pull on muscles and nerves, creating chronic pain and stiffness.
MFR gently stretches and loosens adhesions, allowing tissues to move more freely and reducing discomfort.
Reducing Muscle Knots and Trigger Points
Myofascial trigger points, often felt as muscle knots, can cause localized and referred pain.
Applying MFR helps break up these knots, relaxing tense muscles and relieving pain.
Enhancing Blood Flow and Oxygenation
Restricted fascia can impair circulation, leading to stiffness and poor healing.
MFR promotes better blood flow, bringing more oxygen and nutrients to the tissues, which helps reduce pain and speed up recovery.
Decreasing Nerve Compression
Tight fascia can press on nerves, causing tingling, numbness, or radiating pain (e.g., sciatica or carpal tunnel syndrome).
By releasing fascial tightness, MFR helps reduce nerve pressure, leading to pain relief.
Improving Mobility and Flexibility
Stiff fascia can limit movement and create compensatory pain patterns in the body.
MFR restores flexibility, allowing muscles and joints to move without restriction or discomfort.
Lowering Stress and Tension-Related Pain
Chronic stress can lead to tight, rigid fascia, contributing to headaches, neck, and back pain.
MFR activates the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation and reducing tension-related pain.
Understanding Light Therapy
And now let’s understand red light therapy.
What is Light Therapy?
Red light therapy, also known as photobiomodulation, is a non-invasive therapeutic treatment that uses red and near-infrared light to stimulate different cellular processes within the body. The light is applied to the skin at specific wavelengths, usually ranging from 600 to 1000 nanometers (nm).
Once absorbed by the skin and underlying tissues, the light stimulates several physiological responses designed to promote tissue healing and reduce inflammation and discomfort. This is mainly thought to happen in the mitochondria (known as the powerhouse of the cells).
Among other benefits, this process can stimulate collagen production, enhance circulation, and improve blood flow. These benefits can help your body recover from mild pain, accelerate muscle healing, and more.
Red light therapy comes in different forms. You might have seen large red light panels in physical therapy clinics or wellness centers, or maybe you’ve seen smaller devices like Kineon’s Move+.
One key feature of LED-based red light therapy is its beam angle—the way the light disperses as it’s emitted. Unlike lasers, which focus light on a single point, LEDs spread light over a wider area, allowing for broader coverage and effective pain relief across muscles and joints rather than just a single spot.
How red light therapy can reduce pain.
Red light therapy has gained significant attention for its potential to help treat several acute and chronic pain-related conditions. It works mainly at a molecular level, with the light stimulating several cellular processes and physiological responses.
Each of these is designed to improve general function and reduce discomfort. Here are three of the main mechanisms.
Improves blood flow
Red light therapy stimulates vasodilation, meaning it widens blood vessels. This increased blood flow can help deliver vital oxygen and nutrients to tissues while increasing the removal of harmful toxins and waste products
Put together, this may accelerate the recovery of damaged tissues and reduce potential soreness and the associated discomfort.
Reduces Inflammation
Red light therapy may help reduce inflammation by modulating key inflammatory pathways and markers. When absorbed by the cells, the light energy increases the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines while lowering the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
This reduction in oxidative stress and with it, inflammation, may help to reduce the discomfort and swelling commonly associated with several inflammatory conditions.
Enhances Mitochondrial Function
The mitochondria, also known as the powerhouse of the cells, are the key energy producers. They generate energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate or ATP. This energy helps support important cellular processes, tissue functions, and pain perception.
Red light therapy stimulates the mitochondria to produce more ATP. This increased activity and ATP production can improve the body's recovery processes and promote faster healing, helping to reduce the associated discomfort.
Increases Cellular Repair
Fibroblasts are cells within our body that produce collagen among other extracellular components. Collagen provides vital structural support and strength to tissues, helping them maintain their integrity and function.
Red light therapy stimulates the fibroblasts to produce more collagen, accelerating the repair of damaged cells and tissues, for example when healing a wound. This enhanced cellular repair may help reduce the likelihood of scarring and potential discomfort.
Step-by-Step Guide to Using Myofascial Release and Light Therapy Together
This guide has been put together by Relief+ product developer Mary Lee and Aaron Rogers. Lee is also a stretch and flexibility coach, so she knows a lot about muscles, recovery, and optimizing performance.
Rogers is a photobiomodulation expert.
Lee details how to use a myofascial release tool and red light therapy device together for optimal results, starting with the Relief+ and myofascial release.
Step 1: Identify your discomfort.
Spend a moment identifying the areas where you typically feel the most discomfort. If you press your fingers onto your muscles, you may be able to feel knots. These are the trigger points that you’ll be targeting.
Step 2: Position your body onto your myofascial release tool.
If you’re using the Relief+, you can put it on the floor and then lay your body on top of it, adjusting as needed to put pressure on the knots. For example, if you’re experiencing pain in your legs, you might rest a leg on the tool and allow gravity to pull your body onto the device, allowing the pressure to work its magic.
You can increase pressure by adding more weight, such as adding one leg on top of the other.
The goal with myofascial release is to stay in one space, not to rock or massage. This is because it’s the sustained pressure that breaks up the muscle tension and “tells” the muscle that it’s ok to relax. You can follow the myofascial release with self-massage, but make sure to start with the static pressure.
Step 3: Know when to stop
You can tune into your body’s signals for when you need to stop. Start with sessions that are as short as 5-10 seconds, and build up to 30 seconds to 2 minutes of sustained pressure. Make sure to take deep breaths to help your body relax. Myofascial release may be uncomfortable, but it shouldn’t be painful. Listen to your body if you need to adjust the position or take a break.
Once you’re comfortable you’ve completed your myofascial release, you can dive in with red light therapy. If you’re using the Move+, here are Aaron Rogers’ recommendations.
Step 4: Start by Scaling Your Pain
Now you’ve completed your myofascial release, scale your pain on a scale of one to ten. You want to benchmark how you feel now and then how you’ll feel at the end of the treatment. Move your joint or the area where you experience pain and see if there’s any clicking of stiffness. Make a mental note of how it feels to move.
Step 5: Get Comfortable and Set Up the Device
Find yourself a comfortable position where you can sit for a treatment lasting around fifteen minutes.
Set up the device by removing it from the box, mounting nodes into the strap, and adjusting the strap so it’s long enough for your body part.
Bring the strap around your body wherever you’re experiencing pain, and tighten the strap. It should feel a little tight but comfortable.
Turn one module on. This should turn on all modules.
If you want to adjust the time, press and hold the power button.
Step 6: Complete Your Treatment
Sit back and relax while the red light therapy does its work. After the treatment, consider your pain levels and remember the scale from earlier. How do you feel now?
How Myofascial Release and Light Therapy Complement Each Other
Targeting Different Aspects of Musculoskeletal Health
Myofascial release and red light therapy have different but complementary roles.
Myofascial release focuses on the mechanical manipulation of fascia and connective tissue to:
- Reduce restrictions and adhesions
- Improve range of motion
- Alleviate chronic pain and tension
Red light therapy works at a cellular level to
- Stimulate mitochondrial activity
- Increase ATP production
- Reduce oxidative stress
- Increase blood flow which may help with inflammation.
Together, these support both macro (tissue-level) and micro (cellular-level) healing.
Enhanced Circulation and Lymphatic Flow
Myofascial release helps the body’s circulatory and lymphatic drainage system. You can use myofascial release to flush out metabolic waste from tissue.
One of the major benefits of light therapy is the release of nitric oxide (NO) from cells. NO is a natural vasodilator — it relaxes and widens blood vessels, allowing more blood to flow through.
By enhancing circulation and opening the lymphatic draining system, MFR helps light therapy.
Fascia Responds to Light
Fascia contains chromophores which are molecules that absorb light, particularly near-infrared wavelengths.
After MFR loosens the fascia, light can penetrate more effectively and deeply, amplifying its biological effects.
Myofascial Release and Light Therapy Success Story
I already mentioned this in the intro, but I’d been suffering from ongoing back aches and sharp pains. I suspected the pain was in my sacroiliac joints.
When Kineon released the Relief+, a myofascial release tool, I was keen to try it with my Move+ (her at-home red light therapy device) to see if it eased the discomfort.
Since using the Relief+ alongside the Move+ I have experienced significant decreases in pain. I’ve had back pain for so long that I can’t remember when it started. I think it was about August 2024. I tried a lot to get to the bottom of the pain: resting, walking more, reducing my sports, changing my mattress, but nothing worked.
In December, I went for a massage for the first time and was amazed that it actually helped reduce the pain. The masseuse told me that there was a significant knot that she used her elbow to massage!
All of this was before the release of the Relief+.
I got a bit of relief from the massage for a week or two, and I was thrilled. My long-term plan was to keep paying £55 a month for massages; it was a worthy investment for my health but expensive.
As a team member at Kineon, I got to sit through the demonstration of the Relief+ and knew that I had to try it. The Relief+ product developer, Mary Lee, explained trigger and pressure points and how to use the device. Her approach reassured me that I could use my inner understanding of my body and what it needs to identify my own trigger points.
My pain was in my lower back, I had a lower back ache all day, every day. It was so uncomfortable. I was also experiencing short sharp pains at the back of my hips when doing things like bending over, tying shoe laces, even putting on socks, or sometimes just moving into a new position while seated. It was demoralizing because I am only 34, and until this point, I had never experienced persistent back pain. Every morning, I woke up to pain. As I changed position first thing, I was in significant pain. My introduction to every single day was pain, and that is the main thing that got me down.
My Relief+ arrived, and I tried it the same night. I knew what to do from Mary’s directions. I placed the myofascial release tool where I was experiencing pain when I moved and the exact spot my masseuse worked on. I lay on the device, sometimes with my full body weight, and sometimes I alleviated the pressure. It does get a bit uncomfortable. I breathed through the discomfort as the pressure did its magic.
To be honest, I didn’t time how long it took, less than 15 minutes, I think! I just stopped when I felt like I’d had enough. Then, I rolled onto my stomach and used the Move+, a red light therapy device.
I placed the device on my sacroiliac joints, which is where I seem to get sharp bouts of pain. I played with my phone for 15 minutes while the red light did its work. The device bleeped when it was completed. It was easy.
I went to bed that night, woke up, and didn’t have any back pain at all.
I know it sounds unbelievable, but this is what happened to me. I suppose it makes sense that the Relief+ worked because the pressure applied by the masseuse worked, but the pain returned after about two weeks.
With the Relief+ on my shelf in the living room, I can just pull it down and keep on top of the discomfort while watching the TV in the evening. My masseuse had said that I might need to rely on what she called ‘maintenance massages,’ but with Relief+, I can now manage this at home at no additional costs.
Don’t get me wrong, I found the benefits of massage great, so I might keep them up, but it’s freeing to know that I don’t have to pay that £55 per month to be pain-free; it’s more of a choice that I can do it if I want to.
Safety Considerations Using Myofascial Release and Red Light Therapy
Use The Correct Myofascial Release Technique
Myofascial release should be performed using the correct techniques. This includes applying the right amount of pressure to the correct target area.
Excessive pressure and incorrect positioning may lead to muscle soreness, bruising, and in some cases, injury. If unsure, follow a reputable guide or speak to a qualified professional.
Follow The Correct Red Light Therapy Dosage Guidelines
Before using any type of red light therapy, it’s important to first read the manufacturer's instructions. In this, they should detail the correct usage guidelines and suggested dosing times and frequency depending on the condition and treatment area. If you’re unsure, you should consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Incorrect use or overuse may lead to skin irritation, sensitivity, and an increased risk of side effects.
Consult A Qualified Healthcare Professional First
Before starting any new treatment, it’s vital that you consult a qualified healthcare professional first. This includes myofascial release and red light therapy.
During the consultation, they will check for existing medical conditions or current medications that may contradict the usage of both treatments. This may include cardiovascular issues, skin conditions, and certain types of cancer.
After the consultation, a risk assessment will be performed to check whether both treatments can be safely carried out together.
Check For Skin Sensitivities And Reactions
Certain individuals may have skin sensitivities. This can cause their skin to react differently to normal when a stimulus is applied to it. This includes creams, lotions, the sun, and the light from red light therapy.
Individuals who are particularly sensitive to light may experience skin redness, irritation, and general discomfort. Therefore, ensure you test a small patch of skin first before performing the full treatment. If there is no adverse reaction, you’re good to go.
Ensure The Device/ Tool You’re Using Is Fit For Purpose
In the case of red light therapy, you need to use either a portable device or a static machine. Before using them, check them for signs of any defects or faults. This may include damage, software issues, or anything unusual. If you’re unsure, consult the manufacturer before using it.
With myofascial release, a tool like the Relief+ allows deeper, targeted pressure. Before using, ensure you check the tool to make sure it still functions as intended. This includes the material, structure, and intended function.
Avoid Vigorous Exercise Following Treatment
When performing red light therapy with myofascial release, your body will need a period of time to recover. Because of this, it may be more sensitive before going back to normal.
Therefore, avoid very vigorous exercise or activity in the immediate period following both treatments. Normal gym exercise or general sporting activity is totally fine. In this case, myofascial release and red light therapy can be performed before, after, or even during your sessions as needed.
Get Started with Myofascial Release and Light Therapy
Combining myofascial release and light therapy blends several powerful therapeutic mechanisms, giving you an effective complementary approach. Both methods are designed to enhance muscle recovery, improve flexibility, and increase overall well-being and mobility.
Red light therapy works at a cellular level to increase blood flow, improve tissue repair, and reduce inflammation. Myofascial release targets the fascial trigger points, helping to reduce potential discomfort, enhance function, and restore mobility.
Using these methods together may enhance their beneficial effects. Red light therapy can increase blood flow and reduce tension, effectively priming the muscle for myofascial release. This combination gives you a practical, non-invasive way to improve mobility and general wellness.
For more articles on myofascial release, read:
- Get Comfortable with Myofascial Release With This Comprehensive Guide to Myofascial Release
- Massage Guns vs. Myofascial Release Tools: Which Is Better?
- Myofascial Trigger Points and the Skill of Releasing Them Yourself Explained
- Foam Rolling isn't Myofascial Release: Understanding the Differences Between Foam Rolling and Myofascial Release
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