The Freeze Response

By Heather Allen, MS, PT

When we think about our health or safety being threatened, we remember learning about the fight or flight response. The choice being to stay and fight what is threatening us or run in an effort to save ourselves. But what if the trauma is something that we cannot fight or run from? What if the trauma is something like a car accident that we had no chance to avoid, or a major surgery we had to undergo? What do you think the body's response might be then? Here is where I would like to introduce you to the concept of the freeze response.

The freeze response is what occurs at the moment of trauma. In an effort to cope with the event we dissociate or separate ourselves from it. In other words, the trauma is too overwhelming to deal with on a conscious level so the memory gets locked into both our mind and body on a subconscious level. What this means for our bodies is that at the time of distress, our nervous system gets stuck in a state of hyper arousal leaving our muscles in a tight and guarded state (the freeze pattern). Disconnected from the event, we have no awareness of the muscular tension that is trapped and therefore no conscious ability to change it. Over time this leads to a loss in range of motion, muscular and fascial restrictions, and intensifying pain.

The myofascial restrictions that develop as a result of this moment of trauma do not show on standardized medical tests such as X-rays and MRI's. If these myofascial restrictions go undetected, the freeze pattern will be missed or misdiagnosed by healthcare. Many patients are referred for therapy where treatment is typically focused on symptoms alone. This explains why in many cases of chronic pain, results achieved with the traditional treatment methods of modalities, stretching and exercise are poor or temporary at best.

Myofascial release allows for the identification and treatment of these underlying restrictions and patterns. Using the unwinding, or movement component of myofascial work, the patient can be moved into these significant positions of trauma. Once there, the tissue memory (or freeze pattern) of the trauma can be freed allowing for a structural release of the restricted tissue. This release allows for increased flexibility and range of motion, relief of tension on pain sensitive structures like the spine and nerves, and eventually the elimination of symptoms.