According to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 50 million Americans live with chronic pain on a daily basis. Of those who suffer from this often limiting—sometimes even debilitating—issue, many have sought out numerous treatment protocols without much lasting success.    

But what some folks don’t realize is that chronic pain can be resolved by treating restrictions in the fascia, connective tissues that surround each physiological structure in the body—from muscles and bones, to organs and nerves. So how can you find long-term relief from potential fascia restrictions?  

Enter: Dr. Eric Winder, the lead practitioner of Gentlebay Chiropractic and a long-time contributor of Natural Awakenings. In this month’s Community Spotlight, Dr. Winder offers his insights on safe, effective, and gentle therapeutic modalities to make healing from chronic pain more accessible—and ultimately, more sustainable.    

Natural Awakenings: I hear that GentleBay Chiropractic is expanding your services to include therapeutic massage. Can you describe this transition and how it came about?  

Dr. Eric Winder: The Neuro-Fascial therapy technique we use, Neuro-Fascial Strain Release (NFSR), is both gentle and effective, which makes it extremely sought-after. But we were at the limit of how many patients Gentlebay could help, so in the past year we hired two more NFSR-trained massage therapists, Haley and Stephen, to join our practice.  

We will also be welcoming another therapist soon, and our new office has enough space to accommodate the increase in appointments. Of course, one bonus of increasing our staff of massage therapists is the unique skills they bring. We can also offer deep tissue and neuromuscular massage, craniosacral therapy, fascial stretching, and more.  

NA: For anyone who might be unfamiliar, can you explain what Neuro-Fascial therapy entails, along with the holistic benefits of combining this modality with chiropractic treatment?   

Dr. Winder: Traditionally, the treatment of fascia (fibrous connective tissue) has focused on mechanical ideas of treating an “adhesion” that restricts tissue movement. Neuro-Fascial Strain Release recognizes the latest research on fascia, which indicates that problems with fascia are more neurological than mechanical in nature.  

Neuro-Fascial Strain Release is gentle—it activates neurologically stiffened fascia to soften without painful and invasive treatment pressure. Patients tend to find this treatment enjoyable and relaxing. They also are thrilled when it offers benefits like chronic pain relief, postural alignment, or enhanced athletic performance.  

NA: How can gentle bodywork treatments, such as Neuro-Fascial therapy, offer sustainable relief from issues like chronic pain or injury, while helping folks invest in their own wellness maintenance and prevent future concerns?   

Dr. Winder: To understand how treatments like Neuro-Fascial Strain Release can help with injuries and chronic pain, it's important to recognize the newest discoveries in fascia research. We are now learning that fascia isn’t only a network of connective tissues—it’s also a body-wide sensory organ, filled with hundreds of millions of nerve endings.  

The sensory part of fascia gives us position sense, which we rely on for coordination, stability, joint alignment, and posture. However, we’re not aware of this position sense in the same way that we notice our vision or hearing because it does not reach the conscious part of our brains. Position sense is subconscious and automatic.  

     Fascia can either stiffen or relax, both of which are controlled by the nervous system. It often stiffens with injury, but it should relax as the injury resolves. Unfortunately, sometimes the fascia can get stuck in its injury response state.  

This stiffness isn’t necessarily due to specific damage or adhesion, but it does cause problems by affecting position sense. Altered position sense can cause muscle weakness or imbalance, joint misalignment, instability, and other issues that can lead to pain anywhere in the body. When we use gentle bodywork therapies like NFSR to restore flexibility to stiff fascia, it restores joint alignment, stability, and muscular balance. This is a highly effective—and usually sustainable—method for treating chronic pain and restoring normal function.  

Patients often ask for wellness visits before I even mention the possibility. After they see how well their bodies start responding to the relief from chronic pain, it just makes sense to get an occasional tune-up to protect against future issues.     

NA: What would you tell someone who has exhausted other forms of treatment and still cannot find lasting relief, but might feel hesitant to seek out chiropractic care?  

Dr. Winder: When someone seeks out a provider for relief, I find the main barrier to trying a new treatment method is the perception of safety and effectiveness. Fortunately, our therapies are extraordinarily safe because we use gentle, hands-on techniques rather than forceful joint manipulation. However, I also want to point out that traditional chiropractic joint manipulation is also quite safe, which is why chiropractic malpractice insurance costs are so low, compared to some other healthcare providers.  

Our practice’s effective results speak for themselves as well. We do minimal advertising because most of our patients come from referrals. Most are referred by other satisfied patients, but doctors, personal trainers, physical therapists, and other healthcare professionals also refer folks to our office based on our success.  

We always refer out any case that we don’t think we can help with; however, the list of issues we can help with is extensive—from headaches and neck stiffness, to knee and ankle pain, to spinal misalignment and pelvic issues, to shoulder, elbow and wrist problems. Due to the neurological nature of fascia, our treatment methods also frequently help issues like vertigo, irritable bowel syndrome, and chronic migraines.  

Eric Winder, D.C., uses gentle manual therapy and rehab techniques to help patients with a wide range of pain and injury problems. Dr. Winder’s office is in the Gulf Gate area of Sarasota. For more information, call 941-957-8390 or visit https://gentlebay.com/