OMAHA, Neb. -- Wish you could get that old athletic injury under control? Suffering from chronic fatigue? Trying to recover from a car accident? Or maybe you're seeking a little inner peace.

Practitioners of myofascial release think they can help.

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SLIDESHOW MFR Techniques John Barnes' Web Site

MFR is massage, but it isn't what you'd expect from a day at the spa or a visit to a physical therapist. It's based on the idea that smoothing out the fascia in a human body will clear up a lot of common problems.

What's fascia?

John Barnes, the developer of myofascial release, describes it this way on his Web site: "Fascia is very densely woven, covering and interpenetrating every muscle, bone, nerve, artery and vein as well as all of our internal organs including the heart, lungs, brain and spinal cord. The most interesting aspect of the fascial system is that it is not just a system of separate coverings. It is actually one structure that exists from head to foot without interruption. In this way you can begin to see that each part of the entire body is connected to every other part by the fascia, like the yarn in a sweater."

And like the yarn in a sweater, the idea goes, if you snag one area, it can snowball into a problem for the whole garment. Twist up one spot in your fascia, and you could hurt your whole body.

"It has helped me to heal, and in my opinion, it is preventive care," said MFR patient Virginia J. Henriksen, of Council Bluffs, Iowa. "It has given me improved health and stamina."

Henriksen had fibromyalgia and headaches. She sought out the care of licensed massage therapist Douglas Lee-Regier, an Omaha practitioner of MFR. She's been seeing Lee-Regier twice a month for about four years. Before MFR, she tried Swedish massage and chiropractic care.

"I found it less soothing than Swedish massage -- what I had normally received. It's much gentler than chiropractic adjustments," Henriksen said.

Lee-Regier has found MFR works well by itself and in concert with other treatments.

"Because myofascial release goes so deep in the cellular structure, it often works well with other things, like chiropractic, change in diet, change in consciousness," Lee-Regier said.

He's had referrals from medical doctors, chiropractors and other therapists.

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At Omaha's Downtown Chiropractic, licensed massage therapist Barb Rost works side-by-side with Dr. Richie Miller, a chiropractor. Miller wanted to add a massage therapist versed in MFR to his staff several years ago, and Rost has been that expert.

"He wanted his patients to have MFR. It helps you hold (chiropractic) adjustments longer and it gets rid of scar tissue," said Rost, who estimates that 90 percent of her clients are car accident victims. "People are very surprised at how much faster they heal."

Lee-Regier runs New Dimensions In Wellness with his wife from his Omaha home. He began his business offering more conventional massage techniques, but the more he learned about MFR, the more he thought he ought to offer it.

"I was having it done to me and ... I could see the changes in my body," Lee-Regier said. "I started introducing it to clients."

Lee-Regier said the therapist starts feeling the fascia release as he or she works with the body. The technique puts the patients through gentle stretching moves with some deep-tissue massage elements and technique called "unwinding."

"Unwinding is undoing previous trauma," said Lee-Regier.

He told the story of one client -- a rodeo cowboy -- who actually fell off the massage table as the trauma from dozens of times being bucked off a bronco started to release throughout his body. Just like in the ring, the cowboy dusted himself off and got back on the table for another go.

Some patients experience emotional unwinding as well.

"I sometimes have thoughts, memories from the past and sadness," Henriksen said. "Mostly I experience inspirational and spiritual thoughts and feelings."

"As we work on the body, emotions do get called up," said Lee-Regier.

The emotion another of Lee-Regier's clients, Mary Davis, experiences is anger. She's mad that so few insurers cover MFR, despite its healing possibilities. Davis conquered fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome with the help of MFR.

"It isn't covered by insurance, which is a crime," Davis said.

Davis said she had MFR performed by a physical therapist, who charged more than $200 for the same therapy Lee-Regier offers for $70. That therapist's MFR was covered, but Lee-Regier's isn't.

Lee-Regier said a few insurers will pay for treatments as part of wellness programs, but most limit the coverage to a few visits. Many flexible spending insurers allow patients to pay for the massage pretax. Lee-Regier offers a sliding payment scale so that more people can have the massage at a price they feel comfortable with.