Counterstrain practitioners remove painful, reflexive tissue contractions from the body via a gentle hands-on process of slackening or decompressing the involved structures. The treatments are completely painless making them a viable option for even the most painful and delicate cases. Counterstrain’s powerful, multi-system effects occur from a deactivation of deep fascial pain receptors (nociceptors) which maintain the body’s soft tissues in a persistent guarded or “over-protective” state. During Counterstrain treatments, there is a palpable, often visible reduction in localized tissue edema. The combination of metabolite drainage and proprioceptive realignment gives Counterstrain unparalleled carry-over. Many patients report lasting relief of chronic conditions after only one or two treatment sessions—a testament to how Counterstrain works.In addition to vastly increasing the specificity, scope, and number of Counterstrain techniques, Brian Tuckey, PT, OCS, JSCCI, developed Fascial Counterstrain along with a remarkably powerful diagnostic tool called the cranial scan. This cranial motion test, developed and refined over the last 15 years, allows practitioners to rapidly identify dysfunctional systems and regions of the body in under sixty seconds. For example, a motion test of the occipitomastoid suture will quickly allow a practitioner to identify any existing dysfunctions of the autonomic nervous system.Counterstrain embraces the concepts of holistic and osteopathic medicine. By normalizing blood flow, muscular tension, vascular drainage, and neural input, Counterstrain maximizes the body’s intrinsic healing capacity. Multi-system diagnosis and manipulation is the key to correcting chronic and acute conditions of all types. This treatment model allows practitioners to identify and correct the source of their patient’s pain and disability, not just their symptoms. For more information on how Counterstrain works, see Strain Counterstrain from Rational Manual Therapies by Randall Kusunose, PT, OCS, JSCCI, or Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment: Counterstrain/FPR Procedure by Adithi Vemuri and Kiyomi K. Goto For a deeper dive into Counterstrain rationale, see Brian Tuckey’s hypothesis on idiopathic pain syndromes