Fascinating Fascia

Fascinating Fascia.

During one of my massage treatments you may have heard me mention fascia, the beautiful spiders web like, multi-dimensional connective tissue that encompasses the entirety of the body.

This article explores the fascinating role of fascia, one of our richest sensory organs and its reciprocal, connective role in complete health.

My message is simple… when fascia is restricted and becomes bound it has an effect on our complete health, affecting not just muscular and skeletal health, but nerve capacity, gland and organ function and our general well being.

We often have a tendency to think of the muscular skeletal system (and indeed the entire human body) as a mechanical structure composed of separate bones, and separate muscles that enable us to move. This concept could not be further from the truth!

Myofascia (or connective tissue) was first recognised as a structure of the body system by Dr Ida Rolf in the late 1930s. Her seminal work provoked the understanding of the body as a seamless, integrated, responsive and ever changing whole. When one part moves, the body as a whole responds.

From a fascial perspective, if the body were an orchestra, then connective tissue is the score upon which the musical notes are written; bone, muscle and organ systems are the instruments.¹

Visualise a spider’s web, or a string hammock. When a hook pulls on that web, the resulting distortion influences every part of the system to some degree. Thickening, snagging, or holding in any part of the connective tissue results in a general heaviness of movement. What at first is a way to protect the body (particularly a part that hurts) eventually results in a loss of fluidity throughout the whole body.²

What does fascia do?

• The fascia encompasses and infuses every tissue in the body; our muscles, tendons, ligaments, organs, bones
• It is a continuous elasto-collagenous matrix that allows us to move and maintain posture.
• It supports, separates and cushions all living cells in the body.
• It protects us and responds to internal and external forces, acting as our shock absorber. It is responsible for proprioception (the stabilization of our anti-gravity system)
• It is a messenger system with its own nervous, lymphatic and circulatory supply.
• It connects our physicality to our physiology and our toes to the top of our head.
• It enables a high degree of flexibility whilst being super, duper powerful and resilient to overstretching.
• It has a superb memory, capable of storing memories and restrictions from birth in our own unique fascial fingerprint.

In its truest form when well hydrated and well looked after, fascia is fluid, dynamic, powerful system that supports tip-top holistic health.

What is fascia made of?

The fascia is made up of a matrix of:

Elastin – an elastic protein fibre that allows for stretching and contraction, it is what allows our skin to bounce back to its normal shape. It has a load-bearing role.

Collagen – an inelastic protein fibre is the main component of our connective tissue. It has tensile properties, thus it is incredibly strong but allows a small amount of give.

Ground substance – this is a viscous gel that should be fluid and freely moving. It has a similar character to wallpaper paste in that on impact in coagulates. When impact is traumatic the ground substance hardens further and collagen and elastin fibres move closer together, as a result restriction occurs.

What is fascial restriction?

Fascia becomes restricted for many reasons, such as incorrect posture, trauma (physical and emotional), surgery, and lack of, or repetitive, movement.

Restriction dehydrates the fascial tissues, shortening and hardening them to create a sticky matted mess of a web. As a consequence, extra tension is placed on adjacent structures, such as joints, organs, and ligaments; more collagen fibres then lay down to help deal with the strain and the density of the hardened fascia increases (The ‘knot’ gets bigger).

One restriction can lead to another.

Restricted fascia can cause aches and pains, imbalance and mind-body discomfort. Restriction affects the efficient flow of blood and lymph, thus slowing down our bodies own healing power.

Surgery for example creates scar tissue. Scar tissue is a restriction. It acts as a rigid barrier within the fascial web, compressing nerves/blood vessels, inhibiting movement and restricting a fluid passage way. The result of scar tissue may manifest in physiological or physical dysfunction.

Myofascial release aims to restore these restrictions within the body and has been found to melt away scar tissue. The release can be quite profound.  Due to the fascia’s immense memory we can hold restrictions in our body for a long time without knowing.

Restoring the fascia back to its truest and happiest form can create a huge positive shift both physical and mentally.

How can you make fascia happy?

Eat well! Drink up!

Our fascia requires lots of water and a healthy, well balanced diet. Bad nutrition and not enough water will affect not only your fascia but your whole body. So make sure you get your sufficient daily demand of joy juice.

Take time out! Rest makes us stronger.

“Rest is how the tissues rehydrate… The rhythm (of your fitness routine) should include some rest… When you take the strain off of the tissues, like a sponge they will suck up that water and be ready for more exercise.” ³

Get moving!!! Take time to stretch!

The physical and emotional wellbeing benefits of movement and gentle stretching such as yoga and pilates are linked to our fascia. Traction and slow stretching enables sticky fascia to melt into its favorite 3D fluid form.

Have a massage!

Sports massage, soft/deep tissue release, and certain myofascial release techniques have been found to melt away tension within the fascia. It is never too late to energize dehydrated, hardened, sticky fascia back into its natural free and fluid form. Once the fascia is re-engaged, it has the capacity to aid our body’s own restorative nature; as a result our muscles work more efficiently.

“Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it or what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.” ⁴

References:

With thanks to the inspiration of my friend and colleague Issey Cannon from the Chiropractic Clinic Bristol.

1,2 The Endless Web, Fascial Anatomy and Physical Reality – R. Louis Schultz and Rosemary Feitis

3 The Anatomy Trains. Tom Myers,

4  Everybody’s free (to wear sunscreen) – Baz Luhrmann