Fascia

Fascia::::::::

What is it and how does it work in our body.

Muscles slide in a relatively limited plane of movement, held firmly in place by filmy fascia and nerve pathways.

The need for movement in the human form doesn’t need to rely on a model of extremes.

Treatment and stretching of fascia has attracted interest from the health and fitness industry over the last few years, with a myriad of solutions to release fascia that is tight, unhealthy, knotted, twisted: the list is extensive. The probability of this is that any movement, stretching or treatment doesn’t affect the fascia in that moment at all, but instead contributes to healthier fascia over time.

In order to elongate tissues such as fascia, sustained pressure over a large range of time is required. The pressure however is probably less than originally thought as even gentle movement and tension, applied over a long period, will have the lengthening effect already mentioned.

It is believed that stretching was a requirement for function and that stretching the fascia was what was happening as part of deep static movements. The evidence now suggests that in fact stretching, whilst assisting in general functional movement, is not required at all as a general rule. Where there is chronic pain, the advice is often to stop stretching with any intent on lengthening the muscle or fascia in order to allow function to be restored.

Neither can fascia be released in the way it is often suggested by myriads of therapies, labelled fascial release techniques. It probably doesn’t need to be released in the first place as it’s unlikely that the pain being caused by any issue is coming solely from the fascia. Whilst fascia is full of nerve endings and touch receptors, pain, like movement, is a body wide mechanism.

What fascia does need is maintenance. Daily regular movement through a wide range without extensive stretching is likely to maintain the health and flexibility of fascia well into old age. The enemy of fascia is extended bouts of stillness.

Treatment is another issue where little or no agreement has been achieved. The fascia researchers tend to come from a field where a large amount of pressure is used to achieve change, whereas the suggestion now emerging is that less pressure applied more often might have better results.

The science of fascia is still new and there is much more work to be done before we can establish behaviours or patterns of fascial change beyond doubt.

What is conclusive is that the watery extra cellular matrix, surrounding and hydrating all our tissues, needs circulation that can only come from movement.

Whatever movement means to you, keep doing it.