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Wishing you a Fasciaful day
Did you know that your body owes it shape to a tissue called fascia? When you cut a piece of meat the silvery, sinewy threads that you cut through are the animal’s fascia and just like animals humans have the same fascial ‘wrapping package’. Fascia been described as our body’s biggest organ. Organised throughout our body in fascial planes, fascia holds our organs, joints and muscles together. A properly trained massage therapist can look for the health of your fascia and work to release any binding as part of a treatment. The work is slow as fascia only responds to focused slow work- no fast frictions here. However the work can be deep and very helpful. This slow pace enables the fascia to become accessible and to release. A restriction on a hip may help a shoulder issue given the plane type organisation of fascia. It can help people feel more at home physically in their bodies and leave feeling a new level of relaxation.
Fascia absorbs shock and contains adipose tissues, nerves, blood, lymph and cognitive tissues. It is increasingly being recognised for its link to immunity(1).
Why is releasing fascial restrictions important? Bound fascia can cause pain or reduce range of motion and stymie the flow of fluids throughout the body. Pain can easily be mistaken for muscular pain as fascia has 10 times more sensory nerves receptors than muscles (2) Fascia comes in two types - superficial (just under the skin) and deep (surrounding muscles and grouping them functionally). Current thinking to maintain healthy fascia is to move in as many planes daily as possible and to include as many different types of exercise as possible in your life whether it’s walking, bending, twisting, jumping, ball sports, gardening, gym, running, dancing, yoga or pilates, try to mix it up for healthy fascia and drink water to keep your tissues hydrated. For the desk bound move your body regularly in all planes to keep your fascia pliable.
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1.Biel, A ‘Trail Guide to the Body’
2. Van der wal the Architecture of the Connective Tissue in the Muscoskeletal system