Most of us have probably never heard of fascia before. If you have, it may be probably from one of your girlfriends having their fascia “blasted” to treat cellulite. But the trendy topic of fascia goes beyond than just looking snatched in your swimsuit.
What is fascia? Fascia is a fibrous sheet of tissue that wraps your subcutaneous fat, your muscle groups, your nervous system, and your body cavities and organs. Fascia, like most connective tissues in the body, can stiffen as you age, and may be damaged by injury or overuse.
Despite the term being Googled more than 79 million times, the science behind fascia and its importance to medicine remains controversial and there are still very few accurate researches done to address this. One common medical condition where the fascia is involved is plantar fasciitis – a painful condition where the fascia maintaining your foot’s arch becomes inflamed.
Body work practitioners claim that fascial restrictions (tightening) caused by inflammation, injury, disuse, trauma, misues, overuse, or abuse – play an important role in contributing to the pain we feel with different conditions such as women’s health issues, fibromyalgia, migraines, headaches, and lower back pain.
Many manipulations involving correcting the fascia suggest that lengthening the restricted fascia is the way to successful treatment. Tom Myers, an educator and practitioner of fascial anatomy and treatment for over 40 years, challenges this widely accepted thought and says fascial treatment cannot be done successfully without taking into consideration the surrounding skin, nerves and muscles. The complex interconnection and interaction of all your body tissues involved continues to be a hurdle for medical research to clearly define and isolate the relevance of fascia.
So what is the bottom line?
If a bodywork professional or specialized equipment claims to treat your fascial restrictions and relieve chronic pain (or, help you bust cellulite), you may expect to get some positive results, but there’s a whole lot of complicated science involved than just fixing the fascia.
Read the full article by CNN Health here to find out more in-depth discussions on the science behind fascia.
What else would you like to know more about fascia? Let us know in the comments below!
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