Fascia ( pro. Fasha )

What is it ?It's a soft tissue membrane that glistens with a slick lubricating fluid . It is composed of collagen and elastin and forms a continuous envelope that extends from head to toe , front and back , surrounding every muscle , every organ , every nerve , every blood vessel and every bone . It comprises of up to 7% of your total bodyweight .

The thoracolumbar fascia connectingto fascia in the lower body

It literally knits us together , forming a web that binds , supports , connects and separates all the regions of the body . It can be considered as another skeleton of the body but one made of soft tissue ( many muscles are attached to it in a similar way as they are to bone ) .

What does it look like ?There are different types of fascia from superficial to deep below is a superficial type around a muscle ;

This type is soft and pliable others are tough and unyielding .

What does it do ?The study and research of fascia is still in its infancy and we are a long way from understanding many of its properties . It relays information about the forces applied on muscles from one muscle grouping to the next , promotes their contraction as a co-ordinated movement and transmits the load between them

Allows muscles to slide past each other

It can contract in the same way as a muscle

It is extremely strong up to 8X stronger than muscle

It has a role in directing blood and lymph towards the heart

It can transmit nerve impulses they can travel at 122 m/s through a nerve but are even faster in fascia !

Has a role in preventing infection

Diagram showing how fascia connectsthe head to the feet

Consider what happens when you stand on one leg the rest of the body comes into play in an attempt to restore balance it is the fascia that helps to re-distribute the forces needed to achieve this .When we sit for long periods or sleep , fascia will begin to knit together and we get that feeling of wanting to stretch this severs the fibres .

Stretching his fascia ?

Fascia and musclesHave a look at this section through a muscle ;

The red sections are muscle fibre but most of the white sections are fascia quite a high proportion .Problems can occur when fascia surrounding a fibre , muscle , or muscle group sticks to another ( usually as a result of overload ) . This stops the muscle from working efficiently and the problem can spread over a larger area this is a common problem on the inner and outer thigh and the lower back . Thankfully , specialist massage techniques have been developed which can relieve this . Another problem is Compartment Syndrome where , during exercise , a muscle fills with blood and increases in bulk which causes the musculature to grow larger than is allowed for by the surrounding fascia , as it is not very elastic . This causes a build-up of pressure which can be very painful . Again , massage techniques have been developed to relieve this but in very acute cases , surgery is required to cut open the restricting fascia to relieve the pressure .Below is an example of this in the leg ; Another , potentially serious problem , is an Intramuscular Haematoma where bleeding can occur as a result of impact ( such as a dead-leg on a soccer field ) . If the fascial sheath around the muscle remains intact the excess blood has no way out and the pressure increases the danger with this type of injury is that the pressure can cut off the blood supply to lower parts of the limb and immediate medical advice is required .

Fascial release techniques are now routine practices amongst physical therapists and many are of the opinion that research into this mysterious and largely unknown tissue holds the key to understanding aspects of musculoskeletal problems such as lower back pain and fibromyalgia .

Val O'HalloranMassage Therapist