26/01/2024
Let’s talk fascia! You probably heard your RMT say something along the lines of “your fascially restricted” or “your fascia is tight” and not knowing what they mean… well to give you a solid answer, your fascia is a thin casing of connective tissue that surrounds and supports muscles, bones, organs, and other structures in the body. It is a continuous web-like structure that extends throughout the entire body, providing support and stability.
Fascia is made up of collagen fibers and a gel-like substance called ground substance. It is responsible for maintaining the shape and structure of the body, as well as allowing for movement and flexibility.
There are three main types of fascia in the body: superficial, deep & visceral.
In particular, your massage therapist is talking about superficial and deep layers of fascia! The superficial layer of fascia lies just beneath the skin. It helps to insulate the body and provides a layer of padding and protection. While deep fascia is the layer that surrounds muscles, bones, and other structures. The deep fascia helps to provide support and stability, as well as allowing for movement and flexibility.
When fascia becomes stressed, it becomes tight and painful! When fascia becomes restricted due to impact, injury, or repetitive strain, it dehydrates, hardens, becomes inflamed and thickens. For example, a restriction in one part of the body.. lets say the pectoral muscles in the chest becomes tight, this can limit joint mobility giving you a shoulders rolled forward posture. This causes an imbalance in other parts of the body creating weak upper back muscles (ex. rhomboids) because as you know, all muscles are linked by the fascial system.
Fascia plays an important role in the body's overall health and function. It helps to transmit forces and distribute tension throughout the body, allowing for efficient movement and preventing injury. It also helps to maintain proper alignment and posture, and plays a role in the body's immune response.
Techniques such as myofascial release and fascial stretching have been developed to help release tension and improve the health and function of the fascia.
