Fascia: 8 Things You Always Wanted to Know (But Couldn’t Spell It)



In addition to doing blog posts into the wee hours of the morning, I have a chiropractic office in Mesa, AZ.  I have always hung my hat on the fact that we’re different.

Different from many of my colleagues who rely on just the adjustment.  Different from the physical therapists who use electric stim and exercises.  Different from the primary care docs who blindly give anti-inflammatories.  Different from the pain management clinics who inject steroids into the spine.

For me, I think the journey started was back in school when I took a weekend seminar based on Trigger Point Therapy from Dr. Ray Nimmo.  Later in practice I took Dr. Peter Levy’s Neuromuscular Re-education course.  Then Graston Technique came along to completely change the breadth of what I could treat.  My soft tissue techniques were further refined by FAKTR-PM training with Dr. Greg Doerr and Dr. Tom Hyde.

Shortly after this training, the 1st International Fascial Conference happened at the Harvard Medical School in October of 2007 that has changed the world as we know it as it relates to the treatment of structural problems.  Research brain trusts and clinicians from across the globe came together to share ideas and further our understanding of the vastly important but little understood tissue, the fascia.

A few years ago I begun the foray into Dr. Luigi Stecoo’s work on Fascial Manipulation.  His books have reminded me of how critical an understanding of the fascia is as well as how incredibly complex this tissue system is.

While the learning is lifetime, I have developed a strong appreciation for how much the soft tissues of the human body play a role in what brings patients into our office.  unfortunately, it’s difficult for me to explain to patients what this tissue known as fascia is.  It is incredibly complex and does not have any good analogies to the world around us that I can use to explain.

Luckily, this particular article does a fantastic job of summing it all up from the viewpoint of Dr. A.T. Still (the founder of osteopathy).  I’ve boiled it down to 5 easy bullet points:

  1. Fascia surrounds and connects every muscle and ALL organs in your body, interconnecting everything.  It includes aponeuroses, joint capsules and the muscular envelopes that surround your muscle fibers.
  2. In regards to movement, the fascia is intricately tied in with every muscle in order to move a joint, which involves the contracting muscle, the opposing muscle as well as the bone.  This means that when we look at a problem with a joint, we can not just look at a problem in a muscle or muscle group (such as the quadriceps), but we have to look at almost the entire region to see why the knee may be hurting.
  3. Injured the lateral collateral ligament of the knee?  What if I told you there is no such thing?  That ligaments and tendons were actually the condensing and continuation of the fascia surrounding an area rather than a distinct structure?
  4. The fascia is heavily imbedded with receptors feeding up to and back down from the brain.  This system is what gives us our incredible agility and allows us to find tune every movement or every joint either singly or during whole body movements.
  5. The cells of the fascia are dynamic, able to change chemically because of stresses placed upon it (the basis for treatment with Graston or Fascial Manipulation) as well as electrically, capable of passing along electrical signals as well.
  6. Different layers of fascia allow muscle fibers, muscles and organs to slide along one another with near-frictionless movement.  Injuries and the use of anti-inflammatories can turn a frictionless surface into stuck layers of gunk (my technical term).
  7. The fascia contains and controls the vast majority of interstitial (not inside of the cell) fluid in your body.  After an injury, fluid flow can increase 100 fold due to the fascia.
  8. The fascia is also heavily embedded with nerve and pain fibers.  Because of this, problems in the fascia can lead to movement problems as well as pain.

While this list may be a little technical, just understand that the fascia is critical to you feeling on top of your game.  If you have a problem that is not responding to the “normal” channels, maybe it’s time to try someting different.  Ask your doctor or therapist about the fascia.  If he or she mentions that they just painted the trim on the house this weekend, maybe you’re not in the right place…

 

James Bogash

For more than a decade, Dr. Bogash has stayed current with the medical literature as it relates to physiology, disease prevention and disease management. He uses his knowledge to educate patients, the community and cyberspace on the best way to avoid and / or manage chronic diseases using lifestyle and targeted supplementation.







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Category: Chiropractic Care
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