Fascia is a newly acknowledged system in the body. It’s not a new system. . . just newly acknowledged. As a body worker, fascia is one of the systems I am very tuned into. This video brings my love of spiders, webs, and fascia together to explain what the fascial system is like throughout the body and how its pliability and restrictions impact our pain levels and range of motion.
What is fascia?
John F. Barnes says: “Fascia is a specialized system of the body that has an appearance similar to a spider’s web or a sweater. Fascia is very densely woven, covering and interpenetrating every muscle, bone, nerve, artery and vein, as well as, all of our internal organs including the heart, lungs, brain and spinal cord. The most interesting aspect of the fascial system is that it is not just a system of separate coverings. It is actually one continuous structure that exists from head to toe without interruption. In this way you can begin to see that each part of the entire body is connected to every other part by the fascia, like the yarn in a sweater.”
Facts on Fascia and why it’s important to you:
- Fascia has six to 10 times more sensory nerves then muscle.
- Genetics determine only what proteins (fascia) are able to be manufactured. The local environment of how you use your body determines how they are arrayed from day to day.
- Fascia protein fibers organize themselves depending on the forces that go through them. This organization is dictated by your posture, habits and athletic endeavors.
- The fascia net responds and distributes forces as a whole not just locally. This means the restriction in your calf can literally cause your neck pain, or in other words, your low back pain might be coming from a restriction across at the opposite hip.
- Trauma, injury, inflammatory responses, postural patterns and/or surgical procedures can create fascia restrictions that can produce tensile pressures of approximately 2,000 pounds per square inch on pain sensitive structures.