Fascia is the type of
connective tissue that covers the muscles of the body. It is
composed of collagen, elastin and a ground substance of protein
chains which produce a sol/gel substance. Fascia means
band or bandage in latin. It gives the body it's form.
Fascia forms and supports the body. It also restricts and
provides boundaries. It covers the muscles helping to
provide more strength. It helps in repairing the body. It
can be in the healing process that the problems of pain in the
body begin. The healing process itself can lead to
adhesions in the tissue which bind and restrict movement and can
lead to fibrosis.
"The fascia of the body
is continuous from head to toe. You can travel from
the top of your head to your liver, spleen or right
malleolus (ankle) without ever leaving fascia. All the
viscera during development in the embryo migrate and carry
their fascia with them. Fascia glides easily when
subjected to gentle traction. Inflammation, adhesion,
postural stress and somatic dysfunction all interfere with
the free gliding of the fascia". ~John Upledger
Wikipedia defines fascia as
this:
A fascia is a connective
tissue that surrounds muscles, groups of muscles, blood
vessels, and nerves, binding those structures together like
plastic sandwich wraps. It consists of several layers: a
superficial fascia, a deep fascia, and a subserous (or
visceral) fascia and extends uninterrupted from the head to
the tip of the toes.
Fascia is the fascinating biological
fabric and glue that holds us together. Long ignored, the
fascial system is now getting its rightful due of attention,
from both therapists and researchers. ~ Thomas Myers,
Anatomy Trains
When
you are working on muscles you are working on fascia.
There is no separating the two.
Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction by Janet
Travell, M.D, beautifully illustrates that there is a
myofascial element to most everything as every muscle of the
body is surrounded by a smooth fascial sheath, every muscular
fascicule is surrounded by fascia, every fibril is surrounded by
fascia, and every micro-fibril down to the cellular level is
surrounded by fascia that can exert pressures of over 2,000
pounds per square inch. Therefore, it is the fascia that can
ultimately determine the length and function of its muscular
component.
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