Issues in the Tissues: The Word on Fascia

You may have heard some of your health care providers casually mention Fascia. Perhaps they said something like “you would do well with some fascial stretches” or “wow, your fascia is super tight”. Fascia is constantly discussed in the wellness world, but what is it? What does fascia do and why is it so important?

Fascia connects. It creates connections between muscles, ligaments, tendons and other sheets or lines of fascia. It runs from the head down to the toes in one great web-like full body stocking. This connectivity gives us better body awareness, improves our balance and allows us to better navigate our environment. It also provides us with an amazing trauma system. A system that is designed to disperse, distribute and share tension. A well functioning fascial system acts as a shock absorption unit; allowing trauma to diminish as it travels through the body away from its point of impact. It’s this system that explains why a person who has fallen on their tailbone will end up with a concussion or a few stress fractures higher up in the spine instead of completely shattering the tail bone. The fascial system also allows us to seamlessly and thoughtlessly compensate for an injury; shifting tension from one area to another in a protective effort. It may seem like that foot pain has gone away, but really you’ve just started walking in a way that both alleviates the foot but stresses the hip.

Fascia divides. Unlike the skin, fascia doesn’t just provide a casing; it creates separation between tissues at different depths, even passing within the abdominal cavity. These separations or compartments within the muscular system are vital for preventing the spread of infection from one area of the body to another. They also provide structure and support to the body, including the organs.

Fascia, more than any other tissue tells the story of your body. Fascia changes slowly, over time and only with very continuous or repetitive movements and postures. The way you spend your time is reflected in your fascia: if you are active or sedentary, what you do for work, what you do in your spare time. If you bike on the weekends and spend every day sitting at a desk then naturally your fascia will shape you to a sitting position and straightening up will feel difficult. If you are constantly twisting because you snowboard or because you always turn to a second computer at work that twist will be present in your standing posture. While fascia will make you more efficient and better suited to what you do most, it will make it harder for you to move in new and different ways. As you switch your sports seasonally or take up a new activity you may find yourself experiencing new strains and tensions. As a result, the more you move in different ways and challenge your fascial system the more flexible and adaptable it will be.

A healthy fascial system is flexible, adaptable and mobile. However, like all other tissue, fascia is subject to injury, inflammation and sub optimal function. The primary issue that occurs with fascia is restrictions. Restrictions can occur either following an injury or subsequent to repetitive or chronic stress. Inflammation or compression of the thin, spidery tissue can cause it to stick or adhere to adjacent tissues: creating restriction. Our ability to move freely and easily hinges on the different layers of our fascial tissue gliding effortlessly over each other. This is the true culprit in most cases for what feels like a lack of flexibility or tightness when we try to stretch. Muscle length never actually changes; so our flexiblity is a function of how easily our fascia glides and how easily our muscles relax to let go of contraction.

Understanding fascia and why it becomes restricted is the first step in learning how to improve its function, let’s apply these concepts with some basic guidelines:

1- Recognize patterns in your day where you repetitively repeat a movement or spend a prolonged period of time in one movement. Make small adjustments to change your posture and position more often to break up that strain on your body. For example, if you are sitting all day then stretch your arms overhead, look up and straighten up every 30 minutes. Alternatively, you could get up and get some water or walk around at regular intervals. If you constantly twist to a screen to the left side of your desk, turn your chair and move your whole body instead of twisting or balance the tension out by twisting to the right a few times an hour.

2- Target your fascia during stretches by holding stretches longer… fascia stretches should be held for 1-5 minutes and should be done at a lesser intensity. Muscle stretches are typically held for 30 seconds and involve an immediate intense stretch feeling. Fascial stretches are held longer and should start with only a mild stretch sensation as the sensation will build over the first few minutes and start to diminish in the last minute. Yin yoga classes are all about stretching fascia.

3- Target your fascial tissue with release techniques suited for releasing your fascia. Foam rollers have been popular in the last decade for “ironing” out fascia to make it more pliable. Cupping has been used for hundreds of years all over the world. Cupping is particularly effective as it is one of the only techniques that decompresses and lifts the tissue while simultaneously improving sliding of the tissue.