Fascia

What is Fascia? 

Over the years, fascia has been described in a variety of ways and has included the terms "connective tissue", "3-D webbing", and "soft skeleton".  To each professional working with fascia it can mean different things. To me, fascia is best described as our collagenous soft connective tissue.

Fascia is the biological fabric that holds us up, holds us in, and connects us from tip to toe. This structural fabric allows our bodies to be separated into muscles, organs, bones and nerves while also being united within a body-wide interconnected tensional network. If that wasn't enough, fascia is also a highly innervated tissue rich with sensory organs allowing for it to be responsive to its environment. 

Being responsive to its environment means it is responsive to manual therapy and for me, this is one of the most exciting features about fascia.  

Therapists that understand the mechanisms by which fascia operates, will treat fascia more effectively and have the additional bonus of not having to work as hard! 

Fascia proves to us in its responsiveness that it is alive. This feature is likely what David Lesondak was referring to when he said "fascia isn't magic, it's magical". 

Fascia also has strong links to the brain through the insular cortex. Here is where perceptions about inner sensations are relayed through fascial sensory receptors. Otherwise known as interoception, feelings of well-being are determined along with self-regulation. Find additional information about interoception here. 

As fascial research continues we should expect and look forward to the evolution of our understanding of fascia.  

The Fascia Research Society follows the most current fascial research and has recommened that two different terms be used when referring to fascia; a fascia and the fascial system. 

"A fascia is a sheath, a sheet, or any other dissectible aggregations of connective tissue that forms beneath the skin to attach, enclose, and separate muscles and other internal organs" 

"The fascial system consists of the three-dimensional continuum of soft, collagen containing, loose and dense fibrous connective tissues that permeate the body....The fascial system surrounds, interweaves between, and interpenetrates all organs, muscles, bones and nerve fibers, endowing the body with a functional structure, and providing an environment that enables all body systems to operate in an integrated manner." (https://fasciaresearchsociety.org/about_fascia.php)