| Fascia-The Forgotten Organ |
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Andrew Taylor Still, 19th century founder of Osteopathy, and Ida Pauline Rolf, 20th
century founder of Structural Integration (Rolfing) were prescient about the importance of
fascia. Now in the 21st century, medical research has had its first international
conference devoted to fascia in 2007.
According to the International Fascia Research Congress, “Fascia is the soft tissue
component of the connective tissue system that permeates the human body. It forms a
whole-body continuous three-dimensional matrix of structural support. Fascia
interpenetrates and surrounds all organs, muscles, bones and nerve fibers, creating a
unique environment for body systems functioning.”
In most anatomic displays, fascia has been removed so that viewers can see the
organs, nerves, and vessels. If instead the organs, muscles, and bones were removed,
they would see the fascial network that gives the body its three-dimensional shape and
determines its boundaries.
The body is a continuous tension network, a tensegrity structure, that suspends
floating compression elements (bones) in a geometric relationship to each other. The
word “tensegrity,” coined by Buckminster Fuller, means that the integrity depends on the
balance between tension and compression, between “push” and “pull.” Unlike rigid
frameworks, tensegrity structures are extremely lightweight, resilient, and designed to
withstand stress by distributing strain evenly to all parts of the structure simultaneously.
More recent research by scientists such as Robert Schliep and Helene Langevin
shows fascia to be far less passive than was previously thought. Biomechanical
properties include creep, relaxation, hysteresis (memory), and strain induced hydration
changes (sponge-like behavior). Contractile cells have been found within the fascial
fabric, and acupuncture points located where fascia planes or lines converge. Fascia
may even provide a body wide communication network.
Because fascia tightens and shortens in response to trauma, repetitive stress and
lack of movement, it can painfully restrict joint movement and blood flow. Repeated
trauma can create adhesions where the fascia become stuck together, thereby creating
further restriction.
Appropriate bodywork eliminates recurrent pain by loosening and lengthening the
fascial sheaths surrounding affected muscles and joints. When combined with
appropriate exercise and musculo-skeletal stabilization, bodywork will often yield
permanent improvements.
Joan Schraith Cole is a nationally certified licensed massage therapist who has
studied a number of different massage and bodywork modalities, traditional and
modern, since her graduation from Parkland in 2006. For more information
about Joan, visit her website at www.joancolemassage.com.
century founder of Structural Integration (Rolfing) were prescient about the importance of
fascia. Now in the 21st century, medical research has had its first international
conference devoted to fascia in 2007.
According to the International Fascia Research Congress, “Fascia is the soft tissue
component of the connective tissue system that permeates the human body. It forms a
whole-body continuous three-dimensional matrix of structural support. Fascia
interpenetrates and surrounds all organs, muscles, bones and nerve fibers, creating a
unique environment for body systems functioning.”
In most anatomic displays, fascia has been removed so that viewers can see the
organs, nerves, and vessels. If instead the organs, muscles, and bones were removed,
they would see the fascial network that gives the body its three-dimensional shape and
determines its boundaries.
The body is a continuous tension network, a tensegrity structure, that suspends
floating compression elements (bones) in a geometric relationship to each other. The
word “tensegrity,” coined by Buckminster Fuller, means that the integrity depends on the
balance between tension and compression, between “push” and “pull.” Unlike rigid
frameworks, tensegrity structures are extremely lightweight, resilient, and designed to
withstand stress by distributing strain evenly to all parts of the structure simultaneously.
More recent research by scientists such as Robert Schliep and Helene Langevin
shows fascia to be far less passive than was previously thought. Biomechanical
properties include creep, relaxation, hysteresis (memory), and strain induced hydration
changes (sponge-like behavior). Contractile cells have been found within the fascial
fabric, and acupuncture points located where fascia planes or lines converge. Fascia
may even provide a body wide communication network.
Because fascia tightens and shortens in response to trauma, repetitive stress and
lack of movement, it can painfully restrict joint movement and blood flow. Repeated
trauma can create adhesions where the fascia become stuck together, thereby creating
further restriction.
Appropriate bodywork eliminates recurrent pain by loosening and lengthening the
fascial sheaths surrounding affected muscles and joints. When combined with
appropriate exercise and musculo-skeletal stabilization, bodywork will often yield
permanent improvements.
Joan Schraith Cole is a nationally certified licensed massage therapist who has
studied a number of different massage and bodywork modalities, traditional and
modern, since her graduation from Parkland in 2006. For more information
about Joan, visit her website at www.joancolemassage.com.