Importance of Fascia

Fascia is very densely woven tissue, covering and interpenetrating every muscle, bone, nerve, artery and vein as well as all of the internal organs and the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). It is the tissue that holds all the other parts together. It gives shape to and supports all of the body's musculature. You can see fascia if you cut up a fresh chicken. It is the thin, sticky, somewhat filmy material that wraps around the muscle tissue. It wraps around muscle fibers, bundles of fibers, and the muscles themselves, and then goes on to form tendons and ligaments. In the myofascia there is a material called ground substance. This material can exist in a solid, semisolid, or fluid state. When ground substance changes from a liquid to a gel, the myofascia tightens, and it is difficult to get it to reverse to a liquid state again without intervention. Trauma, inflammation and chronic postural and/or emotional holding patterns can create a binding down of fascia resulting in excessive pressure on nerves, muscles, blood vessels, osseous structures and/or organs.

The fascia can be broken down into three divisions:

• superficial fascial lies directly below the dermis;
• deep fascia surrounding and infusing with muscle, bone, nerves, blood vessels and organs of the body all the way down to the cellular level
• deepest fascia is within the dura of the cranial sacral system.

Fascia at the cellular level creates the interstitial spaces and has extremely important functions of support, protection, separation, cellular respiration, nutrition, elimination, metabolism, fluid and lymphatic flow. In other words, it is the immediate environment of every cell of the body. This means that any trauma or malfunction of the fascia can set up the environment for poor cellular efficiency, necrosis, disease, pain and dysfunction throughout the body.

Other important factors concerning fascia are:

• It supports and stabilizes thus enhancing the postural balance of the body.
• It is vitally involved in all aspects of motion and acts as a shock absorber.
• It aids in circulatory economy, especially in venous and lymphatic fluids.
• Fascial change will often precede chronic tissue congestion.
• Such chronic passive congestion creates the formation of fibrous tissue, which then proceeds to increase hydrogen ion concentration of articular periarticular structures.
• Fascia is a major area of inflammatory processes.
• Fluid and infectious processes often travel along fascial planes.   
• The central nervous system is surrounded by fascial tissue (dura mater) which attaches to the inside of the cranium, the foramen magnum and at the second sacral segment.
• Dysfunction in these tissues can have profound and widespread neurological effects.

In the normal healthy state, the fascia is relaxed and wavy in configuration. It has the ability to stretch and move without restriction. When we experience physical trauma or inflammation, however, the fascia loses its flexibility. It becomes very tight, and can be a source of tension to the rest of the body. Trauma, such as a fall, whiplash, surgery or just habitual poor posture over time has a cumulative effect. The fascia can exert excessive pressure producing pain, headaches and/or restriction of motion.

Fascial restrictions can exert tremendous tensile forces on the neuromuscular-skeletal and other pain sensitive structures. This enormous pressure (more than 2,000 pounds per square inch) can create the very symptoms that we have so long been trying to eliminate. This knowledge frees us from only trying to relieve symptoms and gives us the tools we need to find and eradicate the cause and effect (symptoms) relationship for a permanent resolution of our patient's complex problems.