Why is Healthy Fascia important for our bodies?
And, what exactly is Fascia??
The importance of Healthy Fasica has been overlooked for many years and is finally coming to our awareness of how important healthy fasica is for our muscle and bone health. Fascia is a thin casing of connective tissue comprised mostly of college creating a web-rope-like structure that provides us strength and more importantly protects many areas of our bodies. Our fascia surrounds every blood vessel, bone, nerve fiber, and all of our organs in place. Fasica also has nerve endings that have a sensitivity much like our skin. This means that when it’s stressed, it tightens up and can create body aches and pain. When we have healthy fascia it is flexible, and can then stretch with us.
Healthy fascia provides general and also special functions in our bodies and is arranged in different ways. The fascia closest to the surface is called superficial fascia, which is located underneath the skin between layers of fat. (Understanding this will help with losing cellulite when you stretch the fascia)
Next, the deep fascia that covers our muscles, bones, and blood vessels. Fascia assists in the transition of force through the musculoskeletal system. Fascia helps our muscles work!
Fascia Health Issues
When our healthy fascia has been compromised and doesn’t function properly, due to injury or other means, the layers become less able to facilitate movement over each other or help transfer force. Injury to fascia can take a long time to repair on its own because it possesses similar cells to tendons (fibroblasts), and has a limited blood supply.
A type of massage called fascia manipulation was developed by physiotherapist Luigi Stecco in the 1980s.
Fascia massage has been shown to improve pain in the body. Fibromyalgia is a connective tissue issue that can be addressed with trigger point and fascia massage. Receiving work on our fascia for chronic knee and shoulder pain as well as plantar fasciitis has been proven beneficial and is well-documented.
Fascia in Disease
Aside from getting damaged, due to the connective web of fascia, it can also provide paths for infections to travel within the muscles. While the spaces between the fascial layers are normally closed, we are protected. However, if an infection occurs the germs can spread between the layers. Depending on where the infection is located, this could cause serious complications. This can also mean that surgery may be needed to remove the dead tissues and save the healthy tissues.
Fascia can also be implicated in more serious health conditions, such as necrotizing fasciitis. Necrotizing fasciitis is an aggressive skin and soft tissue infection (SSTIs) that cause necrosis of the muscle fascia and subcutaneous tissues. This is rare but should be known about the potential implications due to the fact it is a serious bacterial condition that can spread through the body quickly and could cause death. This rare condition is almost always caused by bacteria, specifically group A Streptococcus or Staphylococcus aureus, with the infection coming from a cut or scratch.
Fascia Health is Easier to View
We have certainly come a long way in health and wellness due to our current imaging technology such as MRI scans. Our musculoskeletal and fascia health is very important and we should look at it much the same way we do with the other aspects of the musculoskeletal system. Working out our fascia is very different from a routine muscle workout. Make an appointment with your massage therapist who has studied trigger points and the fascia health connective tissue web that is holding our bodies together. Increasing physical mobility plays a large role in our health and feeling great as we age. Contact Returning Balance Therapies in Glenwood Springs Colorado to discover how you can improve your Fasica Health.