FASCIA

Your fascia is a thin cling film like substance that covers your whole body protecting your muscles and organs. ⠀

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This protective layer is made up of densely packed collagen fibers and is layered over each muscle like a stiff protection to stop us from over stretching and balances certain movements. ⠀

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"While every anatomy lists around 600 separate muscles, it is more accurate to say that there is one muscle poured into six hundred pockets of the fascial webbing. The ‘illusion' of separate muscles is created by the anatomist's scalpel, dividing tissues along the planes of fascia. This reductive process should not blind us to the reality of the unifying whole." -Tom Myers⠀

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Chronic stress to the fibers can encourage the fibers to thicken and adhese. These areas of fascia can then pull and feel very tight and uncomfortable, this can be very hard to get rid of with a simple stretch and return to exercise. ⠀

 

If you’ve gone through periods of inactivity or just regularly have inactive periods in a busy life your fascia can thicken. This could be as simple as sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day, a long commute and sitting stationary in the car or having an uncomfortable sleeping position. ⠀

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This thickening IS reversible and you can have your fascial tissues loosened off, you can adopt good habits: stretching, exercise, foam rolling... and you can come see us! ⠀

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We regularly treat tight, thick fascial tissue and we use a variety of methods to do so.⠀

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In the pictures above you will be able to visualise this lower lumbar tight fascia through the suction cup. The cup was suctioned so many times to create a visual progress of the fascial smoothing treatment in which the tissue was scraped (gua-sha), frictioned (deep tissue manipulation) and active cupping (dragging of the suction cup over the tissue). ⠀

 

Your treatment may not necessary need to focus around fascia, this is just an insight and a visual product as to what we are talking about when we discuss it with you.