People often ask me “What is fascia?”
I have to admit I find fascia fascinating. Fascia is connective tissue that surrounds, protects and supports every structure of the human body- every muscle, muscle fibre, ligament, tendon, bone, nerve, organ and cell. It is a single, uninterrupted three-dimensional tissue that extends from the inner aspects of the skull down to the soles of the feet and from the exterior to the interior of the body. It supports, separates and cushions all living cells in the body. Under the microscope, fascia looks a bit like a three dimensional spiders web.
The fascial network should be flexible, able to move as we or our body parts move. But fascia can become restricted, and that’s when we start to notice problems such as pain and stiffness. There can be many reasons for this happening, such as injury, trauma, stress, bad posture, over use, under use (ie sedentary lifestyle), surgery and general ageing.
But the good news is that restricted fascia can respond well to therapies such as Myofascial Release, which involves gentle sustained pressure.
If you’d like to know more, I’m happy to have a free 20 minute chat with you to see whether you could benefit from a Myofascial Release treatment, either on the phone or in person in my treatment room. Leave a message on my phone (07496 268748) or email me at holthelen@yahoo.co.uk
And if you’d like to find out more about fascia and Myofascial Release, why not come along to one of my Listening Hands workshops? I run them every few months, and you don’t need to be a therapist to come along. I’m in the midst of writing a second workshop, as requested by many of the people who’ve already attended the Listening Hands day. It’s going to be focussing on the effects of stress and trauma on the fascia- dates tbc soon, but will be in May/June