What is fascia?
Fascia is a continuous web of connective tissue that surrounds our muscles, bones, joints, nerves, and organs.
"The job of this connective tissue is to organize, move, and support the body in gravity. It organizes muscles in relation to one another, connects them to bone by tapering into a tendon that attaches to the bone, allows muscle to move bone by pulling the bones towards one another as the muscle contracts, and keeps our organs in place so that when we stand on our heads our intestines don’t fall out of our mouth! Without connective tissue, we would be a heap of unconnected bones, muscles and organs."
-Sharalee Hoeschler, Certified Rolfer™
What's important to know about fascia is that it is both strong and elastic, and that it can change shape, get more rigid or more flexible depending on how the body is used.
It is well known that lifting weights makes our bones grow denser. Fascia responds the same way, getting denser in response to stress. Layers of fascia adhere to one another, making the fascia better able to resist force in one direction, but limiting movement in other directions. Sometimes these adhesions interfere with functional joint movement, or impinge upon nerves, causing pain.
"The job of this connective tissue is to organize, move, and support the body in gravity. It organizes muscles in relation to one another, connects them to bone by tapering into a tendon that attaches to the bone, allows muscle to move bone by pulling the bones towards one another as the muscle contracts, and keeps our organs in place so that when we stand on our heads our intestines don’t fall out of our mouth! Without connective tissue, we would be a heap of unconnected bones, muscles and organs."
-Sharalee Hoeschler, Certified Rolfer™
What's important to know about fascia is that it is both strong and elastic, and that it can change shape, get more rigid or more flexible depending on how the body is used.
It is well known that lifting weights makes our bones grow denser. Fascia responds the same way, getting denser in response to stress. Layers of fascia adhere to one another, making the fascia better able to resist force in one direction, but limiting movement in other directions. Sometimes these adhesions interfere with functional joint movement, or impinge upon nerves, causing pain.