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As physiotherapists we often deal with a lot of myofascial problems. Most people understand the first part of this word i.e. Myo-referring to the muscular system but I want to explain the second component of this word a little better – Fascia – and its relevance to how your body functions.

Firstly – what is Fascia?

Fascia is a slightly mobile connective tissue spread throughout the body in a three dimensional web. It surrounds every muscle, every fascicle, every fibril (fibre) and every microfibril that make up your muscles. It mainly consists of collagen and elastin.

Think of your body’s fascial system as a multi-layered body stocking, with fascial sheaths wrapping the muscles and weaving in layers throughout the body. Because of this, stress in any area of the body has an effect on every other part of the body. The Fascia basically connects everything!

What does the Fascia do?

Fascia plays an important role in supporting, stabilizing and protecting the structures it surrounds. In other words, it provides postural balance. The Fascial system conveys mechanical information via tension and compression and has a role in cellular nutrition. The deep fascia also provides a surface area for muscles attachment.

 In its optimal condition, fascia is a loose, moist tissue. When there is continual loose movement and balance in the body, the fascial body stocking stays loose and mobile, facilitating movement between different parts of the body.

However, under continual stress (caused by poor postures and mechanical forces exerting abnormal tension on muscles) as well as lack of movement, fascia becomes rigid and loses its fluidity causing muscle undernourishment. Layers of fascia begin to stick to one another, causing the “knots” you may have experienced in your muscles (trigger points). The sheaths of fascia stick in a systematic way, based on your habitual patterns of movement, or for some, lack of movement.

Therefore Myofascial release aims to reverse myofascial deformation and re-open the tissue to increase the fluid flow to affected areas (restore the viscosity of the tissue), muscle function and improve motor and sensory input. It is also very important to decrease the abnormal pull (stress) on the myofascia to correct altered joint alignments.

As you can see the fascial system plays a major role in muscular injuries and pain and if overlooked by your therapist could contribute to recurring and prolonged aches and pains.

Andrew@PhysioPRO