Written by Jane Birmingham – Remedial Massage Therapist
When we think of skin we imagine a smooth ( and sometimes hairy and/or
wrinkly! ) substance covering all our inner body parts. But when we look at how
easy it is to cut through this substance, it seems unimaginable that it can be
holding, molding and shaping us – holding us in place throughout all types of
movement.
So there has to be some type of fabric underlying this skin, to give it the
necessary strength and flexibility to hold us together. This “fabric” is called
fascia. It is layered for strength, with a degree of slip between each layer for
flexibility. Various types of fascia contain different types of collagen and other
components, depending on the job they do in which part of the body because,
you see this fabric of fascia is not just under the skin…. it invests every part of
the body including our bones, organs, brain, muscles, blood vessels etc.
Fascia has been likened to a spider’s web, but this comparison only gives the
impression of one sheet-like layer. Research has shown it to be more like a 3
dimensional matrix with layers overlapping and connecting in every possible
direction throughout the body.
Basically collagen provides the strength while elastin provides the elasticity and
simply put, these two components facilitate a delicate self-tensioning system,
monitored and adjusted constantly by the millions of nerve fibres housed within
its layers.
Just close your eyes for a minute and try to imagine a thread, coursing right
through the middle of the body, connecting the skin of one surface to that of
another on a very distant part of the body. You may start to feel an internal
landscape but not an imaginary one. In fact the visualisation/feeling of this
internal landscape is vital to our health and well being because it is part of the
neural feedback system controlling our every healthy human function.
If you can’t see it and feel it, you can’t fix it.
Myofascial release is not just a pain relief treatment, it is an education in how to
see and feel our internal landscape.
Yoga is a very effective way of performing myofascial release.
Talk to your therapist, do some research on fascia for yourself, and try some
simple yoga poses and meditation on the internal landscape. It can only do you
good!
