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Have you ever been cutting a piece of chicken to cook and you have a tendency to cut off the thin white part that covers the chicken breast? This is fascia. When I think of fascia, I think of a piece of sausage. Why? Because it's contained in a casing, much like your fascia contains your muscles and body and helps keep it all held together in place. Fascia is like a secondary nervous system in your body. Many athletes understand the important rolls that muscles, tendons and ligaments play in fitness, athletics and sports. However, fascia is another tissue in the body that plays an equally important role, and has been an area of increasing research and interest with the physical therapy and sports medicine world. Fascia and fascial manipulation is not a new phenomena. Acupuncture and other modalities have focused on fascial manipulation for thousands of years. However, recent research has lead to western medicine's new understanding of the importance and total body impact of fascia. Fascia can be examined both anatomically and biomechanically as well as how fascial manipulation can result in improved athletic performance.  So what exactly is Fascia? Fascia is a network of connective tissues that is both continuous and contiguous throughout the entire body. That is to say just about every structure in the human body is covered, surrounded, or attached to fascia is some way.
Most importantly to an athlete, fascia surrounds muscles, blood vessels, and nerves, binding these structures together much like plastic warp can be used to hold the contents of a sandwich together. One critical role of fascia is to transmit tension and is a critical component of muscle and bone biomechanics. Only 20% of muscle attaches to bone directly, the 80% is attached thru fascia. It is also important to understand that fascia transmits tension both longitudinally as well as horizontally. A fascial center of fusion on the side of the leg, can affect the muscle above and below it, as well as on the opposite side of the leg as well. It should be noted that the existence of fascia was undiscovered for so long because fascia cannot be readily separated from a muscle, organ or any other tissue. It is so closely associated and connected with the structure it surrounds that was examined in isolation it appeared to simply be a part of the structure itself. Fascia is made up of closely packed bundles of long collagen fibers oriented in parallel to the direction of pull given it's location to joints and muscles. As a result a particular area of fascia is generally most flexible and stretchable in a single plane of motion. The function of most planes of fascia is to reduce friction and allow a muscle, or other organ in the body to move freely with minimal friction and/or drag against adjacent structures, be it bone, muscles or other organs. Typically fascia is thought of as a passive structure, that does not exert force itself, it merely transmits mechanical tension from one attachment point to another. However, some believe that fascia has contractile properties and as a result can influence the function and force of difference muscle and muscle groups directly. At Athletes in Pain, I use slow motion video gait & posture analysis, myofascial release and training plans to rehabilitate your fascia and painful areas in your body, and video range-of-motion testing. From Olympic Athletes to people who just like to stay active, I can help you get back in the game. Call me to schedule a $25 no obligation consultation so we can see where your pain stems from and help with your pain from the source, not just masking the symptoms.
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Are you in pain from a sports injury or an old injury? Fascia could be the reason your body hurts. Maintaining "healthy" proper functioning fascia can have a significant impact on muscle strength, biomechanics and athletic performance. As with any tissues fascia can become irritated and inflamed. If fascia is chronically inflamed, fibrosis and/or thickening of the tissue can occur resulting in decreased compliance and motion. Which can lead to pain, irritation, reflexive muscle tension, fatigue, poor biomechanics and even greater inflammation. This cycle of inflammation and decreasing function can be a significant downward spiral resulting in worsening and worsening fascial inflammation and as thus worsening muscle function and symptoms.  Fascial tension and adhesions act much like a balloon stretched around a muscle, the tighter the balloon, the less ability for proper length and contraction of the muscle itself resulting in weakness, pain and decreased athletic performance. Due to the significant impact that improper functioning fascia can impart on muscle strength and biomechanics, there are a number of techniques that have been developed to treat fascia specifically. Many of these techniques aim to break the cycle of inflammation, break up centers of adhesion and tension to restore proper muscle function.
At Athletes in Pain, I use slow motion video gait & posture analysis, myofascial release and training plans to rehabilitate your fascia and painful areas in your body, and video range-of-motion testing. From Olympic Athletes to people who just like to stay active, I can help you get back in the game. Call me to schedule a $25 no obligation consultation so we can see where your pain stems from and help with your pain from the source, not just masking the symptoms. The term "myofascial" was first used in the 1940's by Dr. Travell when examining the relationship between muscle and fascia. More specifically when she was describing musculoskeletal pain syndromes and trigger points. Dr. Travell later began describing specific trigger points and centers of adhesion where fascia densities and tension were most commonly observed. Later in 1983 she published "Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual." I am thanksful for Dr. Travell because Much of her work laid the foundation for many of the fascial release techniques today. Although western medicine has only been examining the impact and function of fascia for the last 70 years or so, there are many studies which demonstrate that ancient eastern forms of medicine, such as acupuncture act directly on fascia and fascial planes, in acupuncture often called meridians. It should also be noted that although the mechanisms of myofascial release are poorly understood, there is clear evidence to demonstrate the benefits. Furthermore, because fascia is continuous and contiguous, tension and fibrosis in one area can have affects on distance sites. For example, there was one anecdotal case where a woman was having pain in her knees. Her physicial therapist began to release facial centers of adhesion from the knees upward and only once the facial tissues in her shoulders and neck were released did her knee pain subside. Tension of the fascia in her neck was distributed throughout her entire body. This is not an uncommon occurrence, although typical centers of adhesion are often discovered closer to the ailing body part.  The term Myofascial Release has taken on a new meaning and understanding within the scientific community in the last 20 years. In current medical terminology, myofascial release refers mainly to soft tissue manipulation techniques that are designed to act strictly on fascia.
Direct myofascial release, or deep tissue, is performed by loading the fascia tissue with a constant and relatively significant force until the tissue release occurs, often about 3 minutes. Often therapists and practitioners use knuckles, elbows, or other tools to apply pressure and slowly stretch the fascia in different planes of motion while applying pressure. This technique is not for the faint of heart and can cause significant discomfort, however, the effects and benefits can be felt almost instantaneously. This differs from massage in the fact that specific trigger points are isolated, often only a few centimeters area, and not the entire muscle is treated. Indirect myofascial release is performed in a similar manner to direct, however, the pressure applied to the tissue is much lighter and the tissues are only gently stretched in the plane of least resistance. In general this is a more passive therapy with the aim to stimulate blood flow and allows for healing and myofascial release thru the body's own inherent mechanisms. At Athletes in Pain, I use slow motion video gait & posture analysis, myofascial release and training plans to rehabilitate your fascia and painful areas in your body, and video range-of-motion testing. From Olympic Athletes to people who just like to stay active, I can help you get back in the game. Call me to schedule a $25 no obligation consultation so we can see where your pain stems from and help with your pain from the source, not just masking the symptoms. Fascia is a complex network of connective tissues that surrounds almost every structure in the body and if irritated can cause significant problems with muscle strength and biomechanics. Myofascial release has been shown to break the cycle of inflammation and tension that fascia can impart on the body and improve biomechanics and athletic performance. Skilled and trained physical therapists and practitioners are best to help identify problem area and over see treatment. We have talked on the blog about fascia and how the function of most planes of fascia is to reduce friction and allow a muscle, or other organ in the body to move freely with minimal friction and/or drag against adjacent structures, be it bone, muscles or other organs. So basically your fascia pulls on your muscles and creates pain. But how do you fix this? It is solved by myofascial release. There are numerous different ways to release fascia, some are more gentle than others and some can be performed by yourself, other require a trained practitioner such as a sports therapist. However, it should be mentioned that for the best and most comprehensive healing, treatment should be recommended and over seen by a sports therapist.  Due to fascia's significant role in the body an individual can cause themselves harm is treatment is too vigorous or applied too regularly. Graston ART (Active Release Technique), specific types of massage and fascial manipulation by specifically trained sports therapists or physical therapists are several forms of myofascial release techniques that can be provided by and over seen by practitioners.
They each have a slightly different focus and may differ in philosophy, however, the goal is predominantly the same. In addition, there are several products designed for home use and self treatment such as Trigger Point Performance Technology. These at home products are much like "brushing your teeth," You go to the dentist regularly for a deep cleaning and to learn how best to take care of your teeth, but you still brush your teeth everyday. At Athletes in Pain, I use slow motion video gait & posture analysis, myofascial release and training plans to rehabilitate your fascia and painful areas in your body, and video range-of-motion testing. From Olympic Athletes to people who just like to stay active, I can help you get back in the game. Call me to schedule a $25 no obligation consultation so we can see where your pain stems from and help with your pain from the source, not just masking the symptoms. Are you a runner who wants to increase your mobility in Little Rock, Arkansas? Stride Right Solutions at Athletes in Pain can help! What is Stride Right Solutions? It is a slow motion gait analysis program that targets the source of your running issues. Slow motion gait analysis is paving the highway of the future in evaluating precise human movement and is the most technologically advanced system available today. Repetitive training in sports often leads to flexibility imbalances and poor stability, as well as an impairment of functional strength. Gait analysis and proper functional movement can revolutionize your athletic performance. Simply put, our gait is our way our body moves allowing us to move from point A to point B.  My slow motion video analysis system closely examines every aspect of the quality of that movement, allowing me to examine at 60 frames per second any abnormalities or obvious weak links in your chain that could lead to injuries addressing the following:
At Athletes in Pain, I use slow motion video gait & posture analysis, myofascial release and training plans to rehabilitate your fascia and painful areas in your body, and video range-of-motion testing. From Olympic Athletes to people who just like to stay active, I can help you get back in the game. Call me to schedule a $25 no obligation consultation so we can see where your pain stems from and help with your pain from the source, not just masking the symptoms. |
AuthorHello, I'm Stephe Worley, the owner of Athletes in Pain Sports Therapy Clinic. I have over 32 years of experience as a Sports Therapist. I am proud to have the privilege of working with numerous athletes throughout my career. ArchivesCategories |
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