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Fascia is one of the many types of connective tissue in the body. It is the thin yet very tough tissue that surrounds every muscle, bone, nerve and organ. It is also three dimensional, meaning it infuses every muscle, bone and organ, surrounding each cell in the body. There is just one fascial structure – it is contiguous from head to toe, from just below the skin, where it is called epimysium, to the deepest layer surrounding the spinal cord and brain, called the dura. Where it surrounds bone it is called periosteum. Where it surrounds each individual muscle cell it is called endomysium. All of these structures, for which medical science has different names, are one, uninterrupted structure – the fascia.

In Myofascial Release we actually work with all the connective tissue of the body. The term “fascia”, as used in Myofascial Release is essentially synonymous with the term “connective tissue”. Even though there are over 200 different kinds of cells in the human body, these cells are organized into only four types of tissue – nerve, muscle, epithelial and connective tissue. At first glance, “connective tissue” may seem like a big catchall category of unrelated structures. It includes tendons, ligaments, the dermis of the skin, cartilage, blood and blood vessels, organs, bone, adipose tissue, and the mesh around and through the entire body that is traditionally called fascia. How can such a wide variety of structures all be the same type of tissue?

They all have the same basic ingredients.

Think of the basic ingredients of a cookie recipe – flour, sugar and butter. Always a winning combination! Add chocolate or nuts or oatmeal, and you have a different cookie, but it still contains those same basic three ingredients, and it’s still a cookie. Now think of changing the proportions of those basic ingredients. 6 cups of flour and 1 cup of butter would make a much different cookie than 6 cups of butter and 1 cup of flour! Now you have a basic understanding of how structures that seem so different are actually the same type of tissue.

The basic ingredients of connective tissue are ground substance, elastin and collagen.

Ground Substance

A transparent, normally fluid, ground substance is found in all connective tissue. It is viscous, and resembles raw egg whites in consistency and texture. It is produced by fibroblasts, which are among the earliest cells to develop in the embryo. These fluid ground substances are the immediate environment of every cell in the body, and therefore affect cellular activity. Normal cellular activity includes the passage of nutrients, wastes, gases, hormones, antibodies and white blood cells into the capillary spaces and, from there, the bloodstream. The ground substance both facilitates passage and acts as a barrier between the blood and the cells, providing a chemical filter that regulates activity. Damage to the tissue through, injury, surgery, malnutrition, trauma, fatigue, stress, etc. depletes the volume of fluid, allowing for a build-up of toxins, and altering the chemical interactions of the cells. Normal cellular activity cannot take place in this environment.

Elastin

This is the stretchy component of connective tissue. Tendons have lots of elastin. Ligaments have very little.

Collagen

The same fibroblasts that produce the ground substance also manufacture the protein collagen, giving connective tissue its strength, resiliency and structural integrity. Connective tissue is so strong that is has a tensile strength of 2000 lbs. per square inch in some areas. Collagen fibers appear in many different configurations, depending on their particular use in that area. They may be arranged in rows, sheets, or blocks, stacked, loose or dense, random or in neat formations. Collagen is abundant in all forms of connective tissue.

Together, the fluid ground substance and the particular arrangement of collagen make up the main ingredients in connective tissue. There may be other ingredients as well, such as hyaline in cartilage, or mineral salts like calcium in bone. All connective tissue has a property called piezoelectric.

Piezoelectricity is the current that runs through our bodies. It is our “juice”, our “energy”, or “life-force”. Connective tissue is the physical environment of the energy meridians used in acupuncture. Where connective tissue has become thicker, denser, or drier in response to injury or other trauma, the piezoelectricity doesn’t flow well. Energy becomes blocked. Normal cellular activity is altered. And the incredibly strong fascia binds down on nerves, blood vessels, organs, and muscles – every structure it surrounds and infuses. Pain and loss of function are the symptoms.

The fascial straight-jacket

Compare the fascia’s 2000 lbs. per square inch of tensile strength to that of muscle tissue – about 600 lbs. per square inch – and it is easy to understand how strengthening exercises, massage, or stretching will not be effective where the fascia has bound the muscle down. Think of the fascia as a straight jacket that has been shrink-wrapped around the muscle. The muscle cannot regain its’ healthy length or strength, because it simply has nowhere to go. We need to take off the straight jacket, and then work with the muscle tissue.

Think also about that straight jacket being tightened around nerves (ouch!), and the spinal cord – even the brain itself. Tightened fascia around the bladder might show up as incontinence or frequent urgency. Around the respiratory diaphragm it can show up as nausea, especially in pregnancy. Scar tissue from abdominal surgeries like C-sections and laparoscopies can bind down the ovaries and uterus, and show up as menstrual cramping, or endometriosis.

Taking off the straight-jacket

So how do we take off the straight jacket? We elicit the body’s natural piezoelectric effect, which lengthens, reorganizes and rehydrates areas of fascia that are too thick, dense, or dry.

Connective tissue, like Jello®, to use another cooking analogy, is subject to a phenomenon called thixotrophy. This means that it becomes more liquid when heated or stirred up, and more solid when allowed to sit and cool. To elicit the piezoelectric effect, we apply gentle, slow, specific pressure into areas of restriction. Too much or too fast and the body’s protective responses and holding patterns kick in. Too little only moves around the elastin. Either way, no long-term change will result.

The Time Factor

Because the pressure and stretch are gentle and designed to go “under the radar” of the body’s protective responses, another element is essential – the element of time. The tissue must be held a minimum of 90-120 seconds, and perhaps as much as 3-5 minutes, before the piezoelectric effect is elicited, and real change begins. The tissue starts to melt, and will flow three-dimensionally until a new barrier (fascial restriction) is found. We hold at this new barrier, and the next, until the area has undergone profound change.

Emotion and Fascia

It is through the fluid medium of the fascia that our cells communicate with one another. When fascia tightens down, it seems to trap emotion and memory related to the trauma as well. When we release the fascia, sometimes emotions and memories come up. This is the complete picture of true healing, and is facilitated by Myofascial UnwindingÔ. The whole body may become involved in the release, or perhaps just one part such as an arm, a leg, the neck, or an organ will “unwind.” This is the “motion of the mind” and is the natural, healthy way for the bodymind to release trauma so it can regain ease, strength and balance.