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Does Fascia Matter?
A detailed critical analysis of the clinical relevance offascia science and fascia properties
11,000 words, updated Feb 20th, 2013 Whats new?byPaul Ingraham, Vancouver, Canada
SHOW SUMMARY
ZOOM
Sheets of fascia can contract a bit like muscle but how strongly? Enough to make a difference?
Does fascia sheets and webs of connective
tissue have any properties that are relevant
to healing and therapy? Are there good
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reasons to do manual therapy (massage
particularly) that is aimed at fascia? Fascia
gets discussed in therapy offices a lot thesedays. It is supposedly the key to many a
therapeutic puzzle, and is now routinely
targeted by therapists of all kinds. But is fascia
actually important in therapy? More than any
other soft tissue?
This article questions fascia excitement from a
scientific perspective.1 Fascia enthusiasts are
rarely specific aboutwhyfascia matters, or how
exactly fascial work can help people with
common pain problems. They speak mainly
about the complexity and ubiquity of fascia, as
if those alone are good enough reasons to
focus on fascia. Attempts to get more specific
are usually sloppy. Poor clinical reasoning
about fascia seems to be common.
This problem was captured perfectly for me by
something a massage therapist said to me on
my 40th birthday in 2011. I was getting a
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massage (because I really do love massage).
The therapist was doing fascial work, of course
you cant get a massage in Vancouver thesedays without getting some. She was using
some mildly uncomfortable pulling and twisting
techniques, trying to manipulate my fascia,
instead of using the more satisfying Swedish
styles I was craving. She launched into an
awkward explanation of her technique, but
words failed her:
Well, your problem2 is fascia. The fascia is thething you have to do something with. If you fixthe fascia, everything gets more well, thefascia will make everything better.
Somehow.
Deja vu? Feel like youve seen this here
before? You probably have. This is a like newcompilation of most of the fascia writing Ivedone over the last year about four oldarticles merged into one, with some re-writing
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and new information. You can now buy a $5lecture version from Movement Lectures.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. 1.1Barely known to science!3. 1.2En garde!The fascia science challenge
4. Sloppy fascia reasoning
5. Rewritten Feb 20 '13
2.1Electrified by piezoelectricity6. 2.2Fuzzy logic: Gil Hedleys fuzz speech
7. NEW Feb 19 '132.3Idas idea about thixotropy
8. NEW Jul 31 '12
2.4The acupuncture connection: is fascia actuallymagic?
9. 2.5Not so exotic after all
10. Real fascia science that supposedlymatters
11. 3.1Fascia is much too tough to release12. NEW Feb 15 '13
3.2Release may not even be real13. 3.3Does stimulating fascia reduce post-exercise
muscle soreness?
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14. Minor update Aug 30 '12
3.4Does it matter that fascia contains muscle cells?15. Minor update Aug 30 '12
3.5Fascia strong like bull! Or mouse?
16. 3.6Do weak fascial contractions matter?17. 3.7No clinical relevance at all? Not even a teensy
bit?18. 3.8Is fascial contraction even interesting?19. 3.9What does Dr. Schleip think?
20. ConclusionsResults of the Fascia Science Challenge so far
21. 4.1To be continued
22. Appendices
23. 5.1Further Reading24. 5.2Whats new in this article?25. 5.3Notes
Barely known to science!
There is a lot of fascia research going on these
days. However, because none of that research
is clearlyclinically relevant some of it mightbe, but its all quite debatable theres also a
lot of speculating about whyfascia is
important, which leads to some claims that it
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has clinically relevant properties and functions
that are still barely known to science. For
instance, perhaps fascia can actively sinch uplike a corset around muscles, or maybe it is the
medium of a liquid crystal communication
system, or even maybe it melts like butter
when you move. Who knows!
In the history of science and medicine, guessestend to fill knowledge gaps and the guesses
usually turn out to be wrong. Exotic and new
biology is also not very usefulbiology. No one
can get safe, effective, reliable treatment
protocols out of poorly understood biology. If
you could, the biology wouldnt be poorly
understood anymore, and youd probably be
famous for pushing back the frontiers of human
knowledge.Exotic and newbiology is not also not veryuseful biology.
Some fascia research is truly intriguing, and
what many researchers are saying about fascia
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is reasonable and not an awkward reach
beyond where the data can take us.
Unfortunately, far too many therapistsfascinated by fascia are reaching beyond what
the science can actually support today way
beyond and it is doubtful that it ever will. In
some cases, in fact, we already know enough
to know that a property, even if it is confirmed,
is not really all that useful.
Please beware the implication of therapeutic
significance from scraps of basic biology. It is
easy to sound cool talking about new biology
because biology is cool. It is quite hard to make
biology useful. Few basic biology facts ever
become the basis for any kind of treatment.
Certainly a lot of fascia science is right, but I
question whether or not itmatters that it is
right.
In fact, on one occasion, a rather pedanticexperimental psychologist was telling himabout a long, complicated experiment he haddone, incorporating all the proper controls andusing considerable technical virtuosity. When
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he saw Cricks exasperated expression he said,but Dr. Crick, we have got it right we knowits right, Cricks response was, The point is
not whether its right. The point is: doesit even matterwhether its right orwrong?
V.S. Ramachandran,telling a story aboutFrancis Crick
En garde! The fascia sciencechallenge
Fascia is biologically interesting! All biology is.
But clinical relevance is the central question of
this article: if fascia science cannot
actually inform treatmentin some practical
ways, then it makes no sense to be fascinated
by it in a therapeutic context. You might as
well get excited about the biology of the
immune system, or olfaction, or epigenetics,
for all they have to do with hands-on healing.
Reader suggestions and feedback are welcome, bothcritical and supportive. However, hate mail will be
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ignored. I receive a quite a bit of hate mail on thistopic.Please think twice before you hit send.
Fascia enthusiasts routinely denounce this
article, accusing me of ignorance of the current
Science of Fascia. Thats understandable.
However, I am pretty up on massage-related
research its my full-time job so I feel
confident challenging critics to cite
even one example of fascia researchwith clear,
direct relevance to what happens in treatment.
If such a thing exists, I will be happy to publicly
discuss it, and acknowledge my oversight. I
could be wrong about fascia. I even hope that I
am. Maybe it is important to manipulate fasciaspecifically.
This article covers three main examples of
allegedly clinically relevant fascia research
below. (That may not sound like much, but the
article is already several thousand words long,so be careful what you wish for.) I will add
more in time. All three are actually good
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examples of fascia science withpoorclinical
relevance. We do not have a winner yet.
Before we get to that, though, Id like to start
with a couple stranger examples of sloppy
fascia science piezoelectricity and fuzz!
and some of the general issues with fascial
therapy.
There is a crack in everythingThats how the light gets in.
Leonard Cohen, Anthem
PART 2
SLOPPY FASCIAREASONING
Electrified by piezoelectricity
A popular notion is that piezoelectric effect
an electric charge generated by flexing crystals
is at work in fascia, and an extrapolation
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that it is also the mechanism for fascial
release. It is hardly clear that this is actually
the case. It has never been more thanspeculation. The first part is possible but
unproven. The second part goes much too far
and is demonstrably false and clearly
contradicted by modern researchers.
Crystalline properties are a pre-requisite forpeizoelectricity. To get a piezoelectric spark,
you have to have crystals. In the famous 1987
bookJobs Body which I read three times,
back in the day Juhan proposes that
connective tissue may behave like a liquid
crystal.3 A strong emphasis on may: this has
never actually been shown to be the case.
Juhan was speculating. This doesnt mean that
there is no piezoelectric effect in fascia, and
there are plenty of problems with the idea, but
its not totally out to lunch. Wedo know that
piezoelectricity sparks fly when bone is
flexed and stressed, and this guides the slow
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remodelling of bone,4 which is super cool. Its a
terribly clever system!
Its also a great example of a
clinically irrelevantbiological property. It has
nothing to do with anything a manual therapist
could ever do to a bone. It is beautifully
evolved to change bone extremely slowly in
response to extremely specific stimuli which,presumably, cannot remotely be simulated by
manual therapy. Trying to affect that system
with your hands is quite futile. Thats going to
be the case for the great majority of
physiological systems, known and unknown
even if you understand them, it doesnt mean
you can use them, or affect them with your
hands.
Maybe fascia does something similar to bone
with piezeoelectric effect. It wouldnt shockme. But no one has ever demonstrated that it
actually does. Indeed, no one has even tried to
find that property of fascia, as far as I can tell.
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Some people have run with the idea like its a
proven fact, though. For instance, James
Oschman states unequivocally andoverconfidently that connective tissue is
piezoelectric, a fact that can be used as a firm
foundation for the furtherspeculation that it
accounts for the fascial releases.5
Is this a straw man? Nope. A straw man would be
an idea that no one actually believes or takes seriously and therefore meaningless to criticize. Certainly noteveryone interested in fascia thinks that fascialpiezeoelectricity is real or important. However, enough dothat its no straw man! It may not represent the bestthinking in the field, but it is certainly out there.
And its simply inconsistent with the reality of
fascial plasticity, which we do know quite a lot
about. Theres no point in speculating
abouthow fascia responds quickly to
manipulation, because it cantand doesnt: its
too tough and slow-changing.6 In contrast to
the total absence of research into fascial
piezeoelectricity, the properties of fascial
plasticity are well studied, and there simply is
no short term change in fascia to explain! It
cant respond to the pressures of massage
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therapy any more than bone can. In addition to
the footnote, this will be substantiated in
various ways throughout the rest of the article.
Could piezoelectricity be at work in some other
way in fascia?Anythings possible. But now
were cruising into pure guess work. Do we
know anything at all about it, let alone the
physiological intricacies of such aphenomenon? Do we know why it evolved?
What it does, how it does it? Can we affect it?
And, if we dont know these things, how can we
possibly use it to devise a reliable therapy?
Obviously we cannot.
Fuzzy logic: Gil Hedleys fuzzspeech
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Another fine example of imprecise scientific
enthusiasm is Gil Hedleys extremely popular
fuzz speech. In this video with a bazillon
views, Hedley plays fast and loose with a
dissection observation: there are cobwebby
layers of fine, loose connective tissue between
thicker sheets of fascia. The anatomy is
interesting anatomy is always interesting
but Gil Hedleys interpretations are dubious.
His leaps of logic are charismatic, but also
large and precarious.
That stiff feeling you have is the solidifying of
the fuzz, Hedley confidently explains. He
thoroughly makes the case that fuzz explains
the sensation of stiffness.
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At best, that is an unsafe assumption, and one
that ignores many other highly relevant factors
like neurology, say, or the fact that heslooking at a dead person. He does not know
what happens to that tissue in a living body. In
fact, that fuzzy texture only manifestspost
mortem according to biotensegrity expert,
Dr. Steven Levin.7 This is a very interesting
passage, worth reading carefully, but note the
emphasized phrase particularly:
In Guimberteaus video, Strolling Under TheSkin, what you see there is that the fuzzystuff is really dynamic tissue that is underconstant change. Tissues dont slide, there isno shear, they reconfigure with eachmovement. The dynamics of a cell ceases withdeath. Ca++ [calcium ions] flood into the celland it stiffens thats rigor mortis. It startswithin minutes of death, as soon as thecirculating ATP [energy molecule] runs out. Thefuzz is connective tissue that is stiffened
during rigor mortis, and it doesnt happenunless you die. It occurs within minutes ofdeath, and you can almost watch it happen. Itis like snot hardening. The mucus booger thatcomes out of your nose quickly hardens and
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becomes quite stiff; at death, the mucus thatconnects all our tissues, does the same.
All that melting the fuzz is conjecture based
on misinterpreted observations on dead tissue.Even so called fresh cadavers are but poorplayers in the game of life.
Almost any amount of normal movement is
sufficient to sustain a normal range of motion.
Fuzz solidification either isnt happening ordoesnt matter, because its effortless to move
through. Also, there are other explanations for
the sensation of stiffness: better, evidence-
based, and un-fuzzy explanations. I discuss
them in some detail in Quite a Stretch.
Idas idea about thixotropy
A shabby, decades-old idea is still often
seriously cited as the explanation for howfascial therapy works: because it softens fascia
with thixotropic effect. The idea came from
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Ida Rolf (founder of Rolfing). Fascia
researcher Robert Schleip:8
Many of the current training schools whichfocus on myofascial treatment have beenprofoundly influenced by Rolf (1977). In herown work Rolf applied considerable manual orelbow pressure to fascial sheets in order tochange their density and arrangement. Rolfsown explanation was that connective tissue is
a colloidal substance in which the groundsubstance can be influenced by the applicationof energy (heat or mechanical pressure) tochange its aggregate form from a more densegel state to a more fluid sol state.
A quick look at how thixotropy works in human
physiology shows that this just doesnt add up.The thixotropic effect is nifty physiology, but
its not a therapeutic effect in itself, nor is it
the mechanism of one. Idas idea was wrong.
Thixotropy is an obscure physical property of
certain slimy body fluids that get thinner whenagitated or stressed. You can easily observe
thixotropic effect in beach sand, near the
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waters edge: stamp your feet in the sand, and
it starts to liquify.
What makes these substances gooey andslimy? Why, a family of carbohydrate molecules, ofcourse: the glycosaminoglycans. Also known as the snotmolecule. Think of any movie monster with tons of ropysaliva thats glycosaminoglycans!
Thixotropic fluids in the human body include
synovial fluid in joints, mucus, semen, and the
gelatinous and poorly-named goo called
ground substance the stuff that gristly
connective tissue fibres are embedded in like
bits of coconut in Jello. Ground substance is the
most plentiful thixotropic substance in the
body.
But thixotropy is minor, slow, and temporary,
and fascia is too tough to change.
Fascial sheets are incredibly tough, and
you cantchange their density and
arrangement quickly or easily. And thixotropy
just isnt fastenough to explain the relatively
speedy, dramatic effects on tissues that
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therapists claim to achieve. Dr. Schleip: either
much longer amounts of time or significantly
more force are required for permanentdeformation of dense connective
tissues.9 Thixotropy might slowly make fascia
morepliable, but not stretchier. If thixotropy
had the power to increase the extensibility of
connective tissue, then we would become
obviously more flexible just from sitting in a
sauna Ive tested this repeatedly and never
observed any increase in flexibility just from
being hot.10
Even if it works in some small way, thixotropic
effect is going to be temporary, fading within
seconds or minutes after hands are
removed. When the stimulationstops, so does thethixotropy, and a therapy
cant work if the affectedtissue immediately revertsto its previous state.Thixotropy
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will stop when the stimulation stops but a
therapy cant work if the affected tissue
immediately reverts to its previous state. Dr.Schleip calls this the reversibility problem
and definitely not an attractive implication of
this model for the practitioner.
Last but not least, thixotropic effect is simply
aminoreffect. Its occurring a little bit all thetime, with or without massage. Massage surely
does induce it a little, but just as surely
much less than ordinary physical activity like
with circulation. Massage therapists are very
fond of claiming that massage increases
circulation, but if it does so at all, the effect is
much smaller than what exercise does!
Perspective matters. Another similar thought
experiment: if sustained pressures or sheering
could significantly change connective tissue,
then working a chair all day long or any
long-duration posture would also deform
your fascia.
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The idea of thixotropy is hardly state-of-the-art
thinking about fascia, but it is certainly still
prevalent among therapists practicing fascially-focussed therapy, and trying to explain what
they do. Unfortunately, it was never even a
good idea in the first place, even decades ago.
The acupuncture connection: isfascia actually magic?
Another disconcertingly popular notion about
why fascia matters is that the meridians of
Chinese medicine correspond directly to fascialanatomy and function. If you polled therapists
doing fascial manipulation, I think you would
find that a great many believe that they are
doing the same thing that an acupuncturist is
doing just in a different way. They believe
that fascial therapy works for the same reasons
acupuncture works.
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Indeed, most fascial therapists probably
believe that acupuncture works. And therein
lies the problem. Unfortunately for fascialrelease therapy, acupuncture is not a good
ally: it has been failing many fair, good quality
scientific tests for years now, and is simply not
what it seems to be.
Acupuncture as we know it today is not soancient after all: its current form is a modern
invention of the pediatrician Cheng Danan (
, 1899-1957) in the early 1930s1112Formost of history, acupuncture
existed primarily as amethod of bloodletting exactly like the prescientificmedieval Europeanpractice.Before that, for most of history, itexisted primarily as a method ofbloodletting
exactly like the prescientific medieval
European practice. And then theres the myth
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of acupunctures popularity.13 Even its alleged
popularity and widespread use in China is quite
trumped up it is, for instance, not actuallyused for anaesthesia.14These are rather
embarrassing facts for acupuncture.
Acupuncture is obsolete Eastern folk medicine
propped up by Western hype and wishful
thinking. The proposed association betweenfascial meridians and the chi meridians of
traditional Chinese medicine is meaningless.
Even if meridians and all the other rubric of
acupuncture were real, though, acupuncturists
are unable to demonstrate their power clearly:
their needles are consistently no more helpful
than placebos. Even pro-acupuncture
researchers have repeatedly admitted that the
effect of the needles is small at best. And if the
acupuncturists cant manipulate these
meridians effectively enough to achieve clearly
measurable effects, why would pulling on
fascia be able to do it?
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Acupuncture lore has no business in a serious
discussion about fascia and its possible
importance in therapy.SYDoes Acupuncture Work for Pain? Areview of modern acupuncture evidence andmyths, particularly with regards to treating lowback pain and other common pain problems
Not so exotic after all
Piezoelectricity, fuzz, and fascial meridians are
three good examples of popular but poor
reasons why fascia supposedly matters. There
are other reasons, both better and worse, and
discussion of genuine fascia science is still
coming. But first I want to make it clear that
common fascia talk often fails to even reach
the level of being science-y. Despite all the
talk of exotic properties of fascia, fasciasclinical importance is usually expressed only in
terms of a couple extremely simplistic
rationales, which dont seem exotic at all:
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1. its everywhere and connects everything(well, yeah),
2. and it gets tight (not clear, see below).
A strong theme in fascial therapy is the
emphasis on the interconnectedness of
anatomy via fascia, always making the point
that pulling on any one part of fascia affects
the whole body, like pulling on the corner of asweater affects all the threads. (That sweater
analogy appears virtually everywhere online
that fascia is mentioned. It gets really
tiresome, actually. Didnt think it mattered
much ten years ago. Still dont.)
The main idea of fascial therapy is that the
stuff can get tight and restrictive, like clothing
a size too small, and needs to be released,
and that therapists can achieve this by various
methods of yanking on it. The yanking may be
extremely intense, too some flavours of
fascial therapy are among the most painful of
all hands-on techniques.15
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And thats what fascial therapy boils down to
most of the time, in the wild. I have personally
encountered lots of talking about fascia that isexactly this rudimentary and even worse,
like the example I quoted in the introduction
The fascia will make everything better! Many
therapists are perfectly capable of discussing
the topic more intelligently, of course, but low
quality reasoning and communication about
fascia is distressingly common (and my
exposure is quite extensive, due to the large
volume of email I receive).
Consider this gem of simplistic rationalization,
reported by Barrett Dorko, PT:
Restricted fascia is full of pockets. When thetissue starts to release, these pockets areopened up. When these pockets open, thesensations that were trapped in them arereleased.
Such overconfident, poor quality clinical
reasoning isnt universal just excessively
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common within the culture of fascia
enthusiasts.
Now, lets get to some real fascia science.
The greatest enemy ofknowledge is not ignorance, itis the illusion of knowledge.
Stephen Hawking
PART 3
REAL FASCIASCIENCE THATSUPPOSEDLY
MATTERS
Fascia is much too tough torelease
Manual therapists need notfeel threatened by the newsthat we cannot stretch fascia.
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If We Cannot Stretch Fascia,What Are We Doing? AliceSanvito, Massage Therapist
My original challenge to readers (in the fall of
2011) to suggest fascia science that supports
fascial therapy was kicked off with a fine
example: one that is just about the exact
opposite of what I asked for, underminding the
clinical relevance of fascia rather thansupporting it. Despite the extraordinary
number of comments I received on early
versions of this article, few readers answered
my challenge directly. Of the handful of
scientific papers that were suggested to me,
this was the most interesting:
Three-dimensional mathematical model fordeformation of human fasciae in manualtherapyChaudhry et al.Journal of the American Osteopathic
Association. Volume 108, Number 8, p379-90. Aug
2008.
The Chaudhry et al article is indeed clinically
relevant to fascial therapy but not in a
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supportive way. This fascia science actually
contradicts the big idea of fascial therapy.
The main pointof manipulating fascia16 is
tophysically change it in some way to
achieve what is usually described as a
release. Although the concept of release may
correspond to some other physiological
phenomenon another discussion itcertainly cannot be explained in general by
physically changing the fascia.
What Chaudhry and colleagues showed is that
fascia is much too tough to release"
(mechanical deformation17) by stretching it.
Although they oddly imply in their summary
that it might be possible to do so with the
superficial nasal fascia, the main textof the
paper makes it clear that even that thin tissue
is extremely tough, and would only
mechanically deform if subjected to
surprisingly intense forces. This is consistent
with well-established properties of fascia,
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namely that its extremelytough stuff.
Collagen is like that.
If I could write my own conclusion to this
paper, it would go more like this:
CONCLUSION: You cannot change thestructure of fascia, because it is tougher thanKevlar. If the stuff were thicker, people wouldbe bulletproof.18
CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: If you want tophysically change someone's fascia by force,you're going to have to get medieval. Thisdirectly contradicts a major popular rationalefor fascial manipulation.
This paper is only clinically relevant to fascialtherapy insofar as it presents evidence that
discourages and undermines existing common
practices and beliefs. Therefore, perhaps it was
a poor choice to cite it in this context.
Its also just old news that fascia is too tough tochange. For instance, Dr. Robert Schleip
debunked the idea in his 2003 paper about
fascial plasticity, and if you dont take his word
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for it a well-respected fascia researcher
then whose opinion would be credible enough?
He dismisses the traditional explanations ofthixotropy and peizoelectric-effect-mediated
adaptation, and thoroughly describes fascial
toughness. He concludes that plastic fascial
change in response to moderate loading is
impossible to conceive.19
As strongly stated as that may be, Ill go even
further. Dr. Schleip (and virtually everyone
else) assumes that release is a real thing
that needs explaining. Im not so sure
Release may not even be real
In the context of fascial therapy, a release is:
a palpable, relatively quick change in
tissue texture
clinically meaningful (makes some kindof real difference to the patient)
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somewhat lasting (if it didnt last, whatwould be the point?)
somewhat predictable (that is, itshappening because of treatment)
And fascial therapists more or less
unanimously assume that its fascia,
specifically, that is doing the releasing.
No doubt the first thing a quick change intexture happens in the course of manual
therapy. It is notsafe to assume the rest,
though. And whats left of the concept of a
release if you take away the clinically
meaningful, lasting, and predictable parts?
What if itsjusta change in texture, a bit of
movement under the skin?
Yes, I do have experience. Many readers accuse me ofhaving no practical experience with patients, when inmany cases I clearly have more (and better) than they do.Not that its a contest, but its just so deeply ironic andamusing when people assume that the only possibleexplanation for my opinions is that I must not have anywork experience as a massage therapist. I have a decadeof it, and this fact is readibly available in my bio.
In my many years working as a massage
therapist, I felt various and sundry ripplings,
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twitchings, and shifts under the skin. But in
order to qualify as releases, those
movements should have correlated stronglywith my intentions and with the patients
experience. Sometimes they did, but often they
did not. So I always thought they were really
quite random, occurring with great variety
pretty much no matter what I did, or what
patients reported.20 So while I certainly felt
something change, I rarely thought of those
changes as a meaningful release.
Dr. Schleips 2003 paper about fascial plasticity
basically just said that fascia is too tough to
change, but muscle may react to touch and
pressures, and that this is probably mediated
by sensory nerve endings in all soft tissues.
This is hardly surprising it basically just
means that people react when poked and
prodded and it doesnt really have anything
to do with fascia in particular, except insofar as
fascia has nerves in it, just like everything else.
We have no idea whether or not any of that
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actually constitutes a meaningful mechanism
for a therapy. I can also make someone
twitch their quadriceps by bonking theirpatellar tendon: does it matter, other than as a
test of the reflex itself?
Releases are probably mostly just trivial tissue
noise in the hands-on experience, not a
pivotal event in therapy. Or, if they are moremeaningful, they are nearly impossible to
interpret. Its not that nothings going on its
that nothing in particularand knowable is
going on. But we have trouble grappling with
that, so we round it off to something more
specific and definite and meaningful, an
oversimplification that is more poetic than
biologic. I have no objection to using release
as a description of an experience, but I think it
is quite misleading to pretend that it describes
a particular biological event with clinical
meaning and value which is exactlyhow
most therapists imagine it, which is the only
thing that really needs explaining. (And thats
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not difficult: it boils down to a thick stew of
good intentions, ego, and the human habit of
imposing simplistic explanations on chaoticsystems.)
Funny. Not actually possible. But funny!(Drawing byClaude Serre.)
Does stimulating fascia reducepost-exercise muscle soreness?
Perhaps but the clinical relevance
ofthis data is tenuous at best so low that Iwould never normally be interested in this
paper. In fact, I would never have chosen to
read it myself, because I dont think its good
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enough science. I spent some time on it only as
an gesture of good faith to a critic, who
supplied the paper as an example of basicfascia science that matters. It was probably not
a good choice for that purpose.
In vitro modeling of repetitive motion injuryand myofascial releaseMeltzer et al.Journal of Bodywork & Movement
Therapies. Volume 14, Number 2, p162-71. Apr 2010.
This is a test tube study showing that naked
cells handled stress better (fewer signs of
harm) if they were treated with simulated
myofascial release (MFR). A meaningful,
accurate simulation of manual therapy onnaked cells is an amusing notion, and its clear
that what happened to those cells differs
dramatically from what would happen in a real
living body.
Even if true and reproducible, this data wouldmainly support the rationale for MFR
specifically forpost-exercise soreness
something of a dead end for clinical relevance,
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because exercise-induced soreness has little to
do with the main claims of fascial release
therapy, which primarily concerns correctingpostural asymmetries, eliminating alleged
restrictions, and treating chronic pain.
Post-exercise soreness is comparatively trivial,
and patients usually dont seek therapy for
it.21 Theres a lot of research showing thatexercise-induced soreness is basically
invincible anyway.22A meaningful,accurate simulation ofmanual therapy on naked
cells is an amusing notion.Forthis property of fascia to be clinically relevant,
it would have to imply that MFR might be able
to treat chronic pain from other causes not
the transient annoyance of soreness after a
game of soccer.
This isnt a rejection ofall possible clinical
relevance of the data. My point is that there
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are so many problems that its relevance is
watered down to quite a thin sauce way too
thin.
I do concede that the paper shows some
evidence that fibroblasts have interesting and
perhaps positive responses to mechanical
forces. That is inherently interesting biology,
and perhaps well worth investigating further but its a long reach to postulate any clinical
relevance to what most therapists do, most of
the time, with patients fascia.
Reach is what the authors do, however. I
suspect they are deeply interested in validating
the notion that fascia is important, because
they seem to be seeking evidence to support
their pre-conceptions typical ofThe National
Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine-funded research, and a hallmark oflow quality science. Its quite likely that if
neutral researchers with no interest in
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fascial therapy did this experiment they
would not get or report the same results.
Does it matter that fascia containsmuscle cells?
The next example of fascia science was
suggested to me by Gil Hedley. Since he clearly
believed me to be ignorant of fascia science
and in dire need of educating, I asked him to
recommend some reading to me a favourite
paper showing something interesting and
clinically relevant about fascia. As expected, herecommended a paper I was already familiar
with, because it is something of a classic of
fascia science: Robert Schleips 2006
dissertation on the contractile properties of
fascia. Much more interesting stuff than the
previous two examples. I will get into much
more detail about this paper than the first two.
Fascia is able to contract in a smooth muscle-like manner and thereby influence
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musculoskeletal mechanicsSchleip et al.Proceedings of the 5th World Congressof Biomechanics, Munich. Volume, Number, p51-54.2006.
Schleip and colleagues convincingly showed
that fascia contains muscle cells and that they
can contract slowly and weakly. That is
undeniably interesting biology! But the point of
this analysis is to ask: Does it
even matterwhether its right or wrong? Is it
clinically relevant? Does it improve how we do
therapy? Can we use the knowledge to affect
the body with hands? That is the question.
It is also a question that Dr. Schleip and hiscolleagues have addressed themelves on their
website, FasciaResearch.de. What follows is my
own analysis, which is generally consistent with
theirs. However, interested readers should
definitely have a look at theirarticle: it is
readable and chock full of useful perspective,
answering questions like Does fascia contract
in response to emotional stress? and Can
fascia contract on its own?
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Fascia Contractility FAQ, a webpage onwww.fasciaresearch.de.
Important update: Dr. Schleip has read thisarticle and corresponded with me about it
amiably, and expressed clear agreement with
my main point. Although he also had some
thoughtful criticisms, we agree on what
matters, and he shares my frustration with
clinical overconfidence in fascia. I invited him
to make a statement for my readers about this:
look for it at the end of this part of the
discussion.
Fascia strong like bull! Or mouse?
Before we get to clinical relevance, Ill quickly
explain what Schleip et al. found: a kind of
muscle cell in rat fascia, which they described
as rather unexpected.23 They also tried out
various methods of stimulating them in
vitro (test tube) and found that, by golly, those
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muscle cells did what muscle cells do: they
contracted! Slow, weak contractions. But they
contracted.
Perspective
By any measure, fascial contractionsare dramatically less powerful than muscular
contractions. If anything, this diagram gives fartoo much credit to the power of fascia, which
would barely register at all if depictedmore accurately.
Its certainly not difficult research to
understand.
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Some important context that fascia fans will
appreciate: for a long time, fascia was and
often still is incorrectlythought of as a fairlylifeless, inert substance, the Saran Wrap of
biology. I still hear various educated people
referring to it in this way. However, massage
therapists and chiropractors (in particular) are
prone to swinging to the opposite extreme and
talking about fascia as though it is more
interesting than a lifetime subscription
to National Geographic. The truth is
somewhere in the middle.24 Dr. Schleips
research demonstrates this. Fascia is not inert.
But neither is it all that lively at least not in
terms of contractility. We are not talking about
a lotof muscle cells here. If you had
blueberries with your cereal in the same
proportion, youd be disappointed not
enough blueberries! Its just a few muscle cells
scattered throughout the fascia. Theres so few
that they are visible only when you
look veryclosely and injustthe right way.
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Nor are we talking about particularly strong
contractions. Fascia isnt going to be ripping
apart any chains with its bare hands. Themaximum force generated by a small bundle of
contractile rat fascia was around 35mN.25 In
plain English thats not very dang much or
the somewhat more precise about what it
takes to set an AA battery rolling on a nice
smooth surface. (It took me a long time to
work that out. I have a weird job.) Thats not
bad for a bundle of rat fascia, perhaps, but it
doesnt really hold a candle to middle-of-the-
night charlie horses either.
Compared to the power of muscle contraction,
fascia power barely even registers.
The bull versus mouse comparison is a little
unfair though, because its not just a matter
ofstrong versus weak. Although fascialcontractions may be weak compared to
muscles, they could nevertheless
bepowerful in another way their effects
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might, for instance, accumulate over time to
produce contractures (permanent seizing up
of tissues). So its still worth considering howthese contractions might be clinically relevant.
Do weak fascial contractionsmatter?
Schleip et al.s basic finding seems sound
enough, and I see no reason at this time to
dispute the observation that fascia can
contract. If theres anything wrong with their
research methods, I dont know what it is. Butfor the property they described to matter to
therapists who are choosing to focus their
therapeutic attention on fascia
for anybiological property to be clinically
relevant it must be significant enough to
have an effect on health. (It then must also be
something that we can do something about,
but lets start with it mattering in the first
place.)
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Schleip et al. characterized the raw power of
fascial contraction quite differently than I just
did. I deliberately made it sound trivial, withinthe bounds of their numbers.26 In their words,
however, in the large sheets of fascia in the
low back, the contraction could be strong
enough to influence low back stability
and other aspects of human
biomechanics.
Stability? Even if you exaggerate their
numbers, they would still only account for a
small fraction of the postural muscle power
involved in dynamic spinal stabilization, never
mind the generally mind-blowing structural
toughness and resilience of the human spine.
The idea that low back stability could be
affected in any way by such a small, slow-
motion force is a bit much for me to
swallow.2728And thats based on an estimate of
the theoretical maximum force generated by
the biggest, thickest blankets of fascia in
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human anatomy. In most places in the body,
fascia is much less substantial tough for its
weight, but mostly quite thin and wispy, and alot of it even microscopic.29 The forces
generated must be dwarfed by that of muscle
itself in rough proportion to the number and
size of contractile cells involved.
That fascial contractions might influence other
aspects of human biomechanics is a bit
vague. A general example of such aspects
might be that contracting fascia could be
involved in biomechanical asymmetries
tighter on one side than the other. The validity
of such a concern depends on just how
sensitive you think human biomechanics are to
forces so subtle that no one really had any idea
that fascia contraction was even happening
before this study. As regular readers here will
know, I think biomechanics are over-rated as afactor in all kinds of pain problems, and theres
extensive evidence that human beings are
wonderfully adaptable and cope surprisingly
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well even with gross deformities, never mind
subtle assymetries and imbalances. I make
that case in great detail in another article.30The wording of the conclusions of Schleip et
al.s paper is synonymous with saying that
fascial contraction is relevant
only ifstructuralism is a useful mode for doing
and thinking about therapy. Also, their
phrasing shows a strong bias in favour of the
importance of fascia. And the study was
funded by the International Society of
Biomechanics, the Rolf Institute of Structural
Integration, and the European Rolfing
Association.31
Weak, slow fascial contractions strike me as
being scientifically valid and interesting, but
clinically minor. Once again, far from making
me interested in fascia as a target for therapy,
fascia science is convincing me of just the
opposite.
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No clinical relevance at all? Noteven a teensy bit?
If it makes anyone feel better about all this, Im
happy to concede that fascial contractility
might be a little bit clinically relevant. Other
evidence might even reveal something
important although that would surprise me.
It doesnt hurt my main point to make these
concessions. To make mypoint, all I have to
establish is that the clinical relevance is
debatable and probably minor at best, rather
than the slam dunk it would have to be to
support even half of the excitement aboutfascia you see in the therapy industry today.32
What about fascia and trigger points?Schleip etal. dont bring trigger points (muscle knots) into thisdiscussion, but a lot of other people certainly have. Thenotion is that a trigger point is being squeezed andsustained by clenching fascia, but this clinical conceptsuffers even more than other examples from the relative
weakness of fascial contractions. I explore this specificclaim of clinical relevance in detail in my trigger pointstutorial.
In his original dissertation, Schleip limited his
speculation about clinical implications to the
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broad generalization that it can influence
musculoskeletal mechanics, such as spinal
stability. In a follow-up paper for MedicalHypotheses,33 he and several colleagues
generally suggest that fascial contractility is a
factor in muscle stiffness. The high water mark
for potential clinical relevance is spelled out in
this passage:
This offers the possibility of a newunderstanding for many pathologies thatinvolve a chronically increased myofascialtonus. Examples include conditions such astorticollis, low back pain associated withparaspinal compartment syndrome, tension
headaches, and others. Similarly a decreasedfascial tone could be a contributing factor inconditions that are often associated withdecreased myofascial tension, such as in backpain due to segmental spinal instability,peripartum pelvic pain, or fibromyalgia. Whileusually other factors play a major role aswell in these pathologies, it is possible thattheir progress could be influenced additionallyby the regulation of fascial tissue tone
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The emphasized phrase is key its an
understatement. For instance, other factors
dont usually play a major role in thoseconditions, they always do. And the role of
those factors isnt just major, but probably
nearly total relative to the
presumably minor(and still unconfirmed)
contribution of a little fascial tension. Some of
the items listed are particularly implausible to
me. Ive already mentioned how hyperbolic it is
to suggest that fascia could have any serious
impact on spinal stability.
Another peculiar item here is fibromyalgia, a
fascinating condition that might conceivably be
affected in some small way by fascial
contraction, but which is overwhelmingly a
nasty disease of the nervous system.
Suggesting it as a main example34 of how
fascial contraction might matter makes about
as much sense to me as saying that people
with cancer might have some contracted fascia
would it matter if they did?
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The most interesting item listed is
compartment syndrome, which is
decidedly nota common complication or causeof back pain, but certainly is a problem
(especially in the shins).35 Compartment
syndrome is excessive pressure in a fascial
compartment, like a sausage swollen in its
wrapping. If fascia were to start squeezing a
compartment for some reason, it might be a
problem. It is the one item listed where there is
a clear, direct and logical connection between
fascia can contract and a way that it could
contribute significantly to a health
problem. Thatis clinical relevance. And yet
there is still a clear problem with the scale of
the forces here. Compartment syndrome is by
definition only a problem when the pressure is
significant,probably dramatically exceeding
the maximum force with which fascia couldsqueeze the compartment. Visualize a hot
water heater that isnt venting pressure the
valve is busted, and its in danger of blowing.
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The pressure inside is immense, and it would
make no practical difference if the hot water
heater itself was a little larger or smaller.Again, fascial contraction is probably not nearly
strong enough to matter. Still, at least its easy
to see how it could matter in principle, and the
numbers mightfavour fascial contraction as
factor.
So you see how this goes: for one candidate
example after another, the clinical relevance of
fascial contraction is dubious or minor.
Is fascial contraction eveninteresting?
One of the lower moments in biology history
was the labelling of non-coding DNA as junk
DNA in 1972. The first time anyone with ascrap of imagination heard that, they thought,
Yeah, right. As biologists slowly figured out
what all that junk is for,36 there was a lot of
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Well, yeah, okay, thats more like it. Of
course. Its interesting science, but in some
ways those discoveries are still overshadowedby the way were all not so very surprised.
Similarly, the presence of muscle cells in fascia
is no shocker. I never believed fascia was
entirely inert any more than I believed in the
junkiness of any DNA. If you spend much time
studying biology, it quickly becomes apparent
that there are no sharp lines or divisions, and
that we consist of an incomprehensibly diverse
and interconnected community of
cells. That connective tissue
has a small population ofmuscle cells strikes me asblindinglyunsurprising.Muscleblends exquisitely into tendon, with no clear
demarcation at the cellular level: at the
microscopic level, its like walking through the
overlapping zone of two heavily integrated
adjacent neighbourhoods, and the further you
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go away from the muscle, the fewer muscle
cells you see, and the more fibroblasts and
their fibres. That connective tissue has a smallpopulation of muscle cells strikes me as
blindingly unsurprising. Fascia surrounds and
fractally wraps every muscle inside and out, for
crying out loud how could it nothave a few
muscle cells and overlapping properties?
I didnt know that before it was confirmed, but I
certainly dont find it particularly surprising. I
suspect that the slightly contractile properties
of fascia are simply at one end of a continuum
of motor function. Our muscular system is
overwhelmingly our primary means of reacting
to stimuli the major output of our nervous
systems and in general terms the slight
contractility of fascia is probably just the
fringes of that functionality, a little bit more of
the same. There are probably some subtle
differences, but they are subtle and arcane and
ultimately just a slight variation on the
biological theme ofmuscularity. Im not saying
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its completely uninteresting, but its
overshadowed by the much more interesting
muscular system as a whole, about whichfascia is simply a mildly intriguing subtopic.
And, in terms of clinical relevance, the
muscular system itself is in turnovershadowed
by neurology.
What does Dr. Schleip think?
Recently Dr. Schleip read my article and wrote
to express his basic agreement with my key
point about his research: Your comments onthe small size of fascial contractions are right
on, at least when viewing these within the
periods of seconds to minutes, as is usually
applicable for bodywork techniques. He also
wanted me to know that he shares my
annoyance with the over-zealous claims and
projections of therapists doing fascial work.
He is not thrilled with the way his research is
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being used to justify premature overconfidence
in fascial therapy.
He also offered some thoughtful criticism on
some specific points (and I made some
changes, and will probably make more).
Nevertheless, he had no major objections, and
was generally pleased with what he read here:
You have my respect for your detailed andcritical analysis of the present work on fascia.
Most of the people who criticize you have not
done a portion of your reading work and could
certainly learn a lot from the debate you
started.
I invited him to make a statement for my
readers about this. Here is it in full, with some
emphasized highlights:
I share your emotional frustration with
the current trend among bodyworkers ofattributing anything wonderful orastonishing to the properties of fascia. Infact, our Fascia Research Group at UlmUniversity has been receiving an almostexponentially increasing number of inquiries
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from enthusiastic healers (and martial artteachers) worldwide who wish that we wouldsanctify their claims that fascial contraction
provides the explanation for their observedmiracle powers. While I do tend to believe thatthe fascial net plays much larger roles inhuman functioning than previously assumed inorthopedic medicine, I am afraid that suchover-zealous claims and projections areundermining the seriousness of theinvestigationand academic rigor thatcharacterizes the work of the current leaders infascia research, such as P. Huijing, H. Langevin,T. Findley, P. Standley and A. Vleeming.
As a bodywork clinician myself, I have learnedthat there is hardly a more dangerousattitude among therapists than the hero
healer/manipulator who is damn sureabout his diagnosis and supposedtreatment effects . This of course applies asmuch to fascia-oriented therapists as it does tothose who base their work on supposedneuromuscular or other physiological effects,
most of which are still unproven. There
is hardly a more dangerousattitude among therapiststhan the hero healer who is
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damn sure about hisdiagnosis & supposed
treatment effects.While scientistscan learn a whole lot from the intuitive andexperiential wisdom of complementarytherapists, particularly about the non-fragmented and connecting properties of thefascial net, we bodyworkers can learn at leastas much from the careful, questioning
approach of good scientists, who are willingto doubt their own assumptions and torefrain from premature confidence andover interpretation of their findings. It isthis mutual learning and interdisciplinaryenrichment which in my opinion characterizesthe best qualities of the current fascia research
field, as expressed in the international FasciaCongress series and associated activities.
Again, Dr. Schleip and I do not agree about
everything but that is unimportant
compared to our shared values and
commitment to cautiously reservingjudgement. We have each placed our bets on
this topic, but not closed our minds. I fully
support and endorse his enthusiasm to explore
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the biology and he supports and endorses
the value of my critical analysis.
PART 4
CONCLUSIONS
Results of the FasciaScience Challenge so far
Piezeoelectricity may occur in fascia,but its clinical relevance is nil not enoughis known about it to even speculate abouthow it could be exploited in manual therapy.
Gil Hedleys theory that congealingfascial fuzz causes stiffness issimplistic and wrong. It is not a plausibleexplanation for the sensation of stiffness, ora mechanism of action for fascial therapy orstretching.
Fascial meridians relate fascialtherapy to the meridians of acupuncture,which dont exist or even if they do
cant actually be exploited for anytherapeutic effect even by acupuncturists.
Chaudhry et al showed that fascia istoo tough to release. Indeed, even thinfascia is so tough that it is basically
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inconceivable that it could be physicallychanged (stretched, loosened) without vicegrips. This directly contradicts a major
popular rationale for fascial manipulation,and is only clinically relevant to fascialtherapy insofar as it presents evidence thatdiscourages and undermines existingcommon practices and beliefs.
Meltzer et al concluded that stimulatedfibroblasts might be happier
fibroblasts specifically, they might bemore resistant to post-exercise soreness.The results of this test tube study arequestionable, but even if you take the dataand interpretation at face value, it is a longreach from a test tube study to clinicalreality. Treating post-exercise muscle
soreness is not even a common goal formanual therapy.
Schleip et al established that fascia iscontractile to a trivial degree, but not thatit matters. It is somehat unsurprisingbiologically, and clinically trivial. It is not afactor in any of the common problems most
manual therapists work with maybe noneat all and even if it was it is somewhatunlikely that hands-on therapy could relax it.
http://saveyourself.ca/bibliography.php?meltzerhttp://saveyourself.ca/bibliography.php?meltzerhttp://saveyourself.ca/bibliography.php?meltzerhttp://saveyourself.ca/bibliography.php?schleip-fascia-contractionhttp://saveyourself.ca/bibliography.php?schleip-fascia-contractionhttp://saveyourself.ca/bibliography.php?schleip-fascia-contractionhttp://saveyourself.ca/bibliography.php?meltzerhttp://saveyourself.ca/bibliography.php?schleip-fascia-contraction7/30/2019 Does Fascia Matter
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To be continued
There is more fascia science, and I will extend
this article with more analysis in the future. I
honestly hope that there is clinically relevant
fascia science that would be terrific. So far,
however, I see no good reason for therapists to
be fascinated by fascia and to make it a target
tissue.
Other alleged fascial properties and clinical
relevance issues I intend to address eventually
(definitely not a complete list):
The claim that connective tissue is acolloidal substance in which the groundsubstance can be melted by heat ormechanical deformation (thixotropy), andthat this is the basis of a therapeuticrelease. Done February 2013.
The claim that fascia is a liquid crystal.
While it certainly has some elements of truthin it, the relevance to therapy is extremelydubious. This is closely related to thepiezeoelectricity claim already covered bythe article, but there is more to say about
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the liquid crystal idea specifically. DoneFebruary 2013.
The claim that fascia containsmemories in some sense. I will likelydispute both the property and its relevance.
The claim that fascia is structurallyimportant and tensegrity is interesting(agree), and that this is clinically relevant(disagree). Much of my rebuttal on this score
already exists in my articleabout structuralism.
PART 5
APPENDICES
Further Reading
SYYour Back Is Not Out and Your LegLength is Fine The story of the obsessionwith crookedness in physical therapy andtreatment for chronic pain.
http://saveyourself.ca/articles/structuralism.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/structuralism.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/structuralism.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/structuralism.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/about-salamander.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/structuralism.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/structuralism.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/structuralism.php7/30/2019 Does Fascia Matter
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SYPain is an Opinion What recentpain science can do for your chronic painright now. The role of the nervous system in
chronic pain is the major alternative tofocussing on fascia. It has much clearerclinical relevance.
SYDoes Massage Therapy Work? Areview of the science of massage therapy such as it is.
SYTrigger Points & Myofascial PainSyndrome A guide to the science ofmuscle pain, with reviews of every possibleself-treatment and therapy option, even forthe most difficult cases. Includes a sectionon the relationship between fascia andtrigger points (e-book customers only).
Greg Lehman, a chiropractor andphysiotherapist has a thoughtful new fasciaarticle, Fascia Science: Stretching thepower of manual therapy.
Todd Hargrove, a Rolfer and writer(BetterMovement.org), has a good postonfascia and foam rolling and fascia underthe microscope.
If We Cannot Stretch Fascia, What AreWe Doing?, a webpage on www.massage-stlouis.com. Massage therapist Alice
http://saveyourself.ca/articles/pain-is-an-opinion.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/pain-is-an-opinion.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/reality-checks/does-massage-work.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/reality-checks/does-massage-work.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/tutorials/trigger-points.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/tutorials/trigger-points.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/tutorials/trigger-points.phphttp://www.thebodymechanic.ca/http://www.thebodymechanic.ca/http://www.thebodymechanic.ca/2012/10/26/fascia-science-stretching-the-relevance-of-the-gluteus-maximus-and-latissimus-dorsi-sling/http://www.thebodymechanic.ca/2012/10/26/fascia-science-stretching-the-relevance-of-the-gluteus-maximus-and-latissimus-dorsi-sling/http://www.bettermovement.org/http://www.bettermovement.org/http://www.bettermovement.org/2011/fascia-pixels-picture-pinker/http://www.bettermovement.org/2011/fascia-pixels-picture-pinker/http://www.bettermovement.org/2011/fascia-pixels-picture-pinker/http://www.massage-stlouis.com/if-we-cannot-stretch-fascia-what-are-we-doinghttp://www.massage-stlouis.com/if-we-cannot-stretch-fascia-what-are-we-doinghttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/pain-is-an-opinion.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/reality-checks/does-massage-work.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/tutorials/trigger-points.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/tutorials/trigger-points.phphttp://www.thebodymechanic.ca/http://www.thebodymechanic.ca/http://www.thebodymechanic.ca/2012/10/26/fascia-science-stretching-the-relevance-of-the-gluteus-maximus-and-latissimus-dorsi-sling/http://www.thebodymechanic.ca/2012/10/26/fascia-science-stretching-the-relevance-of-the-gluteus-maximus-and-latissimus-dorsi-sling/http://www.bettermovement.org/http://www.bettermovement.org/http://www.bettermovement.org/2011/fascia-pixels-picture-pinker/http://www.bettermovement.org/2011/fascia-pixels-picture-pinker/http://www.bettermovement.org/2011/fascia-pixels-picture-pinker/http://www.massage-stlouis.com/if-we-cannot-stretch-fascia-what-are-we-doinghttp://www.massage-stlouis.com/if-we-cannot-stretch-fascia-what-are-we-doing7/30/2019 Does Fascia Matter
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Sanvitos clear summary of Dr. RobertSchleips theory that fascial release maybe attributable to changes in muscle tone
stimulated by mechanoreceptors in fasciaand other soft tissues, and not by plasticdeformation of fascia.
Whats new in this article?
Rewritten (Feb 20 '13, section #2.1) A
major editing job, particularly to include the
much more specific idea that piezoelectricity
accounts for releases. See section
#2.1,Electrified by piezoelectricity.
New section (Feb 19 '13, section
#2.3) No notes. Just a new section. See
section #2.3,Idas idea about thixotropy.
New section (Feb 15 '13, section
#3.2) No notes. Just a new section. Seesection #3.2,Release may not even be real.
Minor update (Jan 31 '13) Several minor
additions and edits.
http://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_piezohttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_piezohttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_thixotropyhttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_thixotropyhttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_thixotropyhttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_releasehttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_releasehttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_releasehttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_piezohttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_piezohttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_thixotropyhttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_thixotropyhttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_thixotropyhttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_releasehttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_releasehttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_release7/30/2019 Does Fascia Matter
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Minor update (Aug 30 '12, section
#3.5) Added some acknowledgement that
fascia contractility may still have some slow-motion power even if it is quite weak. Ill
probably expand on this soon. See section
#3.5, Fascia strong like bull! Or mouse?
Minor update (Aug 30 '12, section
#3.4) Added a very useful link toFasciaResearch.de. See section #3.4, Does it
matter that fascia contains muscle cells?
New section (Jul 31 '12, section
#2.4) No notes. Just a new section. See
section #2.4,The acupuncture connection: is
fascia actually magic?
Major update (Jul 25 '12) Article launched
as a compilation of about four previous articles
on this topic, with revisions and some new
information.
Notes
http://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_stronghttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_stronghttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_stronghttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_contracthttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_contracthttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_contracthttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_contracthttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_acupuncturehttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_acupuncturehttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_acupuncturehttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_acupuncturehttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_stronghttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_stronghttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_stronghttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_contracthttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_contracthttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_contracthttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_contracthttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_acupuncturehttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_acupuncturehttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_acupuncturehttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#sec_acupuncture7/30/2019 Does Fascia Matter
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1. It is quite negative. I have fun takingtherapy seriously. Criticism and deconstruction ofideas is normal and healthy and necessary fortherapy professions to grow and change.BACK TO TEXT
2. I didnt actually have any problem. It wassupposed to be a relaxation massage, in a spa.
Yes, she was a Registered Massage Therapist awell-trained and fully certified massage therapist.And thats probably exactly why she feltcompelled to strut her stuff and troubleshoot
my case and talk about fascia.BACK TO TEXT
3. Juhan.Jobs Body. 1998. amazon.com JobsBodyis essentially a physiology textbook withimagination and a soul. Its a hard read, butequally rewarding. On the other hand, Juhanprobably takes some his speculation too far too be
useful or accurate.BACK TO TEXT
4. The full details of how bone responds tostress are spelled out in Dr. HaroldFrostsMechanostat model. For more information,seeTissue Provocation Therapies.BACK TO TEXT
5. This kind of (wild) speculation is hardlyunusual for Oschman: his writings are lacedwith much stranger ideas.BACK TO TEXT
http://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#ref1http://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#ref2http://saveyourself.ca/bibliography.php?juhhttp://www.amazon.com/Jobs-Body-Handbook-Bodywork-Third/dp/1581770995/ref=sr_1_1http://www.amazon.com/Jobs-Body-Handbook-Bodywork-Third/dp/1581770995/ref=sr_1_1http://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#ref3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah-Paradigm_of_Bone_physiologyhttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/tissue-provocation-therapies.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#ref4http://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#ref5http://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#ref1http://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#ref2http://saveyourself.ca/bibliography.php?juhhttp://www.amazon.com/Jobs-Body-Handbook-Bodywork-Third/dp/1581770995/ref=sr_1_1http://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#ref3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah-Paradigm_of_Bone_physiologyhttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/tissue-provocation-therapies.phphttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#ref4http://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#ref57/30/2019 Does Fascia Matter
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6. Dr. Robert Schleip, from his 2003article, Fascial plasticity: a new neurobiologicalexplanation:
The half-life span of non-traumatized collagen hasbeen shown to be 300500 days, and the half-lifeof ground substance 1.77 days (Cantu & Grodin1992). While it is definitely conceivable that theproduction of both materials could be influencedby piezoelectricity, both life cycles appear tooslow to account for immediate tissue changes that
are significant enough to be palpated by theworking practitioner.
BACK TO TEXT
7. The quoted passage is from my personalcorrespondence with Dr. Levin, and is used withhis permission. For information about Dr. Levinswork, see Biotensegrity: A new way of modelingbiologic forms.BACK TO TEXT
8. Schleip. Fascial plasticity: a newneurobiological explanation.Journal of Bodywork& Movement Therapies. 2003.BACK TO TEXT
9.
Heres Dr. Schleips full reasoning from hisarticle, Fascial plasticity: a new neurobiologicalexplanation:
In most systems of myofascial manipulation, theduration of an individual stroke or technique on a
http://www.somatics.de/FascialPlasticity/main.htmhttp://www.somatics.de/FascialPlasticity/main.htmhttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#ref6http://www.biotensegrity.com/http://www.biotensegrity.com/http://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#ref7http://www.somatics.de/FascialPlasticity/main.htmhttp://www.somatics.de/FascialPlasticity/main.htmhttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#ref8http://www.somatics.de/FascialPlasticity/main.htmhttp://www.somatics.de/FascialPlasticity/main.htmhttp://www.somatics.de/FascialPlasticity/main.htmhttp://www.somatics.de/FascialPlasticity/main.htmhttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#ref6http://www.biotensegrity.com/http://www.biotensegrity.com/http://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#ref7http://www.somatics.de/FascialPlasticity/main.htmhttp://www.somatics.de/FascialPlasticity/main.htmhttp://saveyourself.ca/articles/does-fascia-matter.php#ref8http://www.somatics.de/FascialPlasticity/main.htmhttp://www.somatics.de/FascialPlasticity/main.htm7/30/2019 Does Fascia Matter
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