January 21st, 2012 • Posted by Joan Cole • Permalink
Lines in the body are not mystical, they are where forces balance - Ida Rolf
Andrew Taylor Still, 19th century founder of Osteopathy, and Ida Pauline Rolf, 20th century founder of Structural Integration (Rolfing) were prescient about the importance of fascia. It took until 2007 for it to gain enough attention in the medical research world to have an international conference devoted to the subject.
In her book Rolfing, Ida Rolf stated that the, "fascial web connects and communicates throughout the body; thickened areas transmit strain in many directions and make their influence felt at distant points, much as a snag in a sweater distorts the entire sweater. This is probably the mechanism through which reflex or pressure points become manifest."
According to the International Fascia Research Congress, "Fascia is the soft tissue component of the connective tissue system that permeates the human body. It forms a whole-body continuous three-dimensional matrix of structural support. Fascia interpenetrates and surrounds all organs, muscles, bones and nerve fibers, creating a unique environment for body systems functioning."
In most anatomic displays, fascia has been removed so that viewers can see the organs, nerves and vessels. If instead the organs, muscles and bones were removed, they would see the fascial network that gives the body its three-dimensional shape and determines its boundaries.
The body is a continuous tension network, a tensegrity structure, that suspends floating compression elements (bones) in a geometric relationship to each other. The word "tensegrity," coined by Buckminster Fuller, means that the integrity depends on the balance between tension and compression, between "push" and "pull." Unlike rigid frameworks, tensegrity structures are extremely lightweight, resilient, and designed to withstand stress by distributing strain evenly to all parts of the structure simultaneously.
More recent research by scientists such as Robert Schliep and Helene Langevin shows fascia to be far less passive than was previously thought. Biomechanical properties include creep, relaxation, hysteresis (memory), and strain induced hydration changes (sponge-like behavior). Contractile cells have been found within the fascial fabric, and acupuncture points located where fascia planes or lines converge. Fascia may even provide a body wide communication network.
Because fascia tightens and shortens in response to trauma, repetitive stress and lack of movement, it can painfully restrict joint movement and blood flow. Repeated trauma can create adhesions where the fascia become stuck together, thereby creating further restriction. Tensegrity means that strain patterns are global, not local, so even though the site where pain is perceived is local, the solution can only be found by treating the global pattern.
Appropriate bodywork eliminates recurrent pain by loosening and lengthening the fascial sheaths surrounding affected muscles and joints. When combined with appropriate exercise and musculo-skeletal stabilization, bodywork will often yield permanent improvements.
