Pain and ageing are not synonyms

Fascia is all the rage

Fascia may be a new word or body organ for some of you who are reading this blog, and that’s ok! I will do my best to explain what fascia is, the different types of fascia, and how it is an important tissue that allows us to move, with the intention of this information guiding you to feel what may be going on inside your body.

Fascia is a fibrous tissue made mostly of different types of collagen. Genes and hormones code for the different types of collagen. Fascia connects muscle to bone, envelopes muscles and individual fibers, our organs, runs deep to our bones, and is the connective tissue between skin and muscles that promotes movement and glide..

Don’t make that face or you’ll stay like that forever

As we age, changes in collagen begin to occur. These changes can be associated with stiffness, reduced mobility, and it starts as early as in our mid 20’s.

Fibers of fascia become stronger and can become thicker when tensional stress is applied. Changes to fascia occur (stiffening) when areas of the body do not move for long periods of time - maintaining a posture is a form of tension on the fascia.

Multiple days, months, years following repetitive lifestyle movement habits, along with other aforementioned habits, can lead to (and in my experiences often leads to) bodies that reflect these habitual patterns. This means that the body begins to fixate itself into the postures it is in most of the time.

Have you ever had back pain? Some clients I have worked with have had instances of “throwing their back out”. It wasn’t trying to play with the dog or lift the grocery bags that caused the injury, rather it was the years of compensation and stiff tissue that lead to injury.

Did you ever have a parent tell you not to make funny faces or else it would stay that way forever? Well… they weren't too far off. Our body learns to adapt to the postures and muscular tension we place on it by helping us stay there.

We lay down collagen in response to tension and stress in an area. It is our body's way of helping us do the things we do, everyday. So, if you are sitting at a desk for multiple hours, day after day, the areas that will be tight will be the body parts associated with keeping you in that seated posture. Similarly with other habits we take on.

We can do something about this.

Nutrition - What you eat, the choices you make day to day, your stress levels, quality of sleep, all play a role and influence your body’s… including your fascia. Nutrition is a number one impact factor on our bodies and therefore fascia. This includes hydration. I will mention here that nutrition and hydration parameters are extremely individualized especially when taking into consideration a person’s own biochemistry, age, and activity level. I have been working in this field with my colleague individualizing meal plans and nutritional strategies based on biochemistry.

Soft tissue work - releasing areas that are tight with varying therapeutic tools - are essential in loosening up the chronically tight areas. This may need to be on a more regular basis in order to achieve longer term relief especially when due to chronic patterns. Have you ever heard of Gua Sha? I have different gua sha tools and personally use them on my body daily.

Manual therapy - superficial tissue work down to the deep tissue work, if available to you, is a splendid option. Manual therapy is incredibly rejuvenating for the body and when done well can break up the deeper tissue aggregates within muscles. If you have an excellent massage therapist or professional to do body work, consider calling them.

Last week I offered advice on foot rolling - if you haven’t started, try to incorporate just that into your daily or weekly routine.

This week, consider going for a walk especially if sitting is your favourite posture! If it is cold, and you prefer to stay indoors, choose to go to the gym and walk on a treadmill (not my first preference but better than not!) or practice flowing between a few easy yoga poses for 30 minutes in the day without stopping. Take some time to move your body or stretch outside of your typical daily postures.

Off to do my morning walk with my pup… my 100lb 8 month old puppy who also receives fascial therapy :D

In wellness,

Tiana