What is Fascia?

The next time you peel an orange and you see the white fuzzy stuff that attaches the fruit to the skin and also envelopes each part of the citrus fruit right down to the middle, you are observing fascia.
Fascia is the biological fabric that surrounds every structure in the body and invests most of them. Without this fabric 70% of our body that is water would end up as a puddle on the floor. Without the fascia to organize them, our 70 trillion little fat/water/gel droplets we call “cells” would be a mound of slime mold unable to organize much at all.
Fascia wraps around several muscles creating a kinetic chain. For example, you all know where your hamstring muscles are, as well as your calves, and your arches in your feet. Although they are separate in the sense that they have specific attachments to certain bones (namely your ischial tuberosity on your pelvis, the back of the femur and tibia, the heel bone), there is a single band of fascia that covers all of these structures almost like the wrapping or casing around sausage links. That means that when you pull on one of them they all feel the tension. When you are stretching your hamstrings by reaching to touch your foot, you will feel the stretch more if you point your toes towards you, right? That is how fascia functions. It also creates the smooth, elastic recoil of movements such as throwing a baseball or kicking a ball. Without fascia these movements would be very choppy and robotic.
Injuries occur when there is tension, imbalance or even chemical problems within the fascia.
If you have any questions our Chiropractors and Massage therapists would be happy to explain how this wonderful stuff works!