What is Fascia?

Why Is My Body Stiff?

I get this question a lot in my therapy spa.

Most people have no idea what is the root cause of their limited mobility. And most have no idea that it will keep getting worse as they age if they do not do anything about it!

I am going to talk about a word that most of you have probably never heard of and that word is called “Fascia”.

I will explain what this is and how it is the root cause of most body aches, injuries, joint pain and all-around stiffness, then I will tell you what you can do about it!

What is Fascia?

Fascia is a band or sheet of connective fibrous tissue, primarily collagen, beneath the skin that attaches and surrounds muscles, groups of muscles, blood vessels and nerves. It also stabilizes, encloses and separates muscles and other internal organs which allows some to slide smoothly over each other within movement and others restrict movement to protect your joints form injury.

There are different types of fascia:

• Deep Fascia- which is mostly associated with muscles, bones, blood vessels and nerves
• Superficial fascia- is mostly associated with the skin
• Visceral (or Sub-serious) fascia- mostly associated with internal organs.

Basically, if you didn’t have fascia, your muscles and organs would not stay on the bone or on your body and which would not allow you to walk upright. Your skin is not strong enough to keep your muscles intact, but fascia is. Not much has been written or known about this material thankfully a lot of new studies are being done and we are now learning a lot more about it and what it does for us.

Why Does My Body Feel Older Than It Should?

The main reason is sticky dehydrated fascia. When fascia gets dehydrated from either lack of use or excessive movement or over use (for example a repetitive motion at a job),physical trauma(like a car accident or surgery)or it could even be from emotional trauma as it can be stored into the tissue. Yes emotion. We are emotional beings that vibrate at different frequencies, some tissue can vibrate at lower frequencies as well ,and that is what we call stuck emotions or stored trauma in the body.

Sticky dehydrated fascia could be the culprit of your body stiffness, joint pain and or lack of mobility. Just think of fascia as a layer of saran wrapped around your muscles and when it gets sticky think of layers of saran wrap wrapping around the muscles tighter and tighter eventually the mobility will be limited. Inflamed fascia can cause a lot of restriction in movement.

poor posture and muscle imbalances can cause your body to be stiff and cause sticky fascia as well.

How Do I Know If I Have Dehydrated Fascia?

• Does your body hurt when you sleep?
• Do you have a hard time doing regular daily movements, like bending down, kneeling, squatting, or crossing your legs while sitting on the ground?
• Does your back hurt?
• Have you had any injuries or breaks?
• Have you had any sprains or strains?
• Have you pulled a muscle?
• Do you feel stiff?
• Have you had emotional trauma in your life?
• Are you stressed?
• Are you active and or play a sport?
• Do you lift weights?
• Do you sit for hours at a time?
• Do you stand for hours at a time?
• Do you do repetitive motion at work?
• Do you sleep on your side?

If you answered yes to any of these, chances are you have fascia issues.

I know you are saying well everyone has or does most of it, yes that is what I am saying so many have it and no one is talking about the root cause of why they feel older than they should in their bodies. Sticky dehydrated fascia could be the culprit and should be addressed as it gets more hydrated when we get older.

Here Are Some Ways Your Body Will Benefit By Having Hydrated Fascia

• Improved body alignment and symmetry
• Increase blood flow
• Faster recovery from exercise
• Reduces the appearance of cellulite, stretch marks, and uneven skin texture
• breakdowns Scar tissue
• Reduces the risk of injury
• Reduces pain
• Improves sports performance
• Better mobility
• Faster muscle growth

How Do I Hydrate My Fascia?

Well, you can never get rid of it completely but you can manage it by but hydrating it! And how do you hydrate it you might ask? By stimulating blood flow. We do this in many forms:

• Deep Tissue Massage
• Scraping
• Cupping
• Percussion vibration
• Foam roll
• Movement
• Drinking plenty of water while doing myofascial release
• Assisted Stretching or self-stretching
• Heat/ hot showers/bath
• Acupuncture
• Releasing emotional trauma
• Having less stress in your life
• Positive thoughts
• Detoxing your body
• Getting your chakras aliened

Here at Body Therapy Spa, we focus on a range of motion assessments to tell us where the fascia is sticky in the body, we apply all types of fascia release techniques for all types of individual needs. From traction of the spine to scraping of the feet and body, to full body Assisted Stretching, we do it all here!

If you are in pain, come see us at our Florida St. Petersburg location.

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