Fluid Tissue - Fascinating Fasciae

[rei]

For the past year i have been captivated by the emerging science of fascia, and how it relates to general heath and a tensegrity theory of posture and movement. I have watched almost every video on youtube on these subjects and would like to share the overwhelmingly best one that touches on both of these aspects and gives a very good overview on the subject.

I recommend everyone become acquainted with these concepts, i believe that aging, loss of function, chronic disease etc. can most often be traced to the fascial system becoming fibrotic/senescent due to injuries that are not repaired due to lack of resources following the insult, and instead result in scarring and chronic tension. Which causes imbalances in the tensegrity network so that even if no direct physical injury happened, postural damage can result.

 

[Dave Clark]

I saw an interesting Italian video on fascia. Showed how fascia as far away from an organ such as the legs can affect the heart, etc. Talked about self massaging as a way to stimulate and keep fascia healthy. Wondering if systemic enzymes would help keep the fascia from getting fibrotic? In theory it should.

 

[rei]

Yes, i have had an audible bang from a shift in the neck spine from massaging my toes. This is after a long time of fascial rehabilitation with hundreds of much less extreme examples of similar realignment results.

I don't think you need any enzymes. The fascia like any tissue will form scar tissue instead of regeneration if the inflammation reaction cannot generate enough energy to the affected cells. Dr. jerry tennant has some content about this. Fibrotic/calcified/senescent fascia will necessarily cause tension and make the whole tensegrity network re-balance around it, slightly shifting your posture, center of gravity etc. By restoring energy the tissue can re-activate and the situation heals.

Now if you have physical injury resulting in postural damage causing the continuous tension, then it cannot be repaired even if energy supply was perfect. Continuous tension will overstress the tissue and make it undergo same change, and only way to heal this is through physical movement, undoing the postural damage, and as normal posture resumes the tissue immediately starts regenerating as the chronic tension releases.

 

[cjm]

I have a great book on this called "Anatomy Trains" per a forum member recommendation. Link to his thread below.

Myofascial Meridians, Tensegrity, & Structural Health, A Possible Missing Link

From the book:

"By simply modifying the shape of the cell, they could switch cells among different genetic programs. Cells that were stretched and spread flat became more likely to divide, whereas rounded cells that were prevented from spreading activated a suicidal apoptic gene. When cells are neither too expanded or hemmed in, they spend their energy neither in dividing nor in dying. Instead, they differentiated themselves in a tissue-specific manner. Thus mechanical information apparently combines with chemical signals to tell the cell and the cytoskeleton what to do." (Myers)​

The most fascinating part of fascia to me is the speed of communication. Because these are true mechanical signals, vibrations if ya will, they travel at the speed of sound (ish) (also I may be making that up), which is significantly faster than nervous/microtubule transmission.

And if a cell's positioning is a master signal of sorts, imagine what a fully-functional fascia net does for you, the organism. Just being able to sensitively sense where you are in space has huge (and massively underrated IMHO) implications for health.

 

[rei]

anatomy trains is his "trademark" and you can find videos on youtube with that search term. Not the best but still good.

The bolded part in your quote is very hip and is what i have found to be true, through personal experience and a completely other avenue of theory i had studied previously, the mammalian stress mechanism. Mammalian Stress Mechanism - The Resurrection of Stress Theory

That is probably another topic i should make a thread about as it seems to be completely unknown and ignored even on this forum, even after ray peat, @haidut etc. have talked fondly on the originator of the idea, Hans Selye. Stressmechanism formulation is taking his ideas and finding the final piece to the puzzle from modern research. And this theory directly describes how physical tension is a direct part of how cell systems react to stress.

 

[cjm]

Mammalian Stress Mechanism - The Resurrection of Stress Theory

Awesome, thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

 

[Vinny]

For the past year i have been captivated by the emerging science of fascia, and how it relates to general heath and a tensegrity theory of posture and movement. I have watched almost every video on youtube on these subjects and would like to share the overwhelmingly best one that touches on both of these aspects and gives a very good overview on the subject.

I recommend everyone become acquainted with these concepts, i believe that aging, loss of function, chronic disease etc. can most often be traced to the fascial system becoming fibrotic/senescent due to injuries that are not repaired due to lack of resources following the insult, and instead result in scarring and chronic tension. Which causes imbalances in the tensegrity network so that even if no direct physical injury happened, postural damage can result.

Very interesting, thanks.
So, stretching, exercise, massage and foam rolling may be?

 

[rei]

what is sold to you as yoga classes etc. are just maintenance grade light exercise. If you have postural problems what you need to do is chiropractic ideas (external force on bone structure) and realigning the fascial lines of tension (this is apparently called myofascial unwinding if you look up videos on youtube)

 

[rei]

Here is another very good video about fascia that someone shared on this forum some time ago, but i forgot to post here until now.

 

[ecstatichamster]

years ago I got "rolfed" and rolfing is a practice of massaging fasciae for similar reasons. I am not sure it helped (I was trying to get rid of headaches) but it was quite the process.

 

[GAF]

As I have said before, simple body brushing can work wonders that can activate the fascia as a piezoelectric device.

The youtube guy Chong Xie with his secret of athleticism info is on target and he shows exercises to strengthen fascia.

Fascia is the future in health research. Electricity.

 

[YourUniverse]

@rei I have an injured pectoralis major, 8 years old, which formed scar tissue. I notice that shoulder/armpit is always tight, that shoulder is always at least a little rickety or painful, etc. It has clearly become a problem area, and I notice it pulls be at least slightly off posture, rounded forward, which would affect everything.

If I want to rehab it, as you say re-activate the tissue and letting it restore, is the smart thing to do lots of chest exercises? Or would the smart thing to do lots of back exercises, which would antagonize the tension in the chest from the scar tissue, and pull the rounded shoulders back? (I hope that makes sense)

 

[hearsay]

I went to my first chiropractic visit yesterday and was amazed and how much better my posture and how I felt afterwords. The problem is that you have to keep going... like forever. It seems like after a while you will only have to go every now and then but it doesn't seem to solve the problem.

I was looking at Anatomy trains a while back and have been messing around with trigger points using a lacross balls and that relieves some tension now and then.
I am tempted to keep going to the chiropracter just because of how much of a difference once visit made on my posture the next day.
However, I would like to be able to solve postural problems on my own as well. I have been getting tension headaches from bad posture.

What would be a good primer for fascia? It seems that you don't really care for Anatomy trains.

 

[Vinny]

As I have said before, simple body brushing can work wonders that can activate the fascia as a piezoelectric device.

The youtube guy Chong Xie with his secret of athleticism info is on target and he shows exercises to strengthen fascia.

Fascia is the future in health research. Electricity.

Chong Xie - can you give a link to a specific video of his, regarding what you mean?
Thanks

 

[rei]

@rei I have an injured pectoralis major, 8 years old, which formed scar tissue. I notice that shoulder/armpit is always tight, that shoulder is always at least a little rickety or painful, etc. It has clearly become a problem area, and I notice it pulls be at least slightly off posture, rounded forward, which would affect everything.

If I want to rehab it, as you say re-activate the tissue and letting it restore, is the smart thing to do lots of chest exercises? Or would the smart thing to do lots of back exercises, which would antagonize the tension in the chest from the scar tissue, and pull the rounded shoulders back? (I hope that makes sense)

I stumbled upon this by accident and my 2 year project has simply been to unwind the fascia according to what i feel in my body after i did the first major release snap that felt like an electric shock going from pelvis to my face, then make the movements according to where i feel the tension. As i do it the tensions shifts all over, and i just chase it by modifying what movements i make. Most or almost no-one would follow a similar path because i had nothing but very ambiguous, general comments from ancient yoga to guide me when i started. But i'm stubborn and inventive, and against all odds it really paid off. What i have written here are after-the-fact experiences as it really has been a long project of discovery and progressive success. If you want some kind of insight into it you need to look starting 2 years back at my posts and see how it has evolved, what i wrote back then is nothing like what i would write today.

But first and foremost, it's not about doing some movements you see in some video, it is 100% about getting an inner sense of where the tension is and how you need to move to unwind it. Without this sense, there is nothing i think you can do. From videos you can only get a sense of the concept, but your specific situation requires specific methods that only you can find. I think the fasting i did before this all helped me awaken to this inner sense of the body.

soacosmonaut going to chiropractic treatment is excellent to get the thing started, if there is some significant shift you should be able to analyze the shift and start doing it yourself. The key part is the beginning, the first shift from current situation to new situation. Any new thing should at first feel weird before you get accustomed, this weirdness is the tension you need to embrace, and start chasing, unwinding.

 

[Cloudhands]

I do tai chi and these principles are common knowledge amongst those who follow a complete system, minus the scientific jargon. I think the issue with learning tai chi is finding people who actually know the internal subtle nuances vs just a general idea of how the postures should look. The most complete curriculum available is via the Wu style family which has a website that advertises official schools that theyve certified. It just sucks that they profit so much off of it, but it is the real deal.

 

[YourUniverse]

As i do it the tensions shifts all over, and i just chase it by modifying what movements i make.

I do this too, stumbled upon it a few months ago.

 

[rei]

And keep going, you need to be stubborn and devoted. I have done it for 2 years and i am only just reaching the end. But don't be discouraged, few people probably have as much to correct as i did, considering my history and all the hard sports i did and injuries sustained. You could probably not believe.

The ultimate goal is to have a completely straight spine. It is unfathomable to most and goes against current medical consensus, but once you have entered the path it is undeniable.

 

[GAF]

 

[GAF]

I was helping my son gut and skin a dead deer this morning and I noticed how supple and moist appearing the fascia is. It is super strong but not stiff at all. Takes a very sharp knife to slice thru it.

The fascia is what holds everything in its place. Red light and gentle slow encouragements to moisten and activate fascia seems to me the only way to repair it.

Harsh heavy exercise would seem to be irrelevant or harmful after touching a bunch of it today.

Maybe microcurrent and lots of loving pressure daily would work to. But, red light is easiest and most effective on my body anyway