Fascia Freak!

My fave hyper-fixation I’ve ever had!! Is this even a hyper-fixation anymore? I think it’s a new way of life for me. A new way of caring for you.

Down the Rabbit Hole

I am so deep in this rabbit hole because my body has been in pain for a long time. While I wasn't in pain daily, the energy drain on my body was enormous. Right before my rugby trips this past year, I experienced two significant pain flares that really scared me. Other providers in my network planted seeds that made me start questioning what I thought I knew.

Everything I had previously tried to help correct my posture and alleviate pain only offered short term relief. Physical therapy, massage and stretching, exercise, yoga. Looking back, I realize that all of these methods actually perpetuated my issues because I was operating inside of a body that was out of alignment.

Understanding Fascia

While I am not formally trained in the intricacies of fascia, it's not completely new to me. Throughout nursing school and my undergraduate Exercise Science degree, fascia was always described simply as the "packing material" of the body.

When I worked on cadavers, fascia was secondary to bigger structures of the body. While western medicine is just starting to understand the depth and importance of fascia, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, and other traditional eastern practices of medicine and wellness have long been considering fascia work in the treatment of various ailments.

So while I haven't gone through formal training in fascia, this work has personally helped my pain levels and body quite a lot, when other professionals and healthcare providers were unable to. Coming in to work and being able to care for you, people of all different body types and concerns, health history and ages, my understanding of fascia and how it manifests throughout the body, and my skills in addressing it has grown exponentially this year.

Fascia and the Nervous System

We know that the fascia is deeply connected to the nervous system. If you know me, you know I can be a little high-strung, anxious, and generally dysregulated.

Because of this deep connection between fascia and the nervous system, tight and compressed fascia prevents the nervous system from being able to down-regulate.

If you imagine what our bodies do when we are gearing up for a confrontation - we tend to brace our bodies as a protective mechanism. If the body is braced, the nervous system cannot down-regulate. If the nervous system is in sympathetic mode, the body is not safe to unbrace. It becomes a vicious cycle.

People most impacted by compressed fascia:

• Women
• Type A, very go-go-go, busybodies
• People who tend to feel emotions deeply, may have anxiety or depression
  
• Many strong, highly active people - think athletes and people that exercise a lot, whether that is job or lifestyle related

Signs your fascia may be compressed:

• You have bad posture
• Hormonal acne and blemishes around your jawline and neck
  
• If your neck feels weak when you tilt your head all the way back - is it difficult to bring your head back up?
• Surface level landmarks on the body (think boniness, vascularity, etc)
  
• Do your elbows and knees look vacuum sealed? Can you see the tendons? This may be a sign!
  
• Pain from navel to pelvis when you arch your back (I've often misinterpreted this as hunger or empty stomach)

How do I regulate myself?

Have you tried what feels like all of the things to regulate yourself, and nothing seems to work? Meditation, deep breathing, yoga, etc. Fascia work is like forcing your body into a state of down-regulation. It forces your nervous system down a notch, so that your body is unable to unbrace a little bit. From there, it's like a domino effect within your body if you continue to work on it regularly. The body work also forces you to be present and notice what sensations your body is actually feeling, which is also beneficial for the nervous system as well.