Feeling the Fascia Fallout

So, you're doing everything right. You eat well, you sleep well, you hydrate well. You think well, you breathe well, you supplement well.

You exercises well. You regularly visit your chiropractor, semi-regular massages, appropriate warm-up/cool-down routines, regular hydration, maybe even pre- and post-workout shakes/supplementation. Yet something isn't well. Maybe you feel it while you're in your workout, maybe you notice you don't recover well. It doesn't matter when it shows up, you just know it is preventing you from achieving your full potential.

You've gone through the gamut of every possible cause. You've self-treated, you've gone (faithfully) to your chiropractor or massage therapist to ensure alignment and muscle health. You've increased your water and supplements, maybe even taken some time off. But something still inhibits your complete workout.

You may be experiencing what I call Fascia Fallout. Fascia - an entity previously discussed very casually, and once thought to have minimal importance, may actually be the missing link in your musckuloskeletal wellness. Fascia is the soft-tissue covering that sits just millimeters below your skin, encases your muscles and literally holds you together. Instead of going into a drawn-out explanation of what fascia is and does, I'm going to direct you to this fantastic article that does just that, in easy to understand terms, with some simple, eye-opening examples that really help you grasp how it works and why it is so important.

I would like to expand on the article in one fashion. Remember the shirt collar experiment (tug on your collar: gross movement is felt at your neckline, but the entire shirt moves, demonstrating how fascia bundles around your muscle like a big shirt - whenever it moves, it moves in its entirety, although less noticeable the further away from the source of disturbance). This is a fantastic way to come to understand the kinetic chain in your body. Remember when you first started going to your chiropractor, and he/she took the time during your Report of Findings to explain that the pain in your wrist is actually coming from the elbow/shoulder/neck or wherever their exam lead them? Sometimes, pain manifests at locations where little or nothing is actually 'wrong.' We do not always understand why this happens. It could be because the specific nerves supplying that area are sensitized to the chemicals that manifest pain; it could be because the site of the actual problem has been in disrepair for so long, that you have effectively become desensitized to the chemical and nerve processes that signal that specific pain to your brain in that area. OR...It could be because the fascia in the problem (cause) area is more abundant (or has more pliability, etc.) whereas the fascia in your symptom area is further along the kinetic chain, and therefore is feeling the growing tightness from a disturbance earlier in the kinetic chain [revisit the shit collar visual].

This is where I come in. Enter Active Release Technique. Basically, this technique was developed to address the specific problems associated with myofascial (muscles + fascia) adhesions - those pesky little 'knots' oftentimes responsible for your painful symptoms. Similar to an intense massage, Active Release Technique has over 500 protocols (to cover almost every musckuloskeletal muscle in the body)! I use my hands to examine the soft-tissues in your problem area, and all along your kinetic chain, to determine where the source of your issues lies. And then, through a series of active movements and some pressure along your soft-tissues, I target the myofascial adhesions and improvement the movement between your muscles, fascia and other tissues. This creates an environment for improved soft-tissue relationships within your body, as will as initiates a healing cascade through targeted inflammation patterns, and allows your body to target healing in the areas we worked, and getting you on the road to recovery! In conjunction with regular chiropractic care, Active Release Technique is the athlete's, weekend-warrior's and every-day blue-collar worker's best line of defense in the muskuloskeletal game!

So, the next time you're feeling like you aren't getting getting the most out of your workout (or you notice that the same movements you perform each day for work/hobbies/whatever are starting to be painful or exhausting), think about the fascia in your body, and call for a consultation to see if Active Release Technique can help you on your road to recovery!

Merry Christmas, folks!

Dr. Baar