Why do I feel stiff getting out of bed in the morning?
Why is my posture causing me pain and discomfort during in the afternoon?
Why do I feel physically exhausted and achy in the evening?
These are common, but important questions many people ask themselves.
Have you heard of tight facia?
Imagine moving around wearing a wetsuit that is too small for you.
Fascial restrictions can exert excessive pressure causing all kinds of symptoms producing pain, headaches, or restriction of motion. Fascial restrictions affect our flexibility and stability. They are a determining factor in our ability to withstand stress and perform daily activities.
If you experience movement restrictions like bending, twisting, getting out of your car, squatting, your body facia is tight.
You might have heard that everything is connected in the body!! Yes, it is!
Your thumb is connected to your chest and your toes to your neck. Does this put a song in your head? Although it’s hard to imagine we really are a whole, and our parts don’t work independently of each other. So when you hurt one part, your balance, the way you move, everything is affected. A friend was telling me about having surgery in her tummy area and she couldn’t drive for weeks until she healed sufficiently to use the car brakes. The Facia tissue in your body connects muscles in to generate movement, and when it’s damaged you may find pains in the most unexpected places!
So, what is Facia??
Fascia is a thin casing of connective tissue (like the outer walls of the grapefruit holding in the fruit) that surrounds and holds every organ, blood vessel, bone, nerve fiber and muscle in place. The tissue does more than provide internal structure; fascia has nerves that make it almost as sensitive as skin. For a more in-depth explanation click here.
What can cause the Facia to stiffen up?
- Dehydration
- Dehydration
- Dehydration
- Dehydration
- Dehydration
- Dehydration
- Dehydration
- Dehydration
- Dehydration
What happens when our facia is tight?
- Restriction of movement
- Pain and discomfort, usually in the back, neck, and shoulders
- Sport and overuse injury
- Headaches, migraine
- Body instability
As a coach and massage therapist, I always check everyone’s facia before a training session. If the area treated feels gritty and becomes instantly red, then the facial that covers the muscle is tight and this situation will not allow the body to perform good quality movement in the training session. This can cause issues if ignored.
Can we self-release our facia? Yes!
Fascia is made up of 70% water which is why hydration is part of the healing protocol. The two proteins, collagen and elastin, provide structure and elasticity to the fascia.
You should:
- drink plenty of water
- Apply foam rolling (talk to me if you want a demonstration)
- Dynamic stretches
- Functional movement exercises (I will be providing a number of these in the next few posts)
You can also use specific Myofacial release tools to loosen up the facia at a deeper level. (a quick search on Amazon or your favourite shopping site should give you a good selection to choose from.)
For example, if you decide to go for a long walk or some jogging after a busy week sitting at the office you will experience hip flexors, hamstrings, ITB (iliotibial band) stiffness and thoracic spine (mid back) restriction.
The above muscular and fascial tightness will pull your pelvis downward, reduce your ability to twist, impact your stride length and create knee instability and internal knee rotation (knees caving in) when you run or even walk!!
Over time, this leads to additional strategies of compensation, creating a layering effect across large regions of the body.
Our bodies can often push through the above compensations for a period of time, so pain or injury may not manifest immediately, but why pain or injury can sometimes pop up for ‘no reason’ or from a very small trigger. The body eventually reaches a point where it can’t keep going and injury may occur with a simple activity, causing pain and discomfort.
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