FASCIA wends and winds it’s way throughout all of our body and yet it is seldom mentioned as an important part of our anatomy, or seen as functionally essential in many medical fields.
In fact some people have never heard of it and when you mention the word “fascia”, they say “what’s that??”
I became very interested in fascia a few decades ago and it was only on one of my trips to observe cadavers at the University of Queensland wet lab that I realised it was not a major area of study in medical students at the time. This dates back a couple of decades so I am presuming in today’s world, it is well covered.
I had been to a scientific conference in Melbourne, the first of its kind, organised by a professor at one of the Melbourne universities who strongly believed in clinical massage as an essential practice in managing certain medical matters. Unheard of in its time so he was pretty amazing. One of the areas that he supported was the research going on in regards to fascia. It was in the very early days of basic research, endeavouring to discover what this tissue represented and where it would be found.
I was excited about the whole subject so very shortly after this Melbourne trip I had the opportunity to visit the wet lab at UQ at a time the head of Physiology (who lectured medical students) was one of the anatomy presenters attending. Actually this was the visit that I also took Jason (son) and Brian (husband) whom were both working in Green Apple at the time. First and last time! They were struck by the smell and the sights and altogether it was a bit overwhelming! Very funny at the time!
Anyway, on this visit I approached the head physiology lecturer and started asking him about fascia tissue. He listened, looked at me and said “Victoria, have you just been down to a Conference in Melbourne?” And of course I was happy to know that he knew all about it and said “yes, it was fantastic wasn’t it”. Then he said, “Victoria, if you attended that Conference you will know more about fascia than I do”. And so my journey to learn more and to apply the knowledge within my Clinical Massage practice began in earnest.
Through my study of fascia I discovered the field of Biotensegrity and when John Starkey in the USA, renowned for his work in this specialised field, was invited to attend a Conference in Tasmania I booked my ticket. John not only presented at the Conference, he also delivered a full day on Biotensegrity which included dry needling to achieve fascia release. John is a scientist so all his work is evidence-based but also makes so much sense, and I mean commonsense not just jargon-talk.
The body is so complex, and absolutely amazing. The more we can grasp what our bodies consist of and how it actually works, the easier it is to commit to the body-housekeeping we all need to do.
I feel passionate about helping people who want help themselves. So many people do actually want to start doing the right thing but they tell me they don’t know where to start, that they don’t think they can actually get into physical activity because of their pain, or lack of mobility, or because they have tried it before and can’t stick to it or all the above.
I know they can……if they just have the right starting place , if they can find somewhere they feel comfortable to do it, and if the support is there when the going gets tough.
If you have an inquiring mind, Google the following and see if it helps you understand more about your body.
Fascia in the body
Biotensegrity
John Starkey
Cheers
