Fascia Flashcards
What is Fascia?
• Biological fabric of the body
• All tissues and structures in the body are surrounded by and
connected through connective tissue also known as fascia.
• Web system within the body that holds water and forms connective
tissue
• Fascia is a three dimensional matrix which surrounds not only every
individual cell in the body but also individual muscles, muscle
groups, tendons, ligaments, bone, nerves, blood and lymphatic
vessels and organs, it can also be found in large sheets or plates
• Communication network
How does fascia interact with the systems?
• The fascia extends continuously throughout the body as one
organ from the tips of the ears to the hooves of the horse or
paws of the dog.
How is fascia related on a cellular level?
• It is the communication system of the body allowing for
transportation of information and nutrients between
individual cells and different systems within the body
• As well as allowing communication through the body the
fascia function includes supporting, separating and protecting
the cells, which in turn allows for proper cell metabolism and
correct function throughout the entire body.
• The fascia acts to reduce friction to minimize the reduction of
muscular activities or external forces throughout the body
allowing muscles, tendons and ligaments to glide over each
other freely during movement of the body.
• Fascia is piezoelectric meaning it has the ability to conduct
electricity (ion changes)
What are the three types of fascia and how can it change shape?
• Superficial – Found just under the skin
• Deep – Surrounding the muscles blood vessels and organs
• Dural – surrounds the brain and spinal cord, sometimes referred
to as the craniosacral system
• Fascia is viscoelastic meaning it has the ability to change its
shape in response to activity and giving it the ability to phase
change – change between liquid to plastic, liquid to dense and
liquid to dehydrated.
What are the different components of fascia?
• Fascia has no blood or nerve supply
• Fascia is made up of 3 different components
• Elastin
• Collagen
• Extra Cellular Matrix ECM (sometimes referred to as ground
substance)
What is elastin?
• Provides the body with flexibility and resiliency
• Responsible for recoiling the soft tissue back to its original
state.
What is collagen?
• Configured in a relaxed pattern
• Creates a three dimensional web throughout the body
• Handles the multidirectional forces imposed upon fascia
• Consists of microtubules filled with a crystalline saline solution
providing shape, support, strength and stability.
What is the extracellular matrix?
• The elasto-collagenous web is embedded in and surrounded
by the ECM
• Makes up the bulk of the connective tissue
• Responsible for transporting metabolic material
• It has gelatinous properties composed largely of
proteoglycans, glycoproteins and is the medium of water,
oxygen and ions
• The consistency is highly variable depending on the type of
connective tissue from that of the blood which would be fluid
to that associated with bone which would be dense and quite
hard.
• The proteoglycans are the primary reservoir of water within
the body
What is the role of proteoglycans in the ECM?
• Proteoglycans are very large macromolecules, consisting of a
core protein to which many glycosaminoglycan (GAG)
molecules are covalently attached.
• GAGs are long-chained polysaccharides made up of repeating
disaccharide units.
• Many of the sugars in GAGs have sulphate and carboxyl
groups, which makes them highly negatively charged. The high
density of negative charges attracts water, ensuring the fascia
has a high water content
• This hydrated fascia permits the rapid diffusion of watersoluble molecules but inhibits the movement of large
molecules and bacteria.
• Therefore the proteoglycans play the key role in hydration of
the ECM and subsequently the surrounding tissue
What can cause injury to the fascia?
• Traumatic injury, a body wound or shock produced by sudden
physical injury, as from violence or accident
• Other injuries from external physical causes, such as radiation
injury, burn injury or frostbite
• Injury from disease
• Injury from infection
• Injury from toxin or as adverse effect of a pharmaceutical drug
or ingested poison
• Metabolic injury such as glycogen storage diseases
• Injury due to autoimmunity
• Injury due to cancer
• Injury secondary to any other disease
• Generic diseases
• Injury causes effects at a cellular level causing an effect on the
ion levels and water content within cells
• These changes will in turn have a major effect on the ECM of
fascia and its role in the metabolic communication from cell to
cell, within a system and sometimes throughout the entire
body.
• One of the body’s responses to cell injury is to use the
proteoglycans in the ECM for repair of the damaged cells.
• Without these proteoglycans dehydration of the ECM occurs.
What will happen to dehydrated ECM?
• ECM dehydration will cause dehydration throughout the fascia
resulting in an abundance of elastin and collagen and the
fascia becomes dense and fibrotic, the crystalline saline in the
collagen becomes solidified and the entire fascia’s
effectiveness is impaired.
• The fascia is no longer able to function efficiently in all its roles
as previously stated to protect and support the cells, allow
smooth movement of soft tissues, and to provide a medium
for metabolic communication within the body.
• If the fascia becomes impaired it can effectively clamp down
or become stuck which will have a major effect on the
function of the musculoskeletal system
• The facia binds together at the junctions where the elastin and
collagen meet forming bonds called crosslinks.
• Fascia has the ability to tighten with up to 2,000 pound per
square inch of force, although most cases are not this sever.
• A restriction of that magnitude will have a considerable effect
on the body causing a major restriction in movement and
function.
How are scars formed in the ECM?
• Fibroblasts are a key cell used in repair and tissue
regeneration, these will begin laying down new tissue at the
injury site, this forms scar tissue.
• Scar tissue is more fibrous than the original tissue and
overdevelopment of scar tissue can cause more problems in
the long term.
• If the ECM becomes dehydrated the metabolic communication
to the fibroblasts can potentially be lost; fibroblasts may not
receive the correct metabolic signal to cease creating new
tissue.
• Scar tissue could be laid down in abundance; causing further
restrictions in the tissue.
What are the different restrictions to the fascia?
• Fascia restrictions can be classified as follows:
• Focal restriction = One area of restriction
• Global restriction = involves multiple systems
• Sematic = restriction affect the whole body and
compensations can be seen throughout the body
What is focal restriction?
• Usually occurs just after the acute phase of an injury
• Decreased levels of H2O and O2 can be seen in the fascia
• Change in PH levels and the environment becomes more
acidic
• Decreased metabolic communication
• Decreased elasticity
What is global restriction?
• 3D structure of fascia becomes tighter
• Irritation of nerves resulting in the onset of
pain
• Functional defects
• Fascia pulls on bony structure which can
cause misalignments
