Our Slippery and Fuzzy Fascia

We've been hearing a lot about fascia recently.

Fascia is:

1.  A new Greek-style yogurt found at Trader Joes

2.  Face Yoga

3.  The term for the skin seen through Lululemon pants

4.  Connective tissue

I know you got it right.  Fascia is a "layer of fibrous tissue" that surrounds our muscles, groups of muscles, blood vessels, and nerves.  It binds some structures while allowing other structures to slip and slide smoothly over each other.  I've heard it described as Saran Wrap  or a body stocking that wraps and envelopes our inner landscape.  It's made up of collagen (like ligaments and tendons) but instead of connecting bone to muscles or bone to bone, fascia surrounds the muscles or other structures.

The entertaining anatomist, Gil Hedley's, famous YouTube Fuzz Speech (above), and an article by Brooke Thomas,"The Top 5 Ways Fascia Matters to Athletes", helped me understand more about this sometimes misunderstood tissue. According to Ms. Thomas, fascia is a fluid system.  "Our mobility, integrity, and resilience are determined in large part by how well hydrated our fascia is."  Fascia can be hydrated and supple or dried out, gluey and brittle.  (See the Fuzz Speech, really.)   Although drinking more fluids will keep your entire system hydrated, Ms. Thomas suggests body work (by others or self) to knead and coax suppleness into the fascia.