fascial adhesions, chronic pain, and an inability to hold adjustments

For those of you who are uninitiated in skinning a deer, note the picture on the left.  When you skin a deer (or anything else for that matter), you will find that just underneath the skin is a tough, clearish-white, cellophane-like membrane that clings tightly to the meat.  This is what the hunters in these parts call “Striffin” (sometimes pronounced “striffing“).  What is striffin?  It is actually one of the most abundant connective tissues in your entire body, and it’s real name is Fascia.

FASCIA surrounds individual muscles, muscle bundles within individual muscles, groups of muscles, blood vessels, and nerves.  It binds these structures together in much the same manner that plastic wrap is used to hold the contents of a sandwich together. Fascia consists of several extremely thin layers, and is the tissue where the musculoskeletal system, circulatory system, and nervous system all converge together. It extends uninterrupted from the top of the head to the tip of the toes, and like LIGAMENTS and TENDONS, it contains closely packed bundles of wavy collagen fibers that are oriented in a uniform and parallel fashion. Subsequently, healthy fasciae are flexible structures that are able to resist great uni-directional tension forces and have great elasticity.  However, when fascia become injured, whether repetitively, traumatically, or both, it ends up in a tangled and twisted mess.  As you can imagine, this can cause severe restrictions as well as pain.