What is fascia?

Fascia is a three-dimensional connective tissue that:

  • Covers our limbs, it wraps around the whole limb in super thin sheets of fascia.
  • Envelops muscles, nerves, tendons, joints – in fact everything that needs to slide freely.
  • Envelops and supports internal organs (viscera).
  • Covers the whole body as a layer under your skin – Superficial Fascial Layer in between the two adipose (fat) layers.
  • Connects different body segments.
  • Transmits force between muscles and areas of your body.
  • Contains many sensory nerve endings.

A cross section of a muscle showing fascia covering every fiber.

A cross section of a nerve showing fascia covering every fiber.

Human tissue layers in detail.

When fascia becomes thickened, stiff, or ‘densified’

Movements can become dysfunctional and can lead to pain, sometimes far away from the painful area.

The Muscle Spindle (that sets the muscle tone of your muscles) is embedded into the muscle fascia, so the stiffer the fascia usually the more tense the resting muscle tone.

Healthy fascia slides smoothly between layers, allowing coordinated and pain free movements.