Fascia-Nation

04/19/2022

I found a link to the FR:EIA which is the first fascial plastinate model that released in 2021. Enjoy!

Unveiling of the World’s first 3-D Human Fascia Plastinate at the BODY WORLDS Museum in Berlin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCzX0c_D6kY

The field of fascia research has undergone remarkable expansion and growth in the last decade, which is shaping the progression of many related fields. In or...

04/15/2022

Happy Easter. I hope you're able to spend time with family and friends.

04/14/2022

This is an image of a homunculus of the brain. I don’t know if you have seen this before but it got me thinking about whether over time as a manual practitioner my hand, fingers, and thumb representation have gotten more exaggeratedly large. During this course, I was able to feel small arteries not like bigger ones where pulses can be felt but small one. I was even able to feel the vagus nerve. I sometimes take for granted that I’ve worked hard to learn these sensations and trust my hands that I will brush it off when clients say they’re amazed that I can feel what I feel. The body is so cool and amazing. I hope that if feeling these subtle movements/sensations is something you’re pursuing, I hope that you take a moment or two and reflect on how awesome an achievement that is.

04/14/2022

I just grabbed my ticket! Who’s coming with me?

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04/13/2022

The more I learn different techniques, the more I learn I need to learn so much more. Learning didn’t stop once I graduated from school. There’s so much more I’ve learned since school…learn, learn, learn…did semantic satiation happen for you?

04/12/2022

The body is so cool. I mean I’m “fascia-nated” already but arteries are at a different level. No, I’m not abandoning my interest in fascia because technically arteries are still covered in it so artery work I would still consider is fascial work just with a different focus or intention. So much of manual work is intention. What you pay attention to is where change will likely happen.

04/11/2022

So I was able to do that webinar with Kier Schumaker and for the next little bit I’ll share some of my takeaways from taking their course I took recently. It was “Every Breath You Take: Manual Neurovascular Release for Freer Breathing”. Thank you Megan Stewart for being my body and for having “crappy” lungs. I hope you’re breathing better now.

I took this course because I was also curious about how to run a virtual course. All of the previous courses I’ve done have all been in person. There’s great value to being there and having someone touch what I’m touching and confirm what I’m feeling. How would this go? I liked that Kier provided pre- and post-testing to see changes that were made. Their communication skills were excellent and the structure of the course was such that I legit was able to apply the techniques to a client and get results. I’m really encouraged by this because I do think virtual offerings are the way to go. To remove geographical barriers and be able to help multiple people at the same time, that’s how to have greater impact and help more people. Let’s see what my future will have to offer to the online world.
MeganStewart

04/08/2022

Fill-osophy Friday

For the longest time, I’ve told clients that I’m not too worried about side bending in the neck because it’s not really a functional movement for every day unless you're a 90’s Valley Girl (dating myself reference). The biggest take away I took was that cervical side bending is a range that I should work on as it could be an indication that there is neurovascular protection happening and limiting someone. Now I think that side bending can be limited by some sort of tension or trauma on the neurovascular structures in the neck. The body wants to protect arteries and uses nerves to communicate to muscles to tense and protect by limiting movement. By getting the client to do a gentle controlled stretch, that protective neuromotor protection can be decreased and range of motion restored. I can’t quite touch my ear to my shoulder but it’s definitely further than it was before stretching.

04/07/2022

Throwback Thursday

If any of you watched my Facebook Live video (cringe), I mentioned that I wasn’t sure I was enough. If I knew enough, smart enough, likeable enough. These doubts still creep into my mind once in a while. What was cool about taking this online course was that Kier was sharing her experience and knowledge. It wasn’t backed by tons of research or studies but by experience, applying her knowledge and thinking through things. I’ve studied for years, almost a decade of formal schooling under my belt and that’s not including all the additional courses I’ve taken and decades of experience I’ve had. I know I have information to share and I think virtual is the way to go. What was also cool is that virtual does not constrain who can take my offerings to geography. Stay tuned World as there are things percolating in my slightly thicker than olive oil liquidy brain.

04/06/2022

I attended an online course “Every Breath You Take: Movement-Based Neurovascular Release for the Anterior Neck Live Online with Kieran Schumaker”. This course was related to the first live dissection I watched. This was really neat for me to attend not just as a student of the webinar but also cool to see the impact of virtual learning. I’ll share with you the biggest thing I learned from the course on Friday.

04/05/2022

During the slide show presentation we were shown a diagram of the movements of the spine which I wish I could share with you but it was neat to see which sections of the spine had the most movement. Cervical has the most overall in flex/ext, lateral flexion, and rotation where 90% of rotation occurs at the C1/C2. The most flex/ext occurs in the lumbar however there is very little rotation. There is little flex/ext from T5-9 which is where the heart is located. This is good for me to keep in mind when I’m looking at peoples’ active ranges of motion.

04/04/2022

During this dissection I learned a new term: Imago. According to my Google search in Entomology it means the final and fully developed adult stage of an insect and in Psychoanalysis it’s an unconscious idealized mental image of someone, especially a parent, which influences a person's behavior. Someone in the dissection chat said that it's a microcosm that mimics the whole body for example the foot and reflexology and the ear and acupuncture.

04/01/2022

Did you know that there’s a way to palpate signals going to your brain? Touch the pad of your thumb to under the tip of your nose. Extend your fingers and flex and extend at the MCP joints. Focus on the sensation at your thumb pad. Can you feel the signalling happening from the visual stimulation of the finger movements?

Happy April Fool’s Day ;)

03/31/2022

This donor had a boney deposit in his falx cerebri! Apparently 10% of the elderly can develop calcification in the falx. That blows and boggles my mind as I’m not sure why a calcification would occur. In other areas where calcification can occur like in Osgood-Schlatter’s and heel spur there’s some sort of tension being applied on the attachment of a strong tendon. I can’t think of what pull could occur in the falx and then I wonder if this would have affected the donor in his life. Would he have had headaches or dizziness?

03/30/2022

Wacky Wednesday

Apparently the living brain has a consistency that is slightly thicker than olive oil!! Think about that next time you have a salad. :D

This could be why it’s so difficult to gauge what areas of the brain are affected by a concussion since the brain moves like waves after a force is applied within its hard case of the cranium.

03/29/2022

If you palpate your suboccipital area, then move your eyes left/right and up/down you’ll be able to feel movement in the suboccipitals. Tom Meyers said the suboccipitals are activated because they’re prepping the head to move based on eye movement but to actually move will be from activating some of the bigger neck muscles like splenius capitis and cervicis. I was shown some Muscle Energy techniques to release the neck that involved having the client look in specific directions.

03/28/2022

Cranial Nerve I (Olfactory) & II (Optic) are considered extensions of the brain because these nerves are covered with the same coverings (meninges) as the brain.

03/25/2022

Forward head posture is a pretty common occurrence with people. Something that was highlighted is that FHP causes the levator scapulae to eccentrically work at keeping the head up instead of what it’s literally supposed to do, which is elevate the scapula. Anatomy question: what other muscles attach to the same cervical vertebra as the levator scap? Virtual fist bump to the correct answer.

03/24/2022

Suboccipitals in general go from the occiput to C1/C2. Other muscles that attach to those vertebrae are splenius capitis, splenius cervicis and levator scapulae. For someone with a lot of tension in the suboccipitals, it would be good to address these muscles too as there are direct connections. I think it’s time to pull out the old anatomy flashcards to review origins and insertions…might as well throw innervations in there while I’m at it.

03/22/2022

Big things are happening today in Ontario with the mask mandate being lifted in most things. Big things are happening here too…I’m back! Funny how life just sometimes gets in the way of getting stuff done ;)

I didn’t get woozy during the dissection because I was too busy getting my mind blown from what I was seeing. It seems as of late, all roads seem to lead me to the neck. I truly feel that I have a better understanding of what I’m feeling when I’m treating someone’s neck…book now for a neck treatment while things are still fresh. :D Over the next little bit I’ll be sharing what I thought was super cool from the dissection as well as an online course that relates to the previous dissection I watched (“Every Breath You Take”).

03/04/2022

I'm currently watching another live dissection through Anatomy Trains, "Perception to Intention" which I think is going to be way more intense than the last one as it is going from the eye to brain. I'm hoping that this will help me appreciate what structures I'm affecting when I'm doing CST around the head. I hope I don't woozy as I'm assuming that I'll see the donor's face this time which is a little trippy. I'll have more to share next week.

03/04/2022

As things are changing with this pandemic and perhaps there might be an end in sight. I think of rejoining a bigger community again as during this pandemic my community got smaller because we weren’t allowed to see people and by see I mean in person. I prefer in person chats vs virtual because there’s a bigger connection when I’m able to meet with someone. Don’t get me wrong there have definitely been advantages to virtual as I’ve been able to “attend” conferences and events that I otherwise would not have been able to. I attended a webinar the other day talking about group health and the benefits of it in combating loneliness. Loneliness leads to reduced life span, reduced happiness, declining brain function, and can lead to physical ailments. I’m able to see the benefits of being part of something and I hope to be able to develop a group program. I’ve had cupping on my mind for a bit so I’ll keep that percolating in my mind and hopefully sometime soon I’ll have an announcement. If you have suggestions, I’m totally open.

03/03/2022

Viscerosomatic reflex if a reflex in which somatic manifestations occur in response to visceral disturbances. More specifically, the visceral-cutaneous reflex is a phenomenon where disturbances or disease in visceral organs refer to pain along the distribution of somatic nerves which share the same spinal segment as the sensory sympathetic fibers of the organ affected.

Everything is connected and can affect each other. Now is just a matter of seeing all the clues and putting them together when trying to help someone. I’ve attached a few images of Head’s Zones (I didn't find an English version so I hope your German is "goot" ;) ), Chapman’s Reflexes, and Mackenzie’s Zones that I found when Googling.

03/02/2022

Osteopathy is a profession that has always interested me and I think that’s because a number of my teachers at Sheridan were osteopaths. What they knew and how they looked at a client was vastly different from the way I was learning Athletic Therapy. A lot of the courses that I’ve really enjoyed have stemmed from osteopathy. Andrew Taylor Still developed osteopathic medicine much of his approach is based in fascia.

“I write at length of the universality of the fascia to impress the reader with the idea that this connection substance must be free at all parts to receive and discharge all fluids, and eject all impurities…A knowledge of the universal extent of the fascia is imperative, and is one of the greatest aids to the person who seeks the causes of disease” (Still)

I don’t know if osteopathy is in my future. I didn’t think going back to school full time at 37 with kids, a business, and throwing in playing varsity rugby in there too was going to happen. You never know where life will lead you.

03/01/2022

Myofascial Induction Therapy (MIT) is a hands-on, full-body approach, focusing on restoration of altered fascial tissue function. During the application, the clinician stretches or compresses the specific region in order to transmit a low-intensity mechanical input. These actions modify fascial restrictions in order to adjust the tension distribution in the fascial network.
The technique seems to be going in the direction of restriction, holding constant application of force for 60-90s to allow for viscoelastic changes, moving until the next barrier is felt.

I believe I was taught the principles of this technique as the image associated was a cross-hands technique. I liked this technique in the early part of my career because it gave me the initial sensations of what fascial release felt like and what fascia feels like. I mostly applied this to superficial fascia work.

02/26/2022

Suboccipitals have many times more stretch receptors than any other muscles; their receptors do not activate an internal stretch reflex; instead, they inform the tonic function of the entire body. Optimizing suboccipital function thus touches the whole through the fascial system.

Working on a client’s suboccipital area is one of techniques that my clients look forward to the most. It’s pretty cool being able to feel tensions literally melting away and now understanding the impact this release can have on someone’s whole body reminds me to take the time to ensure a good release for overall benefit to the client. They look forward to that but not when I’m addressing the SCMs.

02/25/2022

This next section of the book goes into different treatment methods used for addressing fascia. Some of them I’ve heard of and not of others.

According to Rolfing, it seems that a number of upper body postural misalignments are caused by pelvic dysfunction.

YAAAASSSSS I love me a dysfunctional pelvis!! Correcting pelvises is something that I do for probably 80-90% of my clients. The impact of addressing pelvic issues with clients has been so impactful. It used to be that when in doubt treat the psoas but now it’s the pelvis.

02/24/2022

The book spoke about Practical Palpation as:

Palpation : Detection is a matter of being aware of the possible findings and practicing the techniques required to expose these possibilities
Amplification requires localized concentration of a specific task and the ability to block out extraneous information
Interpretation is the ability to relate the information received via detection and amplification

I’ve worked hard over the past almost 2 decades honing my palpation skills. I don’t claim that I can feel everything and tell you every time exactly what I'm feeling but I’ve definitely come a long way since starting. My palpation skills have worked against me in one area of my life, fishing. I really enjoy the quiet and the serenity of fishing however I kid you not I swear I can feel the worm’s pain as I’m putting it on my hook. Did I give up fishing? No, I wear rubber gloves as that seems to be enough of a barrier. I don’t keep as many fish as I have before because each time I kill one, part of my soul dies but that’s a different story.

02/23/2022

I just received an email indicating that Anatomy Trains is hosting another live dissection this time about the eye and brain "From Perception to Intention". The early bird price is available until Feb 28. Here's the link: https://www.anatomytrains.com/product/from-perception-to-intention-eyes-brain-and-the-cervical-spine-dissection-livestream-specialty-class-2022-03-04/?utm_source=News+from+Anatomy+Trains&utm_campaign=20cddf1194-20220223_Eyes_Brain_%26_the_Cervical_Spine_EB&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d522cf29c9-20cddf1194-188512150&mc_cid=20cddf1194&mc_eid=eb55bc2cef

02/23/2022

Moving through deep fascia is possible without discomfort to the client. A phenomenon of tissue "melting" under the hand of the therapist and moving slowly to the endpoint of the tissue is how to get release.

When I was taking my first CST course, I remember the terms “blend and meld”. I thought this was a lot of hooey but it was the way of getting connected with what the client’s tissues were doing and being able to feel structures or tensions. Today my head wandered to “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” where the chief priest “blended and melded” with the sacrifice’s body and ripped out his still beating heart. I don’t think I’ll be doing that at any point, seems like bad for business…seems like my mind is wandering quite a bit today. Happy “Twos-day”

02/22/2022

Clear lines of communication are important to develop trust, clients will feel in control of the situation. Remember many of the same mechanoreceptors in fascia double as nociceptors. There is a need to maintain communication to ensure a positive experience.

Family, the fascia of our lives. They connect to each other and to other families forming an individual into who they are. And like fascia they play multiple roles or functions in our lives. Let’s try and keep clear lines of communication so that our family doesn’t turn into unhappy nociceptors giving up pain but let’s try and work toward a positive experience. Check that out, “Fill-osophy Friday” on a Monday. Happy Family Day!

02/19/2022

When palpating deeper fascia there is a paradoxical approach not to go slower but lighter pressure. There is an inverse relationship between pressure and depth.

I find this interesting because I have had a number of clients say they like “deep tissue” work. They like it when a therapist digs in with a lot of pressure. So the irony is that the therapist is actually staying “superficial”. Applying Visceral Manipulation consistently impresses me by how “deep” I can get with such subtle and light pressures however my mind and intention are going deep…deep..deep…deep…Semantic Satiation. Thanks Ted Lasso!

02/18/2022

Throwback Thursday…from last week, not much of a throw

Under pathological circumstances collagen fibers get closer to each other and form pathological cross-links which reduce the ability of the fascia to unfold eventually leading to notable restrictions.

This was shown in the dissection when some of the pectoral muscle tissues were adhesed to the fascia. No space was available when a pulling-apart tension was applied to fit a scalpel through to separate the layers. Move and drink more water. Motion is lotion! (definitely worth saying again)

02/17/2022

In a study, Metzler & Stanley (2007) showed that mechanostimulating pattern of repetitive strain injury motions induced an increase in proinflammantory cytokines whereas doing an indirect technique induced more anti-inflammatory cytokines.

What I took from this as another reason that manual therapies like CST can help reduce not just tension but inflammation. I find that light touch techniques also help people who’s central nervous systems are in the sympathetic mode help calm the CNS and thereby decrease their pain. I recently had a client who had been in chronic pain and when I first met her she was quite agitated in her voice and body language. What was neat was after a couple of sessions, when she would come in she would be a lot calmer and slower in her speech. We both acknowledged that it was because she wasn’t in as much pain and for me her CNS wasn’t as stimulated.

02/16/2022

Wolff's law explains the effect of compression on bones and the laying of trabeculae. Fascia is a tensional network such that if equal tensional forces are placed on a structure that balances out, a compression will occur and that tissue will be laid down according to Wolff's law.

I think the x-ray images of trabeculae are remarkable and beautiful. To see that fascia can lay in these directions of greatest common force is neat. What I find really cool is that we won’t actually be able to see these formations unless the layers are being separated and you can see thickened fibers in some areas and thinner fibers elsewhere. I would love to be able to see what my body would present if I were being dissected but that’s not going to happen. I guess I’ll have to stick to getting manual work done and someone telling me that I’m stuck somewhere.

02/15/2022

Multimicrovacuolar collagenous absorbing (MVCA) system appears as fibrous connections between layers that as one is pulling the layers apart exposes those connections. This was apparent during the dissection that I observed. These fibre connections are the reason tissues can tolerate the different direction of forces applied and transmitted. I believer this is the idea of the different branching and connections of the brachial plexus so that the nerves can tolerate movement that involves compression and tension without damaging the nerves. Microvacuoles have gel-like substance surrounding it which allows for movement in multiple directions but also holds its volume. Again this was said during the dissection that allows for smooth cutting strokes through the fascia between different layers.

02/12/2022

The Armpit Strikes again!

Tom Myers described the rhomboserratus sling which holds the scapula to the ribs and he goes as far as to consider the 2 muscles like they were one due to how they work together. I realized this connection when treating people who were having a deeper pain in the rhomboid area and no amount of massage/ball rolling/jamming the corner of a wall into that area was yielding any results. Falling back on my anatomy, I remembered that a number of different muscles attach at the medial border of the scapula namely the rhomboids and serratus anterior…I would throw the subscapularis in there for good measure much to my client’s “delight”.

02/11/2022

Adhesions are not just skin deep. When tissues are healthy, during the dissection a pulling away tension is applied as one is cutting. As the fascial fibres are cut, the fibres recoil and the different layers separate. However, if there are adhesions then the fascia doesn’t recoil and parts of the muscle tissue will stick to the fascia such that a scalpel isn’t able to cut through because there is no space between. Adhesions are real! Get moving and drink lots of water to l**e your tissues! Motion is lotion.

02/10/2022

Wild Wednesday

Todd Garcia was able to show the different infrahyoid and suprahyoid muscles. Tom Myers was then able to connect voice quivering when one is nervous speaking in front of people. When one gets nervous, the heart rate increases which applies movement to the very fibrous pericardium which is then transmitted along fascial lines to the infrahyoids which contain the voicebox.