Fascia & the whole body

We like to think about the body in sections or parts, we talk about specific muscles or structures 'I have a problem with my hamstring muscle' or 'this muscle in my shoulder is very tight'. The thing is that once we actually dissect the human body, one of the first structures we come across is fascia.

Fascia is a connective tissue which surrounds and connects EVERY structure in the body. Muscles, bones, blood vessels nerves organs etc. Fascia creates incredible support to our body, allows correct force distribution of muscles and provides proprioceptive input so that we know where we are in space.

If we removed all the fascia from our body we would literally fall over and not be able to get back up and it's likely that it would be incompatible with life as there would be no support around our vital organs.

Pain is never isolated

So with this in mind, to say “I have a problem with my hamstring muscle” is incorrect as the hamstrings cannot function in isolation. We often think about muscles as having only bony attachments (an origin and insertion) and that's it.

However the fascia surrounding the hamstrings attaches to the muscles of the inner and outer thigh and down into the calf muscle where it is continuous with the plantar fascia of the foot. It also continues upwards into the pelvis, spine and head.

So the hamstring is a small part of a larger functioning unit and therefore needs to be considered this way when there is dysfunction. This means that even though you may be experiencing soreness in your hamstring, it may not be where the problem actually is and without considering the other structures that it connects you may only be seeing a small part of the problem.

We must consider the whole body

When working to repair the body and mitigate pain, we must consider the joints, blood vessels, nerves and organs as they all interconnected with each other and they all play a vital role in the stability and function of our system as a whole.