Fascia encases and separates muscles, lines the walls of body cavities, and suspends and supports the internal organs, holding them in place during movement. Healthy fascia is slippery, smooth and elastic, made up of collagenous layers and lubricated by hyaluronan – a fluid composed of hyaluronic acid, able to hold 100X its volume in water. Fascia’s slippery properties enable muscles, tendons, nerves and blood vessels to glide among other structures without friction.
Fascia is densely innervated with mechanoreceptors – sensory nerves that inform your brain of the body’s position in space, and capable of generating pain 5X greater than muscle tissue. When fascia is injured, its layers become dense and sticky, often entrapping nerves and blood vessels, and preventing them from gliding. Proprioception is impaired and biotensegrity is disrupted, causing pain, reducing movement efficiency, and increasing your risk of injury.
Plantar fasciitis is caused by microtears and densified fascial layers that have lost their elastic properties and become sticky. Not only does it cause debilitating heel and foot pain, but a damaged plantar fascia loses its ability to store and release energy – a phenomenon known as the Windlass Mechanism – thus impairing gait and causing mechanical deficiencies throughout the lower kinetic chain.
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