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In several previous posts I have spoken about fascia, what purpose it serves in the body, and what that has to do with you (you can see a post talking briefly about patterns of soft tissue and fascia here: https://www.facebook.com/thewellnesscenterofchestercounty/posts/1282835618539029?__tn__=K-R)
In this post I’d like to talk about trauma, fascia, and how that may relate to you, a relative, or someone else you know.
I had a patient say to me yesterday as I was treating her, she mentioned that she was previously in a car accident, two in fact, within the past 5 years. It was upon her 2nd accident that she began to experience chronic pain in her neck. She went to see her doctor and received a script for scans. After a physical exam, and x-ray, C.T. scan, and a M.R.I., the conclusion was that there was nothing amiss according to the images, but there may be a soft tissue dysfunction. For 5 years she went without a solid answer, until yesterday. I told her she may have a dysfunction in her fascial tissue, due to the trauma of the car accidents, and more specifically the second one. Fascia is responsible for quite a few things that we are aware of. It is responsible for postural integrity, energy transfer, muscular shape and tone, and even our movement patterns and habits.
One thing that is still a mystery though, is fascia and how it relates to traumatic experiences and the strong emotions that took place during said trauma. Trauma can be a few things, including a minor or serious injury, and the event surrounding that. Events like a car accident, a sports injury, or physical abuse can leave us shaken a traumatized. We may rehabilitate, we may recover physically and move on, but our body holds onto that trauma and doesn’t really forget, even if we do. When these things happen, our mind relates the emotions, and possibly even physical actions with the bad experiences. The emotions and memory become “trapped” in the tissue. From then on, our bodies will begin to form our physical patterns, not around optimization, but whatever will keep us “safe”, even if sometimes the safety net our mind and body try to maintain can hinder us, and even affect our quality of life. As our body forms these patterns, it can lead to the sensation of a chronic dull, or aching pain. We go to our doctor to get it looked at, and nothing shows up on any type of scan, as fascia does not.
So how does this get addressed? Through rehabilitative, comprehensive, or intentional bodywork, whether that be guided movement work, chiropractic care, or myofascial release or massage. The body responds well to honest intentions to heal. And so long as the bodyworker has a knowledge of dysfunctional patterns, as well as how to address the body’s network of fascial tissue, this can be alleviated, how long that may take is really up to the individual’s body and tolerance.
If your body has manifested chronic aches and pains and you’ve ever experienced serious injury whether in a car accident, sport or some other some unseen event, your body may have manifested fascial problems in your soft tissue, that could be keeping you “stuck”. The good news is that it can be helped.
If this sounds like something you’re dealing with, give us a call here at the wellness center of chester county, or stop in to book an appointment.
