To describe what fascia is, we can think of it as a spider web/gluey fabric that holds us together. It connects every, and yes I mean EVERY structure (muscles, adipose (fat) tissue, organs, arteries, veins, nerves, bones, ligaments, tendons etc…) to each other creating a structural continuity that gives form and function to every tissue and organ. For more nerdy ones out there, though without going too much into weeds, we can perhaps simply define it as a three-dimensional of soft, collagen-containing, loose and dense fibrous connective tissues that permeate the whole body. Between its layers, it has loose fiber tissue that allow them to glide. One of the main substances that allow them to achieve this gliding motion is a glycosaminoglycan called hyaluronic acid, which most of us are familiar with because of anti-aging products. This system of fibrous connective tissues, influence one another throughout the whole body. Meaning that, a “dysfunction” in the fascia of the foot, can have an effect elsewhere that is further away from the site of the actual dysfunction. My favorite analogy to help patients understand this function is a t-shirt fabric being pulled from certain direction/s and how that effects structure of the rest of the t-shirt.
It also turns out that fascia is highly innervated with receptors that mediate proprioception (sense of body position) and pain, which play a crucial role in its involvement in neuromusculoskeletal injury presentations.
For further information about fasciae, please go to fascial manipulation website.
When it comes to the spine, the lumbar spine, sacral and coccygeal segments make up what we call the “lower back. Lumbar spine is made up of 5 vertebrae, referred to as L1-L5. In between each of these vertebrae is what we call an intervertebral disc which are simply like a round pad that absorb shock to cushion the bones as we move under gravity. These discs are also there to create space in between each vertebrae where each of the nerve roots, referred to as L1-S1, come out of little spaces called neural foramen.
Lastly we have our spinal cord that runs through our entire spine, including the lumbar spine, through a space called spinal canal. Spinal cord is where the nerve roots originate from and then exit through the neural foramen of the spine to go to their determined innervating tissues.
