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Your Fascia and You

11/16/09 at 04:30 pm | 5 Comments

by Dr. Christiane Northrup

Yesterday, Frank Lipman, M.D., was my guest on “Flourish,” my weekly show on Hay House Radio. Frank is an internist and acupuncturist who grew up in South Africa. I’ve known Frank for many years, and he and I share the same medical philosophy. Besides that, he’s also very, very funny and into World Music. (His CD mixes are among my favorites.) What I didn’t know about Frank until yesterday is that he first became interested in acupuncture when he was a resident, working in the slums in the South Bronx in drug rehab centers.

Frank said he noticed that when acupuncture needles were placed in crack addicts’ ears, they were calm and they relaxed nicely—compared to most of the emotionally out-of-control crack addicts he had seen who were going through rehab without the help of acupuncture. As a result of seeing this profound physical reaction up close and personal, he decided to study TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and also become an acupuncturist.

Frank reminded me that one of the most neglected areas of medicine is the impact of the fascial sheath. The fascial sheath encases the body and every organ in it—like a tight sweater. Fascia is the connective tissue around all muscles. And science is now finding that one of the ways acupuncture works is by changing the signals that go through the fascia. Frank pointed out that connective tissue is loaded with receptor membranes that communicate with all other receptor membranes in the body. This is why when your feet hurt, your whole body hurts!

He also introduced me to the research of Helene Langevin, M.D., of the department of Neurology at the University of Vermont College of Medicine. Dr. Langevin has been doing some very exciting research on a group of cells known as “integrins,” which provide a physical link between the extracellular matrix components of tissue and the skeletons of the cell. Now here’s the most exciting part: Cells interact with their physical support and the stresses on them in ways that produce either health or disease.

Now let me put that into English: When you sit all day slumped over a computer, you’re putting abnormal forces on your fascia. And over time, this will lead to impairment throughout your entire body. On the other hand, when you begin to change your alignment, get regular massage, or even massage the bottoms of your feet with a tennis ball on a regular basis, you are actually creating health throughout your entire body.

Bottom line: Yoga, Pilates, stretching, massage, acupuncture, and fascial release techniques all optimize the electromagnetic forces on your cells to get and keep you healthy. And anything you can do to keep your fascia moving freely and normally will improve your health.

I knew this before. Massage and acupuncture are my regular “healthcare.” But now I have amazing science to back it up. And that is exciting!

This entry gives you a taste of Dr. Northrup’s full blog, which can be found in her Women’s Wisdom Circle on DrNorthrup.com. Members can read more personal anecdotes in her blog and get up-to-the-minute as well as timeless medical advice in her extensive library of articles and podcasts. For more information or to join, click here.

FILED UNDER: MASSAGE, ACUPUNCTURE, FASCIAL RELEASE, FASCIA, FRANK LIPMAN, FLOURISH

Comments (5)

• 1.
  November 17, 2009
  8:20 am

  I'll be more conscious of this while working my computer all day and try to counteract the effects! THANK YOU!

  – Opie
• 2.
  November 18, 2009
  6:00 am

  Christiane, Great blog! As a multidiscipline therapist, I love this. It can be difficult to express to a client how important that having ease in the fascial system is. I use drawings to show how the fascia is connected in such intricate webbings, and how we move or our experiences can effect this unique system. Thanks! moving in Qi, William

  – William
• 3.
  November 18, 2009
  11:38 am

  As an ICU nurse who has benefited greatly from myofascial release and accupunture, I want to thank you for supporting "nontraditional" medicine. I recently read about anesthesiologists that use accupuncture during surgery and have superior results than the typical drugs that are used in surgery. Thank you again!

  – Mary
• 4.
  December 1, 2009
  12:32 pm

  This sounds like something I would benifit from while healing from scleraderma. Thanks!

  – cynthia
• 5.
  February 4, 2010
  9:49 am

  Ive had back pain and neck pain for a year and a half Im an MD an all my mri are normal.... Is tarted goingo to acupunture and masage and ive improove incredibly... Istarted looking for the cause and I came to the same conclution... ITS THE FASCIA!

  – Dulce