What is fascia? Unveiling an obscure anatomical construct

摘要

Increasing international visibility of a growing raft of bodywork therapies raises questions about the theoretical underpinning of these clinical practices. Practitioner-written publications frequently hypothesize that the clinical application of bodywork techniques results in health-enhancing changes to the structure and function of fascia; however, these assertions have yet to be established by research. Fascial descriptions generally are minimal, inexact and ambiguous. This confounds clear recognition and understanding of this anatomical construct; and potentially constitutes a barrier to scholarly investigation of bodywork therapies.