Most people don’t even know the name of the body’s biggest sense organ…
Anatomists used to discard it to get at the muscles beneath. Now some researchers are finding there’s far more to the fascia than meets the eye.
A new piece in New Scientist (gated) looks at the fibrous connective tissue that wraps around your muscles like a wetsuit under the skin. New research by Robert Schleip has found the unpromising-looking fascia is far from inert: it contains 250m nerve endings, slightly more than your skin, which has been considered the body’s largest sense organ.
Other research implicates the fascia in today’s epidemic of chronic back pain – and suggests stretching is important because it encourages the fascia to release anti-inflammatory chemicals.