I was excited to be able to attend the Fourth International Fascia Research Congress in Reston, VA, September 18-20, 2015. What a remarkable experience! Approximately 1,000 participants gathered from all over the world – with it in my backyard I had to attend! Just as varied were the disciplines of the attendees: medical doctors, osteopaths, massage therapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, researchers, athletic trainers, surgeons, and of course a few of us physical therapists. Presentations were fascinating, covering a wide variety of topics: new discoveries in fascial histology (I did not know it even permeates into bone, mitochondria, and cell membrane); fascia in embryology and genetics; neural innervation of fascia; the role of fascia on the viscera (internal organs); the role of hyaluronan (injected into knees) in fascia; and much on new research and discoveries pertaining to fascia. One French surgeon took us on a subcutaneous tour with his endoscopy in a talk he entitled, “Our Interior Architecture.” He was very entertaining and went on for close to two hours sharing videos he has made of the fascial network while doing surgery – very different than what you see in an anatomy lab cadaver. It was a challenge to understand what was being said sometimes due to accents, which taxed my brain. In the hallways on breaks I felt like I was at an international bazaar! Overall an amazing gathering, I hope I can go overseas in 2018 to attend – wherever it is!
Tags: Fascial Manipulation
