Fascia Research Congress

Amsterdam, October 2009

Over 550 people from approximately 40 countries attended the the 2009 congress, the second organized exchange between the basic sciences and practitioners of manual therapy. Besides practitioners of Structural Integration (also called Rolfers ®) there were osteopaths, physical therapists, physiotherapists, chiropractors, myofascial therapists of all varieties, acupunturists and massage therapists.

Two cultures

There is growing understanding on the part of the scientists that what happens on a practitioner's table is extremely complex and cannot be easily isolated in a lab. Similarly, there is a developing understanding on the part of practitioners of what it really means to do basic research and develop scientifically defensible theories and data.

Anatomy, new views from the East

Chinese Professor Dr. Yuan Lin, from Guangzhou has been investigating the anatomical existance of meridians and acupoints. He concluded that the fascial network of the human body was its anatomical basis. He now proposes to study the fascia network - what he calls the supporting and storing system - in new discipline named fasciaology.

Traditional research

An excellent overview of articles can be found on somatics.de, the homepage of Robert Schleip, Rolfer and Feldenkrais practicioner, director of the Fascia Research Project, cofounder of the Fascia Research Congress.

Surgeons

Reconstructive and plastic surgery has changed its view on fascia in the last ten years. Now, noninvasive methods are more and more being used and the importance of manual therapies after surgery has been pointed out.

French researcher and surgeon
Dr. J.C. Guimberteau has also been active in this field for more then twenty years. In his movies, he shows the adaptability and elasticity of connective tissue in beautiful images and impressing computer models. This year he showed his new movie "The Skin Passage", the sequel of "Strolling under the skin".

"The world lying beneath the skin remains to be discovered by scientists because apart from a few notions evidenced at the beginning of the 20 th century, the relationships between the organic structures and how they slide together are poorly understood."
Quote and pictures from "Strolling under the skin", © Dr. J.C. Guimberteau

More and more scientist have been investigating on fascia research in the last years. Hopefully, there will soon be a breakthrough in body-imaging systems, allowing to measure & see what happens under the skin without having to cut anything open.

The next Fascia Research Congress will be held in 2012 in Vancouver.