Recently, I read an article by Bruno Bordoni, DO, PhD, Prof. of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (The Diverse Landscape of Fascial Manual Medicine). The article discusses how manual medicine practitioners perceive and think about fascia compared to traditional medicine practitioners or anatomists. I think this article did a great job of explaining the differences in the approaches of each of these schools of thought, as well as explaining what part fascia plays in your body as a whole. I’ve noted some key points from the article below, but I strongly encourage you to read the article linked above if you’re interested in understanding what fascia is and why you should care.
- What is Manual Medicine? Per Dr. Bordoni, manual medicine is a” clinical approach where patients are administered non-invasive, non-pharmacological techniques to address chronic or acute conditions, such as osteopathy, chiropractic, and physiotherapy.”
- What are the differing views of the human body?
- Manual medicine sees the body as a living entity that manifests a multi-layered organisation: macroscopic to microscopic to quantum foundations.
- Traditional medicine sees the body as a machine with a collection of separate layers and systems that operate in unison.
- Anatomy is the study of the structure of the body as its individual parts, and physiology is the study of the individual functions of those parts.
- How does each group define fascia?
- Anatomists define fascia as a dissectible connective tissue that wraps, separates, and supports muscles and organs.
- Orthopedic (traditional) medicine divides fascia into four organs: superficial fascia, deep musculoskeletal fascia, visceral fascia, and neural fascia.
- Manual medicine considers the fundamental principle of the body to be that every component is interconnected, making the whole present in every part.
Dr. Bordoni goes on to explain how quantum biology explains the process by which therapeutic touch actually benefits the body as a whole. I’ll get more into that next week. So stay tuned.