Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1481961
the years, and this one included relevant work in oncology, inflammation, lymph, hormone research, as well as anatomy, rehabilitation, and psychosocial aspects of fascia's role in health and therapy. "My own mental highlighter was out of my pocket the whole meeting, but especially during Robert Schleip's sharing of research showing changes in tissue elasticity in people with higher depressive scores (it's somewhat intuitive to assume that bodily stiffness has an emotional side too, but this study was unusual in correlating these two qualities); Peter Friedl's striking pictures of cellular motility within connective tissues; and Tina Wang's puzzling findings about Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a connective tissue disorder usually characterized by overly f lexible joints and myofascial pain for up to 90 percent of people who have the disorder. Wang found these patients to have less tissue gliding when more would be expected. Whitney Lowe and I have plans to interview Drs. Friedl and Wang on upcoming episodes of the Thinking Practitioner podcast about these intriguing findings." 16 m a s s a g e & b o d y wo r k n ove m b e r/d e ce m b e r 2 0 2 2 Uniting Researchers and Clinicians Takeaways from Montreal By Karrie Osborn work may be a lot more about how we are affecting sensory input into the nervous system than about mechanically lengthening tissue. This has some interesting ramifications for how we may see the evolution of treatment approaches with soft- tissue manipulation." Lowe's hope for the next FRC, scheduled for 2025 in New Orleans, is to create even greater dialogue about clinical relevance for the cutting-edge fascia research findings being presented. TIL LUCHAU, author of Advanced Myofascial Techniques and member of Advanced-Trainings.com faculty For Til Luchau, all the FRC events over the years have been incredible learning experiences, and this year was no exception. "Where else do practitioners get to hear directly from some of the key researchers in our field about their latest work, the questions they're asking, and the evolution of our collective thinking?" Luchau says the topics covered under the umbrella of "fascial research" have broadened tremendously over In September, the 6th International Fascia Research Congress (FRC) was held in Montreal, Quebec. The fascia community was ecstatic to be back together after COVID-19, and this year's event did not disappoint. Here are some highlights from our Massage & Bodywork friends. WHITNEY LOWE, educator, author, and owner of Academy of Clinical Massage Whitney Lowe says several things made a strong impression on him at the FRC this year, but maybe most striking was the shift in thinking how fascia can be manipulated. "There seems to be a movement away from some of the former narratives that were quite popular in our field about what happens as we attempt to affect fascia with soft-tissue manipulation. Formerly, we were focusing a lot more attention on the idea that we were specifically manipulating and elongating fascia with our work. However, recent research has not supported that idea very strongly. Right now, there seems to be a lot more emphasis on the role that fascia plays in f luid mechanics and keeping adjacent tissues sliding appropriately in relation to each other. "Also, we're now learning a lot more about the extensive sensory innervation of fascial tissues. Consequently, some of the primary physiological effects of fascial FASCIA RESEARCH CONGRESS (Left to right) Til Luchau, Stephanie Otto, and Robert Schleip made time to connect during the FRC 6.