What Happens To Fascia As We Age?
Why is fascia important to our appearance?
I’ve been working as a holistic aesthetician and bodyworker for 30 years and believe that true beauty and aging with grace are all about inner work. What’s happening inside our body is reflected on our faces. The face is an incredibly important aspect of identity. It mirrors what’s going on inside–body, mind, emotionally, physiologically, and physically. Your face and skin give clues to your health, imbalances, personality, and disposition. When you work with the face you work with the intricacies of the entire body; cells, muscles, nerves, fascia, lymph. Every system in the body is connected, and when I’m touching the face, I’m also indirectly treating organs that correspond, and skin issues are never skin issues, they are internal bodily issues usually reflecting some time of disharmony. One of those organs to dive into and explore deeper is the FASCIA! YES, it’s an organ!
Becoming focused on fascia is important to understand if you want to age with grace and with true radiance and vitality. I believe fascia to be the key to longevity and radiant aging. I also believe there is a correlation between trauma in the body and chronic pain. My lifelong healing journey has brought me full circle to discover the many secrets fascia holds to my unique story with multiple head traumas starting from 3 years old, and a debilitating accident at 17 that left me with chronic back pain, TMJ, and concussions to follow. I’ve unlocked some of those secrets in my own healing path and skin rejuvenation and I want to open the possibilities to your healing. Fascia has been overlooked for too long in aging healthy and skin rejuvenation. With more new research, we are tapping into its beautiful web of mystery and performance.
What is Fascia?
Fascia, essentially is connective tissue. The connective tissue that separates but also connects our bones, muscles, veins, organs, and even our cells. However, it is much more than tissue–it’s a highly complicated, sensory SOPHISTICATED organ. The largest organ of our body, unlike the popular belief that the skin is our largest organ. Fascia is the only system that connects and passes through our entire body and even penetrates the brain. It also communicates faster than our nervous system, like a communication highway of sorts between every cell in the body forming a continuous 3D web of connective tissue made up of collagen fibers. It creates stability and form in the face and body and provides internal structural support when kept healthy. Without its structure, we would be a pile of bones and muscles walking around like loose puppets. And traumas or scars to any area of the body can lead to problems in other areas by disrupting this connective tissue web. Over time these adhesions can lead to changes in facial appearance such as skin wrinkles and sagging or drooping skin.
Due to the unique relationship between our facial skin and facial muscles, the healthy movement of facial fascia is imperative to the nervous, muscular, and circulatory functions of our face. There are two layers of fascia on the face. Superficial fascia is the layer of connective tissue right under the skin on the face. It acts as the support and infrastructure for your skin and is responsible for giving it lift and tone. It can also carry tension and adhesions that restrict the circulation of blood and lymph.
Deep fascia is a tougher, more dense connective tissue that connects your skin to the muscle and fat below and forms a “girdle” of facial muscles known as the SMAS (superficial musculoaponeurotic system). The deep fascia includes temporalis fascia, parotid–masseteric fascia, investing fascia of the neck, periosteum, and orbital septum. The superficial facial fascia invests the superficially situated memetic muscles (platysma, orbicularis oculi, and zygomaticus major and minor).
Illustration by ELSIEVR.ORG
“Over time fascial adhesions can lead to changes in facial appearance such as skin wrinkles and sagging or drooping skin”
Having fascia stay healthy holds the key to tackling chronic pain, immune dysfunction, depression, and face, and body aging. When unhealthy, it can become sticky, thick, dry, and tight, causing adhesions and restrictions. Fascial adhesions, also known as scar tissue adhesions (or fibrous adhesions) are composed of fibrous fascia collagen fibers. These collagen fibers are the same substance that makes up tendons, ligaments, and other fibrous fascial tissues. Nerve and vascular structures that come through the SMAS layer can become entrapped through fascial adhesions causing pain, lack of movement, lymphatic system restriction, and inflammation. It can affect mood, energy, insomnia, and mobility. Fascial adhesions can occur from trauma, injury in a fall or concussion, chronic stress, emotional trauma, surgical procedures, repetitive facial movements, inflammation, facial fillers, injections, and scar tissue formations.
Over time these adhesions can lead to changes in facial appearance such as skin wrinkles and sagging or drooping skin. This can result from the fascia growing out and lengthening. Since the skin on the face is attached to the fascia, it begins to fall with it. If the fascia is restrictive and stiff it will hold deeper facial wrinkles “in place” until released. To release these adhesion requires a few different techniques, one of those can be fascia scraping using the Fascia Sculpting Beauty Tool.
The skin of the face is uniquely connected to the facial muscles and the aging fascia causes elongation and heaviness this is fascia that’s decompressed and needs to tension released and to be strengthened and toned again.
“Traumas or scars to any area of the body can lead to problems in other areas by disrupting this connective tissue web”
FASCIA RESET FACIAL PERFORMED by claudia colombo 2.5 HRS
What can you do to care for our facial fascia?
Healthy fascia is slippery, smooth, and stretches easily. Damage to the fascia in like a physical impact and trauma can damage it when left too long and can cause a ton of pain, restrictions, illness, and disease–if not treated because the face and body are deprived of energetic and nutritional nourishment the fascia provides. When restricted it can hold “in place” deeper wrinkles or sag in place until released. Fascia can constrict in many different ways, therefore blocking optimal blood and lymph flow to the skin. I’ve implemented these methods to improve my appearance, help keep my fascia healthy, and increase mobility for years.
FASCIA RESET FACIAL - Releases adhesions and restructures the face using the Fascia Sculpting Plate and more. Since fascia has thermo receptors it enjoys heat! Essentially, in the Fascia Reset Facial what I try and do first is warm up the tissue, so that tissue can relax and be malleable. True fascia care starts with the whole body not just the face, then preparing it for drainage to optimize proper blood and oxygen to all the cells.
JET PEEL Lymphatic Drainage - Fascia also responds to cold adding the Jet Peel cryo treatment and doing a Jet Detox lymph drainage is effective.
MICROCURRENT-Fascia is a superconductor of energy! Microcurrent is another wonderful skin and body modality that fascia responds to beautifully. Microcurrent works by delivering an electrical current to muscles and skin cells. The idea behind this is that the electrical current will build up muscles in the face, lifting and tightening the skin.
GUASHA-The benefits of facial massage—specifically the practice of gua sha—include relieving facial tension, toning facial muscles, boosting circulation, reducing puffiness, and improving product absorption.
MYOFASCIAL MASSAGE- Myofascial massage can improve the aging face. “Myo” means muscle. “Fascial” refers to the connective tissue that covers and supports the muscles throughout your entire body. During myofascial release therapy, your therapist doesn't focus specifically on your muscles. We focus on releasing tension in your fascial connective tissues.
CUPPING-Suction from cupping draws fluid into the treated area. This suction force expands and breaks open tiny blood vessels (capillaries) under your skin. Your body replenishes the cupped areas with healthier blood flow and stimulates proper and normal healing at a cellular level.
BUCCAL MASSAGE- Intra-oral (buccal) massage that relaxes parts of your musculature where tension is stored opening up space in the mouth to promote blood circulation and oxygenation of the skin. The lines around the mouth are smoother, the skin is tighter and the lips become naturally plumped. It creates a natural lift and provides symmetry to the face. It also promotes lymphatic drainage to reduce puffiness and leave behind a deep glow. By releasing contracted muscles and fascia this treatment can also help reduce wrinkles in the face that are caused by excess tension.
You can combine all these modalities of the face with the bodywork practice to help keep the fascia healthy and smooth! Yoga will help wring out the internal organs twisting and detoxing so they stay clean and fed with oxygen and blood. Pilates and dancing stretch the fascia as well to move water inside us and generate an electric charge. Releasing adhesion and using compression therapies, stretch, and hold techniques, and deep breathing from the diaphragm will get that internal furnace working to feed your cells, align your posture, and give you glowing radiant skin and health!
ACUPUNCTURE
YOGA
DEEP BREATHING
PILATES
DANCING
ROLLING
TUINA MASSAGE
ROLFING
DRY NEEDLING
Fascia care, unfortunately, is not a one-and-done, it’s a lifelong commitment and attention to daily lifestyle, and wellness practices that will help you age with vitality and vigor. Fascia has an intense grip and everyone’s holding patterns are unique to them so take it slow, have patience, breathe deeply, and release. I look forward to helping you! Book your session and or a virtual consultation.
With Love & Light
xo
Claudia
