11/02/2025
Featured Article
Fascia AND AGING
by Larry Heisler, M.A., LMT
It annoys me when I hear therapists asking their clients what they would like to accomplish in their massage session.
It makes the client think they need to have a reason, a pain, a complaint or some condition to get and enjoy a massage.
Almost as if it is a frivolous luxury.
Massage is the fountain of youth!
There are endless benefits to getting a massage.
Not least of which is longevity.
Just by breaking up the hardness, increasing circulation and flushing the body with oxygen, you are genuinely enriching your client's life.
Part of our soft tissue assessment might be the question,
“Are there any areas you would like me to concentrate on today?”
If when reading their intake form, they mention a specific complaint, then you might ask, “Would you like me to concentrate on that area or does any other area hurt today?”
We want people to come for massage very regularly because it is a major difference maker! It alkalizes the body, and you know what they say, cancer only grows in an acidic environment.
Word to the wise…
Years ago, Stuart came in for his first 90-minute appointment.
He was six foot one and roughly three hundred pounds.
The first thing he shared with me was he recently had a consultation with his orthopedic physician and the doctor said he would need two surgical procedures. One for his shoulder (rotator cuff) and the other for his knee. Stuart quipped, my doc said he would give me a two for one special price. We both laughed.
In addition, Stuart complained of chronic hip and lower back pain.
I shared with Stuart that very often, as we age, we become very armored and tight.
That our fascia develops a lot of adhesion, and that adhesion can pull mightily on our joints initiating pain and discomfort, shortening a leg, etc.
I also mentioned, as I break up adhesion, the pull will lessen and very often the pain will subside and even go away.
About five years have gone by since we had that conversation.
Stuart comes weekly for his 90 minutes.
So recently, just for fun, I asked him, “Stuart how’s that pain you were having in your back, shoulder and your knee?”
Stuart looked at me a little puzzled,
“What are you talking about?”
I said, “Remember when you came in for your first session, you told me your doctor was going to give you a two for one special on shoulder and knee surgery? And you mentioned a chronic hip and back pain?” Remember that conversation we had about the fascia?"
With that reminder, Stuart exclaimed,
Well…you were right. That's why I'm still here.”
Back in the day, I was watching the tennis matches from Flushing Queens. The famous U.S. Open.
Fan favorite, 36-year-old Andre Agassi had won his quarterfinal match. He was so sore afterwards, he had to get multiple cortisone shots to be able to compete in the semi-final match. He was not old by any means but no one his age had won the Open since Bill Tilden did it in 1929. Thirty-six years old for the men’s championship was next to impossible to achieve.
As any soft tissue therapist would agree, tennis is a brutal sport on the body. Agassi played valiantly but alas, he lost and after the Open was completed, the great one retired from the sport all together.
I’ll never forget how Agassi walked off the court that evening.
I can still see it.
The point of this whole story.
He walked off like he had a frozen back and arthritic hips.
Broken up, like an old man.
Did you ever hear the phrase that’s used when a horse is at the end of its life?
It is said to be, “Ready for the glue factory.”
That’s the proverbial picture of a horse with the sunken back.
Weird as it may sound, horses like all mammals are good for making glue because they contain a lot of collagen.
Collagen is a key protein found in abundance in mammals and the world is derived from the Greek word for glue, kola.
Collagen is the single most abundant protein found in mammals, being present in everything from horns, hooves, bone, skin, tendons, ligaments, fascia, cartilage and muscle. It’s a glue that provides great tensile strength and support.
In humans, collagen makes up approximately 25 to 35% of the proteins within the body.
You know how our attention in the massage therapy profession has turned to “All things fascia?”
Well fascia is actually a sheet or a band of connective tissue that’s primarily collagen.
So, here’s what I’m getting at…
As we age, we get tighter, harder, shorter, stiffer, colder.
We get armored!
I’m going to make up some words now to make a point.
We become more stickier, gluier.
Did you ever have a pet that died?
Like a p***y cat?
By the end of the day, the rigor mortise sets in, and that animals body becomes stiff and rigid.
You can pick it up by the tail and fan yourself. Yes, that rigid.
I know, bad example.
But there’s an important point.
Just like the horse ready for the glue factory.
For us humans, rigor mortise (postmortem rigidity), sets in way before you die!
I’ve been saying this one line for over fifty years.
So let me say it one more time so you can hear it loud and clear.
“Rigor mortise sets in way before you die.”
You can see the rigidity, the frozen zones, when you watch people walk.
Sometimes even when they are young.
So, here's a thought...
Our first GOAL as a massage therapist, should be to break up the hardness,
TO BREAK UP THE GLUE!
"My rule," find the hard, cold areas and you'll find the problems.
Some years back I was hired to work on an injured defensive back for the Denver Broncos. After initial history and small talk, I observed the way he walked into the treatment studio. When I returned my hands immediately went to the injured area. He sat up and gave me a quizzical look saying,
" Oh, you are good! How did you know that was the spot?"
I explained, "I didn't know it was THE SPOT,
I knew it was "a spot" because you are walking in a guarded fashion and upon palpation, that region is cold and hard."
As the great one, Bonnie Prudden taught us:
· Identify the painful area, map out the trigger points, treat and release them, then stretch out the area.
Also, good to know...
anytime you increase circulation, you speed healing and lessen pain.
That's why heat works, ice works, ultrasound definitely works, MPS,
even magnets can increase circulation.
But for my money, I really praise hydrocollator's.
Hot steam packs can take the Charley out of the horse.
I learned that from the other great one, Bob King.
In 1985, I took a trigger point workshop with the former National President of the AMTA, the late, great, Bob King.
In his class, he said to us his treatment secret was to apply hydrocollator steam packs after you clear the trigger points.
KEEP IN MIND...
A great massage therapist prepares an area prior to delving into the triggers.
Deep tissue work should never, ever hurt!
Slowly, gradually desensitize.
Like peeling an onion, one layer at a time.
But even then, some folks will be sore after a session.
That's where the steam packs do their wonders.
We have hydrocollator's in every treatment room and
every one of our therapists are trained in using them.
Why do you think Bob Hope, Rose Kennedy, George Burns and
Queen Elizabeth of England called massage therapists their fountain of youth?
All of them got a deep tissue massage DAILY!
That was their secret to their great longevity.
Deep tissue massage breaks up the glue, promotes flexibility and prevents the body from literally freezing up.
