Fascia is able to contract in a smooth muscle-like manner and thereby influence musculoskeletal mechanics
Three pages on PainSci cite Schleip 2006: 1. The Complete Guide to Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain 2. Trigger Point Doubts 3. Does Fascia Matter?
PainSci commentary on Schleip 2006: ?This page is one of thousands in the PainScience.com bibliography. It is not a general article: it is focused on a single scientific paper, and it may provide only just enough context for the summary to make sense. Links to other papers and more general information are provided wherever possible.
This research established that there are muscle cells in fascia. The finding is relatively straightforward. What makes it interesting is that they concluded that fascial contractions are “strong enough to influence low back stability and other aspects of human biomechanics.” This conclusion seems suspiciously consistent with the interests of the organizations that funded the study.
The data they present clearly shows that fascial contractions are orders of magnitude weaker than what the same mass of muscle tissue can produce. Weak fascial contractions strike me as being scientifically fascinating but clinically boring. I analyze this paper in detail in the article: Does Fascia Matter?.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- Common interventional procedures for chronic non-cancer spine pain: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised trials. Wang 2025 BMJ.
- Gabapentinoids and Risk of Hip Fracture. Leung 2024 JAMA Netw Open.
- Classical Conditioning Fails to Elicit Allodynia in an Experimental Study with Healthy Humans. Madden 2017 Pain Med.
- Topical glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) and eccentric exercises in the treatment of mid-portion achilles tendinopathy (the NEAT trial): a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Kirwan 2024 Br J Sports Med.
- Placebo analgesia in physical and psychological interventions: Systematic review and meta-analysis of three-armed trials. Hohenschurz-Schmidt 2024 Eur J Pain.