Aging is a major influence on fascia, never more obvious (unfortunately!) than in the sagging and wrinkling of skin. The density, thickness and integrity of fascia tends to deteriorate, with a general loss in organisation and structure. The arrangement of collagen fibrils becomes denser and more regular with age, with an associated gradual decrease in the intramuscular collagen fibres. This affects the shear force value of the connective tissues as well as the underlying muscles. The take-home for someone like me here is that increasing age creates stiffer, stronger, and more stable connective tissues! Sounds great until you appreciate that this also means that flexibility is significantly reduced.
Alteration in hormone levels cause increased collagen deposition, especially cross-linking Type 1, with a proportionate decrease in collagen type III and fibrillin. This is accompanied by stiffening of the extracellular matrix, so we see a marked degradation of the elastic properties of fascial tissue. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more detail……
One consequence of the effects of aging on fascia is an increased risk of falls as balance and motor control are compromised. Of course, all these effects are accelerated with diabetes, a sedentary lifestyle, poor diet and exposure to tobacco smoke. It stands to reason then that appropriate exercise can help to restore “a more youthful collagen architecture” as termed by Robert Schleip. He goes on to say that “only a few minutes of appropriate exercises – focusing on elastic recoil, fascial stretch, fascial release and proprioceptive refinement – performed once or twice a week is sufficient for collagen remodelling. This needs to be done over 6 months to 2 years, according to Dr Schleip, but has to be well worth the effort.
