A new certification, a trip to Padova, and what the latest fascial science means for your care.
I’ve just spent time in Padova, Italy, the birthplace of Fascial Manipulation®, completing my certification as a Certified Fascial Manipulation Specialist (FMC®). Alongside the exam, I attended a three-day international masterclass and the annual Fascial Manipulation Congress, where clinicians and researchers from around the world shared the newest developments in the field.
I came home with plenty of notes, sore hands from treating patients all day, and an even greater appreciation for how remarkable the human body really is.
Dan Michael with Luigi Stecco, founder of Fascial Manipulation®, at the Fascial Manipulation Institute masterclass, Padova.
What exactly is fascia?
One of the questions I’m asked most is: “What exactly is fascia?”
Fascia is the body’s connective tissue network. Picture a three-dimensional web that wraps around every muscle, tendon, nerve and organ, connecting everything from your head to your toes. For years it was dismissed as little more than packaging material, but we now know that’s far from the truth.
Fascia is alive. It contains a huge number of nerve endings that constantly feed your brain information about movement, position and force. When that tissue becomes restricted, whether from an old injury, repetitive loading, surgery or years of accumulated wear, it doesn’t just get stiff. It changes the way your body moves.
Why pain can be so confusing
That’s one of the reasons pain can be so confusing.
The shoulder that’s hurt for months may be compensating for an ankle injury from years ago. The back pain that keeps returning despite your exercises may have more to do with how your hips and trunk communicate than with your spine itself. The body is brilliant at adapting, but eventually those adaptations catch up with us.
The more I study fascia, the more I see this reflected in clinic every single day.
“The greatest risk factor for a new injury is the old one.” — Luigi Stecco
What the latest research is showing
What struck me most during the masterclass wasn’t only the new research, it was how quickly the science is catching up with what experienced clinicians have observed for years. Researchers at the University of Padova presented findings showing that collagen type 6, not collagen type 1 as long assumed, is the most abundant collagen in fascia, and that it plays a direct role in how your nervous system communicates with your muscles. Other work showed measurable changes in fascial tissue after treatment, improvements in shoulder instability after only a handful of sessions, and growing evidence that fascia matters not just for movement, but for how the body regulates pain and recovery. Luigi Stecco himself presented a new model of the autonomic nervous system, proposing that fascial tension influences how we process stress, inflammation and organ function, well beyond anything most people associate with connective tissue.
Good treatment starts with good thinking
For me, though, the biggest takeaway wasn’t a single research paper. It was a reminder that good treatment starts with good thinking.
Rather than asking “Where does it hurt?”, we’re increasingly asking “Why is this tissue overloaded in the first place?” That means looking at the whole picture: your injury history, your movement patterns, the way different regions work together. It’s the approach I’ve been refining for years, and this certification has added another layer of precision to it.
Whether you’re training for your first marathon, getting through a busy week without back pain, recovering from surgery or just wanting to play with your kids pain-free, my goal stays the same. I want to help you understand your body, treat the underlying problem rather than chase symptoms, and get you back to doing what you love.
Medicine never stops evolving, and that’s one of the reasons I love this work. The more we learn, the better the care we can offer. I’m looking forward to bringing all of this back into the clinic and sharing it with every patient who walks through the door.
Dan Michael, DC, CCSP, FMC®
