Lesondak David - Fascia - What It Is, and Why It Matters, Second Edition

First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Handspring Publishing

This second edition published in 2023 by Handspring Publishing, an imprint of Jessica Kingsley Publishers

An imprint of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

An Hachette UK Company

Copyright Handspring Publishing Limited 2023

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Disclaimer: To the maximum extent permitted by law, neither the Publisher nor the Authors assume any responsibility for any loss or injury and/or damage to persons or property arising out of or relating to any use of the material contained in this book. It is the responsibility of the treating practitioner, relying on independent expertise and knowledge of the patient, to determine the best treatment and method of applic ation for the patient.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library and the Library of Congress

ISBN 978 1 91342 631 6

eISBN 978 1 83997 851 7

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Handspring Publishing

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www.handspringpublishing.com

David Lesondak BCSI, ATSI, FST, FFT, VMT is an Allied Health Member in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). He serves as the Senior Structural Integrator and Fascia Specialist at UPMCs Center for Integrative Medicine. He has been a clinical bodyworker for over 30 years. He is a Board Certified Structural Integrator, Frederick Stretch Therapist Level 2, Fascial Fitness Trainer, and Visceral Manipulator via the Barral Institute.

David is the author of the international best seller Fascia: What it is and why it matters . His follow-up book Fascia, Function, and Medical Applications was nominated for a 2021 British Medical Association award. He has also contributed chapters to the 2nd edition of Fascia: The Tensional Network of the Human Body and the 2nd edition of Metabolic Therapies In Orthopedics . He has also contributed to the 4th edition of Joe Muscolinos Kinesiology .

David sits on the Executive Committee of the International Consortium on Manual Therapies.

A passionate and engaging speaker of all things fascia, David has been an invited speaker and workshop facilitator to such diverse groups as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Workshop on Myofascial Pain, the Academic Consortium of Integrative Medicine, the Performance, Health, and Wellness Staff for the LA Clippers, both the British and Australian Fascia Symposiums, the World Fascia Congress, the Anatomy Trains Masterclass Series, the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and many others.

He hosts the podcast BodyTalk with David Lesondak.

Before entering the healthcare field in 1991, Davids various career incarnations were in television, advertising, the funeral arts, and over a decade-long stint as a DJ on WYEP-FM in Pittsburgh. He maintains an avid interest in music and songwriting.

His website is www.davidlesondak.com .

In Memoriam

Leon Chaitow (19372018)

Tom Findley (19492021)

The second edition of this book is dedicated to the memory of

Leon Chaitow and Tom Findley who furthered the acceptance of manual
therapy in the realm of medicine, were rigorous about their science,

and understood the importance of paying it forward.

Eric McLuhan, the son of the great media expert Marshall McLuhan, taught me to speed read in 1970 a talent I have been grateful for ever since. But his opening line was: Would you rather spend 45 minutes reading a summary of the book or in conversation with the author? Everyone answers In conversation with the author.

I can personally assure you that David Lesondak is a brilliant and engaging conversationalist. This book is exactly like having a talk with him his personal whimsical style and humor shine through, the wide variety of his interests are in evidence at every turn. David has a way of explaining complex ideas in understandable terms without dulling the scientific edge or cheapening the argument.

You can take this book home with you and enjoy it all at once as a great big meal, or snack on it in pieces either way you will be assured of tasty and nutritious food for your mind. It has the additional benefit of being fresh the scientific information on fascia is accurate and up to date.

It has been my pleasure to know David for over a decade as a student, colleague, and teacher, and this book is an absolutely quintessential expression of his dedication to accuracy, his panoramic scope, and his infectious enthusiasm for the living fabric of the body.

Tom Myers

Clarks Cove, Maine

June 2017

When I invited David to use his video skills to document the first Fascia Summer School in 2010 I had no idea what I was in for. Neither, I think, did he.

Though we had met several years previously, it was over the ensuing seven years that every time I turned around at a major conference David was there; behind his cameras, capturing all the moments, and later meticulously editing the lectures for maximum clarity.

I came to realize there was a very keen mind behind that camera, putting theories and ideas together in some very unique ways over the many conversations and teaching opportunities that we have shared. This was very apparent in his many intelligent questions, with which he interspersed his frequent personal interviews with our keynote presenters, and also in his own active input in the many discussions that surround an effective scientific meeting. In fact, I was so much impressed by Davids personal knowledge of the fascia research field and his own ideas in this area that we gave him the opportunity to lecture himself at our bi-annual Fascia Research Summer School at Ulm University. However, I was not prepared for the mastery and brilliance with which he filled that slot and impressed even me.

So too, I suspect, he will surprise you as you read his book. Whether you are new to the wonderful world of fascia or an old-timer like myself, you will find ideas, images, and impeccably explained science, written in a way that is both illuminating and memorably entertaining. At the same time, this book will serve as a valuable reference with which to dive deeper into study as you see fit.