A man presented recently with atrial fibrillation. Heart palpitations began at 17, were relatively quiet for decades, and have become more prevalent as atrial fibrillation in his 60s and 70s. They are initiated primarily when he twists his body reaching for something. Question: Did he have forgotten trunk trauma restricting his heart fascia before seventeen?
Being in the medical field, his wife knew that the cardiac cells of the heart were all connected by fascia and the pericardium is fascial tissue encasing the heart. She wondered if fascial strain or pressure could be a cause of his atrial fibrillation.
On clinical examination I felt strain in his heart area. I told them that I would work slowly, wait for a fascial response, and stop with any heart irregularity.
When I placed my hands over his heart, a palpable counterclockwise strain pattern appeared. When I held his neck and his wife held her hands over his heart, a distinct twist presented in his thorax.
During and after the session, he felt fine as his tissues released with no adverse reaction. When he got back to his hotel room, he did a Cardia Mobile EKG, which was normal. His 73 beats per minute were slightly higher than usual, but within normal range. Question: After a lifetime of compensation, did his heart have to quickly relearn how to function in a looser, more normal environment?
The next day’s test showed positive EKG changes from pre- and post-treatment readings. He emailed: “The little inconsistencies in my heart beat are gone. I can see a definite difference in the EKG charts.”
He and his wife will keep me in the loop. One case does not make a scientific proof, but it can display the wide scope and importance of the function of the fascial web.
Since the fascial web connects every structural cell, the human body exists as one functioning unit—an osteopathic principle.
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