Stuck in the Fascia Lane: Why Your Hypermobile Body Feels Tight When You Have Loose Joints
Understanding Fascia Dysfunction in hEDS + Webinar July 17 on Fascia Release & Core Strong
If you live with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS), you know the contradiction: you're extremely flexible, yet your body often feels like it's made of concrete. What gives?
The answer may lie in your fascia—a dense, intelligent network layer living on top of your muscles in the connective tissue that's often misunderstood, under-addressed, and overloaded when your joints are unstable.
And when fascia gets overwhelmed? Pain, restriction, inflammation, and sensory chaos follow.
Simply, What Is Fascia? Think of an Orange.
If you’ve ever peeled an orange, you’ve seen fascia—you just didn’t know it.
That thin, white layer under the peel? The stuff that wraps around each slice and keeps everything in place? That’s a great example of how fascia works. Just like it holds orange segments together, fascia in your body wraps around your muscles, nerves, blood vessels, and organs, keeping everything connected and supported.
Now imagine if that white layer was too dry, too tight, or full of little knots. The orange wouldn’t pull apart easily, and the segments would feel stuck. That’s what can happen in your body when fascia becomes restricted, inflamed, or overworked—especially if you have hypermobility.
Fascia should be smooth and gliding. But when stressed, it gets sticky, stiff, and painful. So when we talk about fascia release, we’re trying to hydrate and soften that inner web—gently, not forcefully—so your body can move and function with more ease.
Fascia 101: The Body’s Sensory Web
Far from being just “wrapping,” it’s an active sensory structure involved in movement coordination, stability, and nervous system signaling.In hEDS, where collagen is disorganized or insufficiently strong, fascia often overcompensates. According to fascia researcher Dr. Tina Wang, “fascial tissues often try to stabilize what the ligaments and tendons can’t.” The result: excessive tightness, adhesions, and dysfunction.
Fascia is also deeply responsive to your nervous system. Chronic stress, trauma, and dysautonomia all cause it to contract and brace. So what feels like mechanical tightness is often your fascia reacting to perceived threat—internally or externally.
Listen to Dr. Wang’s interview on the Bendy Bodies podcast to learn more about her research into fascia and hypermobility.
Why Fascia Dysfunction Is So Common in hEDS
Research by Wang and clinical expertise show several key reasons why fascia becomes a pain generator in hypermobile bodies:
Compensation for joint laxity: Fascia tightens around unstable joints to offer pseudo-stability. It’s a protective mechanism—but one that can backfire when overused.
Hyperinnervation and sensory overload: Fascia contains more nerve endings than muscle, and in sensitized systems, this can lead to amplified pain and distorted feedback.
Neuroimmune interaction: Inflammation, trauma, and even mast cell activity affect fascial tension and reactivity.
Nervous system dysregulation: When the body is stuck in fight-or-flight, fascia stiffens in response.
As Dr. Wang puts it: “You can’t release fascia until the body feels safe. The nervous system leads, and the fascial system follows.”
What Works (and What Doesn’t) for Fascia Release in hEDS
If you’ve tried stretching, foam rolling, or massage tools that left you sore, flared, or dizzy—you're not alone. Many traditional techniques are too aggressive for connective tissue disorders.
Here’s what helps instead:
Safe Strategies for Fascia-Friendly Care
Gentle, spiraling movement
Techniques like MELT Method, tai chi, and somatics help reorient fascia through slow, patterned motion. Avoid ballistic stretching and jarring force.Hydration and heat
Fascia is more than 70% water. Dehydration makes it sticky and rigid. Use warm showers or compresses before movement, and hydrate with electrolytes.Sustained, light pressure—not force
Hold gentle pressure for 90–120 seconds with hands or soft tools. No digging or jabbing. Respect the threshold.Vagus-first approach
Use breathwork, cold face dips, humming, or body scans to down-regulate the nervous system before attempting any release work.Stabilize before you mobilize
Engage your core and stabilizing muscles during and after fascia release. Isometric holds and supported movements are key for lasting benefit.
What to Avoid
Deep tissue massage, scraping tools, or anything that causes pain or flares
Passive stretching to end range without muscle engagement
Massage guns or rollers unless guided by a hypermobility-informed professional
Practitioners who ignore nervous system involvement or promote “no pain, no gain”
Thrive Summit Expert Insight Share
At the Thrive Summit, chronic pain educator and licensed physical therapist Susan Chalela issued a clear warning: “Deep tissue massage is not therapeutic for patients with EDS—it can trigger micro-injury and prolong flares.” She emphasized that overstimulating fascia in already vulnerable systems only creates more pain and dysfunction.
Instead, she and Dr. Wang both recommend fascia work that respects sensory thresholds, prioritizes safety, and works with the nervous system—not against it.
Fascia Isn’t Your Enemy—It’s a Messenger
If your fascia is tight, inflamed, or painful, it’s not broken. It’s responding. It’s compensating. It’s bracing against instability, dehydration, stress, and trauma. And it’s asking you to listen and find a way to release.
Effective fascia work starts with curiosity, safety, and a whole-body approach—not tools or techniques that push the system over the edge.
Ready to Learn How to Release Fascia and Build Core Strength the Right Way?
Join us for a live webinar on Wednesday, July 17 11am CT
With Caroline Kamer of Revival Wellness
This fascia-focused webinar will review:
How fascia really works and why it becomes restricted
Safe, effective strategies to release fascia at home—without flares
Core strengthening and stabilizing techniques
A guided experience of fascia release and regulation in real time, plus take home exercises to continue on your own
Reserve your spot now for July 17 11am CT
👉 https://bit.ly/EDSJuly17
This is the foundational core training you didn’t know you needed. Your spine will thank you when you have better core strength to stand up and actually hold that correct posture everyone has been telling you need, just speaking from personal experience here. Seriously, join me to check out the simplistic ways we often don’t get taught on how to hold it all together.