Fascia, Acupuncture and Manual Therapy, Helene Langevin, MD, Director, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, MA. For more videos from Joint Conference visit: http://oshercenter.org/joint-conference-2015-video-presentations/

AcuTalks recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Helene Langevin, Osher Center Director, on her Connective Tissue Lab's research studying how connective tissue plays a role in the mechanisms of acupuncture. The lab's interest in acupuncture accompanies their overarching mission, to study the role of connective tissue in chronic pain.

Okay, stretch and hold and hold and hold. What happens when you stretch? What exactly are you stretching? Is it your muscle or is it your connective tissue? Connective tissue or fascia – as it is also known as – is what holds us together. It is a net that suspends your organs: a high-tech adhesive that holds your cells in place while relaying messages between them. The network is so extensive and ubiquitous that if you were to lose every organ, muscle, bone, nerve and blood vessel, your body would still retain its shape. So what happens when you don’t stretch and when you do stretch, how long should it be? These questions lead to a decades-long research project into acupuncture and stretch. It started when our guest Dr. Helene Langevin of the Harvard Medical School, Brigham Women’s Hospital questioned why acupuncture needles grab. What are they grasping and how long should the treatment last? Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs #stretching #exercise #acupuncture ctm164