Fascia is a thin layer of connective tissue that surrounds every organ, muscle, bone, nerve fibre, and blood vessel. All fascia in the body connects to other fascia like streams connecting into a river. Fascia does more than just provide internal muscular structure because it surrounds the nerves and blood vessels. When fascia is stressed it can become tight and dry decreasing mobility which can cause discomfort and pain. Many factors can cause immobility of fascia including trauma via injury, surgery, overuse. In turn the stiff fascia leads to a lack of proper load transmission, decreased range of motion, and irritation of the nerve endings. When the myofascial tissue which includes the muscle and connective tissue become inhibited, prolonged rigidity can lead to acute or chronic pain.

FM was developed by a physiotherapist, Luigi Stecco in Italy 40 years ago and has been evolved and improved upon ever since. There is no other soft tissue method with as much peer reviewed literature as FM.

Soft tissues in human bodies are covered by layers of fascia that due to trauma, surgery, or overuse become densified creating local or global restrictions. FM is aimed at treating musculoskeletal pain that has not been alleviated by any other treatments. 

In the muscle system, there is a lubricant that is present in loose connective tissue that is between muscle and fascia allowing normal movement. Due to injury the lubricant can change and become stickier and decreases movement. The foundation of Fascial Manipulation is the recognition of particular localized fascial points that are contributing to restricted movement. The recovery of the movement is achieved by appropriately manipulating the specific fascial points densified by the collection of the lubricant.

Stecco has marked the critical points in the deep fascia through research on cadaver dissections. The technique of this method focuses on creating manual friction on the specific localized points in the deep fascia which are often situated away from the pain site. The manipulation of the affected points makes them less sticky and the tissue begins to glide, freeing the muscle.