Skin acts as a medium of epimuscular myofascial force transmission in human

To confirm the existence of epimuscular myofascial force transmission in humans and function of skin as the medium of it, this study examined if manipulation of the length of the distal extensor digitorum longus muscle (EDL) can alter the distal and proximal tendon forces of the adjacent peroneus longus muscle (PL) using human cadavers embalmed by Thiel’s methods under three different conditions, i.e., intact (INT), removal of skin (SKIN), and subsequent removal of deep fascia and epimysium of both muscles (FAS). When the distal tendon of EDL was manually pulled, the degree of decrease in distal PL tendon force was significantly smaller in SKIN condition compared with INT condition. The result suggests that skin plays a role to transmit force laterally between the adjacent muscles.