The latest F-bomb, a one-size fits all insult, is “fascist.” It is dropped with kneejerk and hyperbolic abandon on the news largely as a synonym for “anyone with a dissenting opinion.” Seriously, that’s not too far off. Sometimes the qualifiers “to the core,” “pig,” “scum,” “Barbie,” and “Swifties” are added on for good measure. Hard to define exactly, the word fascism, from which fascist derives, is a form of authoritarian rule that relentlessly persecutes those it perceives as enemies much like hard-core Swifties relentlessly persecute or troll Jake Gyllenhaal.
Much easier to define is fasciitis, meaning inflammation of the fascia. The word fascia refers to all collagen-based tissues that surround organs, muscles, blood vessels and nerves.
Fascism hurts and so does plantar fasciitis, the most common cause of chronic heel pain in adults, which is triggered by prolonged standing, walking, running and obesity.
Fascism dominates and so does myofascial pain syndrome, a nebulous clinical entity that completely takes over the lives of its sufferers.
Fascism kills and so does necrotizing fasciitis, a life-threatening soft tissue infection that is most often caused by toxin-producing, virulent bacteria such as group A streptococcus and that presents as a surgical emergency.
So, medically speaking, the true fascists, or rather fascia-ists aren’t Taylor Swift fanatics, but massage therapists, physical therapists, sports medicine specialists, and surgeons that treat these forms of fasciitis.
As Taylor Swift sings, let’s hope that these mistakenly/homophonically maligned practitioners will just “shake it off.”