Do you have chronic back pain or has your back ever suddenly seized up for no apparent reason? If it has you’ve most likely experienced sharp pain or pain concentrated in one area. What we feel and experience and what the reality of the issue is can be very different. In this post I want to focus on some anatomical relationships surrounding the spine which get little attention, but are likely contributors to the pain.

Back pain can be sort of mysterious. We’ve created popular, but largely ineffective sayings for addressing back pain, and many have become cliche. You may have heard, “Strengthen your abs,” “Strengthen your back,” or “Stretch your hamstrings.” You might have said, “I need a massage” or you may have heard therapists point out, “There are knots in your back and you’re muscles are tense.” Simple solutions such as these inspire hope, but they fizzle out as ineffective attempts. If these solutions were effective and back issues were simple back pain wouldn’t be one of the most common medical complaints. Usually back pain is a complex and dynamic problem, and to add to that the origins of each person’s pain may be very different. It is a given that the area in pain should be treated, the soft tissues should be eased and brought back to a more fluid state. Treating the area directly is certainly protocol – when contraindications are not present – but, there’s more than that. Part of what contributes to the pain is remaining mentally fixated on localized treatment. Let’s let go of our culture of “cliche solutions.”  Thinking outside of the box means thinking outside of the spine.

Structural Integration presents a global perspective of the body; and when understanding the spine the dynamics of local and distant anatomical landmarks such as the ribs, shoulders, and the sternum (in the chest) are seen as directly related.

The ribs and sternum are important aspects of the spine which many clients and professionals often overlook during treatment. The sides and front of the body have a direct affect on long term results. Maybe even more enlightening is that giving freedom to these adjacent structures can also contribute to decrease possible future susceptibility of acute and chronic pain.

When back muscles becomes rigid and spinal resilience is compromised the entire thoracic trunk is affected and all the structures from one extent to another freeze. When a vertebrae or a section of the spine is affected it is effected three-dimensionally, meaning to treat back pain thoroughly it is also neccessary to restore fluidity in the front (sternum), top and bottom (neck and shoulder blade), side to side (ribs) and through the body because the body is not hollow – it is three dimensionally connected. The soft tissues i.e., muscles, fascia, tendons, and ligaments on the very front of the spine (behind the organs) need to become fluid again for long term relief.  This  concept is foundational, but unique to Structural Integration, good practitioners can affect change at this level.

By AUSTIN CONSIDINE

A FORMER dancer of 14 years, Anna Zahn is in touch with her body. To gain more flexibility, and to counteract some of the strain from dancing, she has tried a number of remedies: Reiki, acupuncture, yoga.

But she still felt tight, her body tense. So she started getting Rolfed — a kind of deep-tissue bodywork that can be so intense that some jokingly liken it to masochism.

“It’s not going to massage and lighting aromatherapy candles,” said Ms. Zahn, a 20-year-old student at New York University, who gets a Rolfing treatment every week or so. “It’s tough to go to these sessions. It’s painful, very painful, emotionally and physically. But you feel such a relief when you leave that it’s just the most amazing feeling.”

Others are feeling it, too. Popular in the 1970s, Rolfing once evoked hairy-chested, New Age types seeking alternative therapies — perhaps most famously spoofed in the 1977 football movie “Semi-Tough,” starring Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson.

But today, Rolfing is experiencing something of a resurgence, especially among younger city dwellers for whom the novelty of yoga has worn off, and who are now seeking more intense ways to relieve the stresses of modern life.

“Back in the day, Rolfing’s growth was word of mouth,” said Rey Allen, a Rolfing practitioner in lower Manhattan, who has noticed an increase in its popularity. He attributes the rise partly to the Internet, which has introduced the treatment to a new generation.

“Over half of my clientele are in their 20s,” he added. “Since I opened my practice in the city a few years ago, the average age of my clientele has always been 35. But that has drastically changed since the summer.”

Could Rolfing be one Madonna endorsement away from becoming the next Pilates?

Rolfing is named after its creator, Ida Rolf, a biochemist from New York City who studied alternative methods of bodywork and healing beginning in the 1920s. She died in 1979 at the age of 82.

Dr. Rolf developed a theory that the body’s aches and pains arose from basic imbalances in posture and alignment, which were created and reinforced over time by gravity and learned responses among muscles and fascia — the sheath-like connective tissue that surrounds and binds muscles together. Rolfing developed as a way to “restructure” muscles and fascia.

The focus on manipulating fascia is part of what distinguishes it from chiropractics, which deals with bones, and from therapeutic massages, which works on muscles.

That also explains why Rolfing has a reputation for being aggressive, even painful at times. Fascia is stubborn material, particularly if it is marked by knots and scar tissue. Rolfers gouge with knuckles and knead with fists, contort limbs and lean into elbows to loosen tendons and ligaments. Patients, meanwhile, need the fortitude to relax and take it during the hourlong sessions.

Russell Poses, a 39-year-old international equities trader on Wall Street, who started getting Rolfing treatments after injuring his back, likened the experience to “paying $150 an hour for an Indian burn.” But the benefits, as far as he’s concerned, are well worth it. Chiropractors and years of physical therapy couldn’t accomplish what two or three Rolfing sessions did, he said.

Plus, he said he could still feel the results two weeks later. “It’s something that actually lasts,” he said.

It is hard to find reliable statistics on the prevalence of Rolfing. But the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration, which was founded by Dr. Rolf in 1971 to educate and certify practioners, says it has noticed a rise in student enrollments at its Boulder, Colo., headquarters.

Kevin McCoy, a faculty member at the institute with a practice in Milwaukee, said he had seen annual class sizes swell to 100 from 75 students in recent years. In the mid-1980s, he said, the school graduated fewer than 50 a year. Despite the bad economy, he said, “our numbers have been maintaining or growing.”

An endorsement in 2007 on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” by the cardiac surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz certainly didn’t hurt. Now the host of the syndicated daytime program “The Dr. Oz Show,” he says he sees the growing popularity of Rolfing as “a general perception by the public that taking medications for discomfort is not giving you the panacea benefits that you would desire.”

In that regard, he said he viewed the treatment as an extension of practices like yoga, which also offers relief without drugs. “Yoga is in many ways analogous to Rolfing because it takes tendons and it stretches them into a position of discomfort,” Dr. Oz said. “They’re just doing it for you without your doing it yourself.”

Rolfing practitioners say they have also noticed a shift that may explain why younger clients are seeking out their services. It’s not just to treat injuries, but also stress. “Health is one area where we can find a sense of control,” said Mr. Allen, who has been practicing for about nine years. “The real trend is that people are starting to look within the boundaries of their own skin for meaning in their lives, and to find a sense of security in the world.”

As with other holistic practices, Rolfing seems to leave the door open for a certain mysticism. Even those who have little use for New Age-type practices like meditation can verge on the metaphysical when discussing Rolfing.

Beau Buffier, a 35-year-old partner at a corporate law firm in New York, says he started Rolfing treatments after he injured his neck and shoulder in a fall. Despite three M.R.I.’s, surgery, physical therapy, a chiropractor, acupuncture and deep massage, the pain remained. Stress from his high-stakes job didn’t help.

But somehow Rolfing did the trick. “It’s dealing with the physical manifestations of something that’s kind of emotional or spiritual,” Mr. Buffier said.

He has since gotten in touch with his body in other ways. He began exercising more and eating better. He lost 20 pounds. His blood pressure dropped. “It’s almost as if your body locks up emotions,” he said.

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/fashion/07rolfing.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print (text version)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/fashion/07rolfing.html?_r=1 (full version)

“It’s Mystical, but it’s Physical” (The way one client expressed his experience of Rolf Structural Integration)

In my practice, MedicinEvolution, I’ve heard clients say some of the most interesting things after experiencing Rolf Structural Integration.  I want to share some of what I can recall with you.
•    Since the session the world has been more vivid, my senses seemed to be more acute.  That goes for every sense, my hearing, sight, smell, etc.  I notice things I didn’t before although they’ve always been right in front of me.
•    For some reason I have access to a wider range of vocabulary.
•    I felt a sense of spirituality.  I became Muslim.
•    This work has will help develop your intuition.
•    I’m an athlete, I know my foot, but I’ve never been able to feel my foot like this before.  The awareness that it has brought, amazing!
•    I’m much more aware of my body.
•    Before the work I used to live in the attic (pointing to her head).  Now I feel like I’ve come down to live in the house (pointing to her body).
•    I wanted to get married, and now I’m engaged.
•    His confidence is better.
•    She’s happier!
•    That night after the 6th session all of my symptoms the night of the car accident returned i.e., vomitting, back pain, headache, etc. just like they were.  By the time I woke in the morning they were gone.  My back pain is gone.
•    Don’t take your hand off my back, I can feel the pain leaving through your hand.  Keep it right where it is.  (A very good friend during his bout with cancer, I miss you)
•    My asthma went away.
•    I totally forgot that I wore leg braces.  That was 20 something years ago, and right now I am recalling the Dr. and his exact address.  That’s weird.  (While reestablishing balance in his lower legs)
•    Emotions could no longer anchor themselves to flesh, they’d come and go.
•    I grew an inch.
•    I feel stronger.
•    I feel younger.
•    I feel skinnier.
•    My old pants fit me again.
•    What I’ve learned from Structural Integration is that I can prevent my own future ailments.
•    I don’t get sick like I used to, I would’ve expected to get sick this winter.
•    I’ve experienced a new level of health and fitness.
•    I consider it a part of my training (as a triathlete).
•    I’ve been to a lot of reputable people but no one ( like a Structural Integration practitioner) waits for the body to move, I feel like this does something.
•    I can sleep better.
•    I didn’t feel a thing after the ten sessions.  After returning from a 200 mile hike on the Pacific Coast Trail I don’t think I would’ve made it if I didn’t go through this work.
•    I was shy, the uprightness that I feel makes me feel better about myself.
•    After only a few sessions I could already feel the results not only in the way my back felt but my posture, breathing and the way I was moving. I knew that the underlying postural imbalances were beginning to correct themselves.

If you read through the literature of alternative medicine you can find interesting things like this.  What I love about the Rolf work is that its focus is to release, clarify, define, communicate, support, and organize the physical body.  As a result, the purity of the physical work can sometimes lead to a sort of veil being removed between different aspects of one’s being, the direct correlation, then, becomes clear.  Here are some physical goals during the ten session process of Rolf Structural Integration:
•    Bringing length to the front of the body.
•    Stacking major segments more appropriately.
•    Increasing the vital capacity (breath).
•    Helping the (3) foot arches to function properly.
•    Balancing knees over ankles.
•    Lengthening the back and supporting the spine by restoring correct position of muscles and soft tissue.
•    To win back “sides” of the body
•    Coaxing length in inner legs and revitalizing the pelvic floor.
•    Awakening deep structures and relating anatomy superficial and deep.
•    Freeing the sacrum from the pelvis and restoring it as part of the spine.
•    Horizontalizing the pelvis (the “seat of the soul” as Dr. Rolf described it).
•    Enabling micro-movements to the bones of the head and unifying the spine and all its complexities.
•    Integrating movement of the limbs into the body and empowering a broader more unified range of motion.
•    Establishing optimal joint function, nervous system health, organ space, structure and function, function and structure, three-dimensional body.

On Structure: “Man has been truly termed a ‘microcosm,’ or little world in himself, and the structure of his body should be studied not only by those who wish to become doctors, but by those who wish to attain to a more intimate knowledge of God.” -Attributed to Imam Al-Ghazali

On Totality: The most frequently asked question is, “What do you have for _____ (particular symptom)?”

Not to be prejudiced, but people who find real, long-lasting, deep relief are those with a wise, educated and open enough mind to begin to listen to my unconventional answer.

Never! Never! Never! does a symptom exist in isolation from every other current symptom. Nor is that symptom unrelated to deeper constitutional symptoms found in one’s life history.

The TOTALITY of symptoms MUST be considered and treated if YOU are to gain any significant amount of leverage towards restoring true balance and gaining real relief.

The frustrated attempts of Traditional medicine are rooted in a persistent focus on particular symptoms alone. A medicine for this, a medicine for that; a specialist for this, a specialist for that. Divide and conquer is the easiest way to inject chaos into a unified nation.

An Unconventional outlook, in other words, Treating and Organizing the Totality is essential to the success of MedicinEvolution.

Why is Treating Our Constitution Important? -

The holistic idea of medicine can seem daunting, or it might not be a priority.

Understandably so, especially since most of us don’t take a proactive role in our health.

For some of you there will come a time when HOW your symptoms are addressed and resolved become important. This will most likely come as a reaction, when you’re just not satisfied with your current treatments or if you feel like there is more that can be done – MedicinEvolution -

Statistics say that 90% of people who divorce end up remarrying, and 60% of them end up in a second divorce.

While MedicinEvolution isn’t psychotherapy or counseling, it is important to gain deeper insight into your make up and to treat your constitutional disposition. The Center for Disease Control states the 85% of all diseases are caused by emotions. Our relationships are mirrors reflecting idiosyncrasies that are inherited, learned or imposed (i.e. by a trauma).

MedicinEvoltion is a great beginning for addressing causations which in turn can give individuals better success in controlling illness. Removing causations should ALWAYS be foremost on the path to greater health.

I’ve come to believe that when our health is undermined either through illness or injury or some form of trauma the source of those seemingly distant mechanisms are very closely related, they are rooted in the bodymind – the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual unified human complex. Affecting one of these aspects can and often will affect at least one, if not all the others.

I’ve entertained this idea for a long time now. Last week after a rolfing session I felt it in myself. The session focused mainly on lengthening my neck/head/shoulder area as well as a general balance. At the start of the session I was oblivious to the mental and emotional stress that I was holding and focused more on the physical.

The session was excellent and the work continues to hold. My Epiphany was this: Any feelings or stress I was experiencing prior to the session seemed to float away. They tried to return but couldn’t anchor themselves in flesh. Like a summer rain they came and went. Emotions being a root cause of many diseases, MedicinEvolution provides a means of helping prevent, better and relieve health issues holistically.