has anyone tried rolfing?
 

My brother (who knows nothing about crps) is urging me to try it.

Ummmm, what's rolfing? :confused:

It's a style of bodywork/therapy.
http://www.google.com/search?q=rolfi...ient=firefox-a

If you are very sensitive to touch??
It involves the therapist touching, stretching & moving your body.

[is a hands-on manipulation developed by Ida P. Rolf 50 years ago.
It works on the connective tissue (fascia) to release, realign and balance
the whole body.

Rolfing enhances your posture and freedom of movement. It can resolve pain and discomfort from many different causes, including
• back pain
• repetitive motion injury
• trauma
• aging]
http://www.rolf.org/

I don't have any personal experience with it, just read a bit about various types of bodywork and therapies for my RSI/TOS condition.

my husband has had rolfing and said it benefit him a lot for his taught muscles and out joints

it is very deep massage/skeletal manipulation and so if you are sensitive it may be too rough on you

they kneed and pull and push at ya a lot

now that husband has spinal injuries he cannot have it anymore as too intense a treatment

so just proceed with caution

I don't know about anyone else, but I wouldn't let ANYONE touch my shoulder or upper arm where my RSD started (except my husband - he puts my patches on). My PT does work with my neck and head to loosen my muscles and stretch my neck out. But to put a lot of pressure on my affected areas - no way! Maybe it's mental. I'm sure it would either hurt a lot when someone touched it hard, or hurt later on when the delayed pain set in. In any case, it sounds just awful.

I started having a rolfing treatment, starting on my right knee, by my PT that is specialized in massage therapy, and within seconds..I was crying and said,"NO MORE!" It was too much for me.:( I stick with water pt.

I've tried it, and various forms of massage therapy.

Like has been said, it's far too rough for RSD.
I walked out of almost every type of massage therapy "On Fire", had to go "med up", and do my own whirlpool, and relaxation afterward.

The only "massage type" therapy I know that works wonderfully, besides, a good gentle chiropractor, is called:
"Alexander Technique".

I had this done for about a year.
Really great stuff.
They work ever so gently, on drawing tension away from the body's core.
So, in effect, you're of course in a dark, (candlelit) warm room, with aromatherapy and mood music. On a massage table, and they gently "push" away from your spine, outwards.
towards your sides, and along your limbs, and lastly out your toes and fingers.

Lots of oils and very very gentle. It doesn't wake any of the rsd "burn".
Usually, or, often, you're left alone to doze for a little while, that's how relaxing it is.

It's the ONLY massage I would allow.
That's just my experience.

Pete
Asb

Rolfing is the best bodywork I have ever had. In some spots they do go deep if needed. the tecnique(sp) they use allows them to get several layers down. they recommend a 10 series to start. each session lasts an hour 15min to 90 minutes. the rooms are much larger than massage rooms because you have to walk in only your underwear from one end of the room and back. you do this several times as they watch your gate and posture to see where to start rolfing on you.
i would also ask around to see if that rolfer is any good or not. there are 2 levels of rolfing. a master rolfer and rolfer. a master rolfer has a certain amount of years or hours into rolfing. my first 10 series was done by a master rolfer and she wasnt that good. i went to a highly recommended rolfer (not master)(for a 3 series)who only had one year of rolfing at the time but several years of other massage work and she was twice as good. rolfing up here is about $125 to $150 per session and you usually do 2 sessions per week only.

with all this said, i have not had any sessions since crps started. i was too scared to try it because i know how deep they can go. some days i cant be touched at all but some days my legs and arms need a rub so i put up with the initial pain hoping the rub will benifit me later that day/night.

its funny you asked this because i was going to call next week and see if my rolfer still works at the same place or not. now that i know that it depends more on the person doing the rolfing.

i dont think my crps is in my hips. my hips hurt all the time because i am in bed all day and the psoas(sp) and all the weird named ligaments and muscles are not getting stretched enough so i was going to ask for a hip session. if you go in for a regular massage, you usually get the whole body worked on but with rolfing it is broken down to little sections of the body to work on.

if you end up doing some sessions, please report back and let me know if it flared you up or not. i will do the same here. i spend 24 hours a day in bed, so i am guessing you will have your sessions done before me.

mike