Rolfing

Wondering if anyone has tried Rolfing before. I am working on recovering from some back and shoulder injuries and hoping to be climbing again soon. I am researching it before making the investment, as it is a bit pricey. Has anyone found it helpful?

You wouldn't believe the things going through my head until I Googled "Rolfing".

I did it a few years ago, and was unimpressed with the results. Honestly, I didn't notice any difference, except a much lighter wallet...

I had some ankle and posture issues, but think stretching and pilates helped more than rolfing.

My 2 cents.

witchcraft....so, if you're into that kinda thing have at it. it'll cost you too.

I subluxed my shoulder and broke my neck in the process. After PT and following all related advice, with limited results, I opted to continue therapy with Rolfing. Yup it's pricey but there are way more noticeable results than I ever felt with the PT. I don't know if I've made a complete recovery but it has made a real difference for me. All that said, if you go for it, prepare to pay someone to hurt you... beat you up... more or less; we're talkin' deep tissue work here!

My sister is certified and I had always been skeptical of it, but when my buddy broke his leg (from a bouldering accident) and was still limping a year later she fixed him. Also, I throw my back out at times when I am climbing or from soccer and I go to her once is starts to become unbearable when she is done working on me I feel awesome, albeit sometimes a little sore but it is totally worth it.

Her clients consist of hockey players and other athletes and I highly recommend her (and not just because she is my sister, but because she does do really good work).

Here is her website if you are interested: oconnorbeth.com/

She mentored with one of the best Rolfer's in the industry so she really does know what she is doing. Also, because her practice is outside Boulder she is cheaper than what you would find in Boulder.

Rolfing is actually pretty cool, and when you can be informed and worked on by someone who actually knows what they are doing you will notice a positive change.

I have always been a bit leery of alternative things but chiropractors scare the hell out of me (all the cracking and popping can't be good for you) and getting a massage doesn't fix my back, it is just a temporary solution.

ICOJ wrote:I have always been a bit leery of alternative things but chiropractors scare the hell out of me (all the cracking and popping can't be good for you) and getting a massage doesn't fix my back, it is just a temporary solution.

I'll second that.

It should be noted: the reason everyone says Rolfing is so expensive probably has something to do with it being something like 10 full sessions to get completely "Rolfed." You can go only once and it will still seem expensive (compared to a traditional massage I guess) but, if you want the full benefit, it's recommenced you do the full series. The skeptics in the room will probably say this sounds like a scam; like when the chiropractor tells you they want to see you four times a week for the next few months (I know, I feel ya.) A full series of Rolfing sessions will literally go from head to toe (or toe to head.) The work they do is F-ing painful (think jumping-off-the-table uneasiness) but IMO, the value is immeasurable.

Rolfing, as I understand it, deals with the (breaking up of) fibrous membrane called "fascia" that surrounds your musculature, organs, bones, etc. I've heard the purpose of Rolfing described as "re-alignment of the body with the pull of gravity." That sounds hokey but if you think about it, we spend our lives being pulled toward the center of the earth and all the stress our bodies store up results in our bodies growing out of balance with gravity (e.g. slouching.) Totally plausible if not totally true. I'm not doctor-smart with all the anatomy stuff but I know first-hand how it improved my overall health (organ function/posture/muscle soreness) to manipulate all this fascia stuff. First of all, all the toxins stored up in your fat cells will be released when a Rolfer gets in there and does their deep-tissue stuff, causing some of us (ahem) to feel a bit of a buzz afterward that quickly subsides. It was always in the days afterward that I noticed the latent benefits of the sessions.

In the end, I would no sooner tell someone they HAD to get Rolfed then I would tell anyone they MUST go climbing; it's not for everyone but, witchcraft, voodoo, touchy-feely crystal magic, it certainly is not.

If you want to ensure your Rolfer is certified and on the level, I'd start with the Rolf Institute in Boulder; they're internationally recognized, Oprah certified, etc.

Interesting note: Rolfing (like Pilates) is named for an actual person: Ida Rolf.

Thanks for all the feedback. I think I am going to give it a try - and through my job do get a significant discount. ICOJ, thanks for the reference, though I am in SW Colorado - Durango for the winter. I'll post how it goes.

Yeah I've done it. Can't say I would recommend it though.

In my case it was brought on by a spinach salad from Wolfgang Puck's. Ruined my weekend. Food handling just isn't where it should be these days.

Sorden wrote: .....Rolfing, as I understand it, deals with the (the breaking up of) fibrous membrane called "fascia" that surrounds your musculature, organs, bones, etc....

What do you guys think of myofascial release or connective tissue massage for a less expensive option?

Sorden wrote: I'll second that. It should be noted: the reason everyone says Rolfing is so expensive probably has something to do with it being something like 10 full sessions to get completely "Rolfed." You can go only once and it will still seem expensive (compared to a traditional massage I guess) but, if you want the full benefit, it's recommenced you do the full series. The skeptics in the room will probably say this sounds like a scam; like when the chiropractor tells you they want to see you four times a week for the next few months (I know, I feel ya.) A full series of Rolfing sessions will literally go from head to toe (or toe to head.) The work they do is F-ing painful (think jumping-off-the-table uneasiness) but IMO, the value is immeasurable. Rolfing, as I understand it, deals with the (breaking up of) fibrous membrane called "fascia" that surrounds your musculature, organs, bones, etc. I've heard the purpose of Rolfing described as "re-alignment of the body with the pull of gravity." That sounds hokey but if you think about it, we spend our lives being pulled toward the center of the earth and all the stress our bodies store up results in our bodies growing out of balance with gravity (e.g. slouching.) Totally plausible if not totally true. I'm not doctor-smart with all the anatomy stuff but I know first-hand how it improved my overall health (organ function/posture/muscle soreness) to manipulate all this fascia stuff. First of all, all the toxins stored up in your fat cells will be released when a Rolfer gets in there and does their deep-tissue stuff, causing some of us (ahem) to feel a bit of a buzz afterward that quickly subsides. It was always in the days afterward that I noticed the latent benefits of the sessions. In the end, I would no sooner tell someone they HAD to get Rolfed then I would tell anyone they MUST go climbing; it's not for everyone but, witchcraft, voodoo, touchy-feely crystal magic, it certainly is not. If you want to ensure your Rolfer is certified and on the level, I'd start with the Rolf Institute in Boulder; they're internationally recognized, Oprah certified, etc. Interesting note: Rolfing (like Pilates) is named for an actual person: Ida Rolf.

Well put!

Timmamok: I suggest going to rolf.org to find someone in your area. Good luck with everything :)

Sounds like Rolfing, is actually used to an extent by GOOD massage therapists. After a C-spine accident at work this summer (just about broke it) the doctors sent me through every type of PT thinkable. Electro-stim, manual and auto traction, exorcise routines, chiropractic, hell even tried "dry needling", never do that, EVER!! Finally the thing that I had the most success with was massage therapy, not massage!! A massage is relaxing, the lady lights a scented candle, oil's you up and rubs you down. Many people have been known to fall asleep during a massage.
Now, on the other end you have massage therapy. MT is NOT relaxing, point in fact it generally hurts. A friendly looking lady tells you to take your shirt off and lay on the table, so you do. At which point the woman morphs into her second identity, a dark, masochictic woman with thumbs of steel, and forearms and elbows hard as granite. During this time you will likely hear "Now if I take you above a pain level of about 8, 8 1/2, let me know...." after a few minutes of this you will hear "Now this, is really going to hurt...." and it does. If you are lucky you will experience a numbing endorphine rush, but it will still hurt.... Now go home and drink LOTS of water to flush all of the toxins, which have been released. Given a day or two, or three, you should be able to feel the benefits...

+1 for myofascial therapy and a huge recommendation for Molly: mollybockmann.com/

For anyone interested -- Steven Altschuler (303.447.9939) is a rolfer with an office in South Boulder who does 'spot rolfing' for injuries -- $100 for ~70-80 min. BTW, rolfing feels like when you were a kid and someone grabbed your arm and twisted the skin in opposite directions, like wringing out a cloth. Not painful exactly, but not pleasant. I tried it 4x and then went to Molly. I feel like I got similar results but less unpleasant (and less expensive).

Edit: +1 for MRI first...takes out some of the guesswork. I had a bulging disc at L4-L5, then other issues developed from compensating and guarding. It's the latter that the rolfing and then myofascial therapy helped.

Nope, no crystals (except the ones living on the climbs), my rolfer isn't a witch, she got my right side working again after I broke my neck, she put my ribs back where they belong after a grueling day of snowmobile-tow powder skiing, and she for sure does way more for me than any chiro practo massage I ever wasted any money on.

Get an MRI first! Not saying Rolfing won't help, but putting joints through violence without knowing what is structurally wrong is scary to me. I had a slipped disk, and a few people recommended Rolfing. When I got my MRI results, my doctor told me I would have been paralyzed if I had...

I've been through a little bit of rolfing here and there, and then a full series a few years back. I think with a good practioner it can be beneficial for sure. However, I wonder about the med-long term benefits. My understanding is that rolfing is all about allignment, or specifically reallignemnt. In my case it did not seem to be intense on the joints at all as one opines above, however it can be stressful on muscles and connective tissues for sure. From my understanding of biomechanics and physics, the goals and approaches utilized by rolfers make perfect sense. But here is my concern. Because we all have imbalances and assymetries or sorts that develop and worsen though repeated neuro-muscular patters, or habits... bad habits. It makes sense to me how rolfing can address these imbalances by rearranging osteo-muscular-neuro interactions. But how can one session, or ten that work different regions break up months/years/decades of "bad neuromuscular interaction" momentum?

I think if you could get/afford regular rolfing on a certain injury/imbalance/problem (once a week minimum)and combine it with some meditative visualization to get the neuro part of it it could be fantastic. But for me it was just pretty good.

Haha, I just wanted to pitch in my dyslexic read of the post...I thought it said "Rofl-ing," and was amazed that it could be used for back pain...

Wayne brings up a critical point w/ respect to the rehabilitation process.
Rolfing, Myofascial release, Chiropractic and all the PT modalities are used to help restore the injured tissue to it's original functionality. The problem is that just because you get the tissue healed and even strengthened this doesn't automatically mean that your brain will use the injured part the way it did before the injury.

While you're injured you compensate, use different body mechanics to help take the stress off of the injured part. So if you tweak an ankle you spend a few weeks learning how to use it differently while it heals. But once it's healed you now have this new neuromuscular behavior that doesn't disappear once the ankle is healed. A good therapist will help give you exercises and guide you through the process of re-learning how to use an injured area the way you did before the injury.

Personally I feel that this is the easy part. What most people are talking about when they want something rehabilitated is to be able to return to pushing performance limits after an injury or surgery. This is NOT what most PT's Chiropractors, Orthopedists think of when talking about rehabilitation. In the medical system rehab means getting the patient back to being able to perform their Activities of Daily living... sport performance is not an ADL to them.

When talking about taking a person from an injury all the way back to having that person pushing their personal performance boundaries is a task requiring a knowledge base beyond most therapists. That's why a professional athlete or sports team will employ several people to help keep the athletes healthy and able to continue pushing their performance limits.
So maybe you'll have to use a few different therapists and trainers to get you to where you want to be, or you may get lucky and find one person who is able to do all of it. But either way having a clear idea of what you're trying to get out of the therapy and communicating that to the person your working with can only help.
Good luck getting the back and shoulder resolved,
BA

I studied St John Neurosmuscular Therapy for years and had great success in helping many clients out of both acute and chronic pain. Did I help everyone...no. Does rolfing work for everyone...no. The guy who developed NMT studied many years with Ida Rolf, the founder of Rolfing, and their philosophy is the same-bring the body back to natural alignment with soft tissue release.

There are many modalities out there, some will work for you and others won't. Whatever you do you will have to spend money though which is always tough if you don't know if it will be of benefit.

Good luck

I had a friend who went to the ROLF school in Coloroda. She actually managed to screw my back up worse than before. ROLFING is a sham. Stick to real medicine.

Holy thread revival!