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Following your initial call to our office Martha will mail or you may download the “Medical Intake Questionnaire” and a “New Client Letter”. You will fill out the “Medical Intake Questionnaire” and read and sign the “New Client Introductionory Letter” and bring them with you to your first appointment. You will always be reminded of your appointment in advance.
After a cordial introduction and greeting, I will review and discuss with you all relevant aspects of your “Medical Intake Questionnaire” and the reason for the appointment. I want to know, in your words, what problems you are having, when they started, what might have caused the problem and the extent to which they affect your daily life and activities. I will want to know about all accidents, surgeries, injuries, medications, and physical therapy or Chiropractic care, if any.
The next step will be to begin a determination of the joint alignment patterns in your body; both from the standpoint of the joint alignment pattern that is most “neutral” for you and those joint alignment patterns that are so badly aligned that they are the primary reason for your issues. We then discuss and show you the body-wide strain patterns of soft tissue (muscles, tendons, ligaments, wrappings on bones, nerves, fascia, etc) that we are taught create the bad alignments and therefore the pain.
Our goal is to show you what we see in your structure and to fully explain why your pattern represents a structural imbalance that can and should be addressed by Rolfing/Structural Integration.
Next is a series of three “balance and nerve” tests to find out more about (1) how your brain senses and regulates your balance, (2) how the relationship between your musculoskeletal system and the “energy” of your other systems affects your structural relationships and (3) the level of supporting function of some of your cranial nerves; including Cranial Nerve X, the Vagus nerve. We use the Erchonia Low Level Cold Laser to assist in these determinations and for the ”on-the-spot” remedy if deficiencies are found. This usually takes as little as ten minutes. The Rolfers who utilize the Erchonia Low Level Cold Laser have found that the results of our sessions are dramatically improved, at the deepest human level, if we start this way.
We are now ready for the rest of the session. Usually the client will change into whatever they intend to wear for the session. This is unlike any single massage experience as you will be asked to lay down, get up, walk around, lay down, sit down and possible use of other movement ques as part of our work. Most clients wear “sturdy” underwear. Men, please do not wear boxers. Some clients wear swimming suits: two-piece for women. Some clients wear loose running shorts and jog-bras or halter tops (for women). While you are laying on the Rolfing table you will be covered by a sheet. Every level of comfort and modesty will be accommodated.
Depending on the session; the next part will usually include finding and eliminating the inflammation of nerves that cause the myofascial restrictions that cause joint misalignment. This generally is no more painful than what you would feel if you lightly rubbed your leg. This part of the session generally takes 30 to 40 minutes.
After the satisfactory change in the inflamed nerves we will again, use the laser to up regulate the energy supply to the nerves to “turn-on” muscles that are not currently capable of stabilizing your joints. This usually results in the sensation of feeling “stronger”.
We will decrease the inflammation of nerves that are causing myofascial restrictions in order to restore joints to their original alignment; to be followed by “re-energizing” the nerves to fully fire the muscles to hold and stabilize the joints in neutral.
We may then test your ability to move in your daily activities, and whether or not the places we have worked seem to look and feel lighter, freer and have less pain. We will also begin to assess, through a sophisticated gait analysis, whether or not the correct muscles and sequences are firing to turn off and on those muscles that turn off and on when you walk.
At the end we will generally make sure we have addressed restrictions in the neck and low back or tail bone; such that the effects and benefits of the session include the whole spine and both the shoulder girdle and pelvic girdle. You may read more about the “ten-series” and what each session means in another section of this web site.
Sometime during the first session I will always explain to you that our complete body of work (what is truly Rolfing) involves addressing strain patterns in every part of your body, from your toes to your ears, in a systematic and sophisticated series of ten sessions. Sometimes there are circumstances where ten sessions are not possible and fewer sessions are appropriate.
The Ten-Series is what we are taught, it is our very best work and it is the only way we believe that we can truly offer you all of the Wonderful Benefits of Rolfing.
For an appointment, please contact Martha (depending
on the season)
at 907-260-1914 in Alaska and 623-414-0817 in Arizona.
You may also contact us by email at the address below.
