Photo from http://www.structuralreintegration.com
I’ve always had low-back issues since high school and when my daughter was about 2, I couldn’t take it anymore and invested a chunk of money in getting Rolfed. Rolfing, or Structural Integration, is a far distant cousin to massage, think deep tissue, very deep. You have to commit to 10 sessions and during each session, the therapist stretches and works the fascia that connects to the bone and muscle in a particular body section. Each section and session builds upon the next and at the end, you are supposed to be freed from any former myo (muscle) fascial (connective tissue) restrictions. Your body realigns itself naturally without needing any structural adjustments. Sounds good in theory, but in reality, it hurts.
It did work for me though. I added yoga to the regime to speed things along and after the 3rd session, I no longer had crazy debilitating back spasms. My therapist told me that my main problem was that my abdominal muscles were not engaged and my back muscles were doing all the work. This was before pilates made it out of the dance studios and into mainstream. I still think it was a good investment in self care and promote Rolfing/Structural Integration, as an alternative to chiropractic and deep tissue massage for back pain. I was treated in Houston 17 years ago, but there are an abundance of therapists available in Austin.
surface 