I would like to share this testimonial with you, sent recently by one of my clients on her experience of using Rolfing as part of a program to mitigate the effects of arthritis in her hips. I hope it will provide encouragement for any of you who may have been diagnosed with arthritis and are seeking viable alternatives to pain medication or surgery.
My clients story:
I discovered, about three year ago, that I had arthritis, and it appears that apart from taking pain killers there is very little that you can do about it. It started in the hip. which is fairly usual.
I have over the years done yoga, am pretty healthy, exercise, eat reasonably well, don’t smoke, don’t drink too much and so on, so it came as a bit of a shock. I decided that I would try and avoid a hip operation, and investigate alternative ways of dealing with it. My yoga teacher, suggested that I might try Rolfing. I had heard about it, but that was about it. So., I headed off to see Keith, and have been seeing him since.
What I have experienced from the Rolfing sessions, and this is combined with a great deal of walking and avoiding the foods that they say aggravate the problem, is that after a period of time, when the body allows him to get into the muscles quite deeply, that they start to relax, and this helps, as you can then start to build muscle strength which in turn, supports the hip. I can’t really describe it more than that. I am sure Keith has a much more technical description of what happens, but overall it has really helped. In fact, I think it would be true to say that my hip is more stable and that it is less painful than it was some 3 years ago. It also seems to be more flexible.
I am continuing to see Keith, as this arthritis, does appear to travel through the body, and research shows that it affects the feet, the arms hands, really all the joints, as you get older. It does not necessary get worse, each person is different. For me, it has travelled, but I feel by keeping to my programme, I can monitor it closely, and be quite specific when talking to the therapists.
I have found the following works for me.
Monday, I see Keith, and he works the body, and assesses, where he feels he needs to concentrate that day, each Rolfing treatment varies.
Tuesday nothing
Wednesday Yoga, an hour or so.
Thursday nothing
Friday, physio and acupuncture.
I also have a very deep massage, as and when I can.
I appreciate that this takes time, and of course, it costs money. that’s for sure. But on the other hand, so far I have avoided surgery and pain killers, and whilst the Rolfing is sometimes painful, I feel it is quite fundamental to my maintenance programme and has really impacted significantly, and helped me stay mobile. I hate to say this, as I still think of myself as a teenager, but I hit 70 in September and if I had not embarked upon this journey, I have no doubt I would have had to resort to surgery.
Phyllis (full name supplied)
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