From: singer@minerva.cis.yale.edu (E.K. Singer)
Subject: RE:  HELP WANTED - Neck Trouble
Followup-To: alt.backrubs
Organization: Yale University
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 20:55:01 GMT

    This is in response to George DeLaMat's message about his nexk
problems, but it could be important or useful for any number of people out
there.
    George -- you mentioned having tried chiropractic and physical therapy,
but there's another professional option you haven't tried.  It's called
Rolfing.
    Right, so what's Rolfing?  Well, it's basically a way of aligning your
body with gravity.  The technique used to do this is deep, focused massage
intended to loosen up and lengthen the connective tissue that surrounds
muscles.  The Rolfer also teaches you new and more effective and integrated
movement patterns.  This includes redesigning the way you sit, stand, walk,
type, play tennis, or whatever else you do that might be causing problems. 
There are ten basic sessions, intended to be given within about six months
of each other.  After that, you're supposed to wait at least six months,
and then have tune-up sessions if you feel they are needed.  Two drawbacks.
 First, it is expensive (usually $70-$150 a session, unless covered by
insurance).  Second, it can be very painful.  This alone should not scare
you off, however, because, first it can also feel very good, second, it is
never too painful to bear, and third, it is not a pain like chiripractic --
it is what I would call a "good" pain, like the pain that comes from
someone working out knots in your back.
    My personal experience with Rolfing has been entirely wonderful.  I am
far more relaxed now than I used to be and I almost never have a headache
or a muscle pull or strain.  I am more in control of my body than I used to
be (although this may partly just be getting used to a body that grew too
fast for me to keep up with) and this has not only helped me athletically,
it has also meant that I can sometimes loosen up a knot or sore spot in my
back or neck just by thinking about movement cues.  Everyone else that I
know has had similarly positive experiences.
    I don't know too much about the history of rolfing, but I'll tell you
what I know.  It was invented by a doctor and renowned biochemist named Ida
Rolf, who made thousands of studies of body types and muscle stuctures and
then developed Rolfing.  She began to teach it in the late '50s, and later
established the Rolfing Institute in Boulder Colorado, which now turns out
a class of 20-50 (?) every year (I think it takes three years to become a
certified basic Rolfer).  Medically, Rolfing is on a sounder foundation
than chiropractic, and it is far more universally applicable.  There are
Rolfers all over the world now, and their numbers are growing quickly.
    To get a list of Rolfers near you, if you can't find them in the yellow
pages, you would have to write to the Rolfing Insitute.  I don't know the
address, but if you are interested, E-mail me and I'm sure I could get it
for you.  Alternately, you could write or call Craig Swan (my Rolfer), at
25 Lewis Street, Greenwich, CT 06830.  The phone # is (203) 629-2620.  All
Rolfers have a big book that lists all the Rolfers in other cities and
towns, so I'm sure he'd be happy to look up your area for him if you
dropped him a line.
    I know the description I've given makes it sound a bit New Age or even
mystical.  Just trust me when I say that even though it has a few elements
along those lines, it is on founded on a strong scientific base.  Most
importantly, it works.  Hope I've been of some help to someone.