Rolfing/Sructural Integration

[Marios Roussos]

Does anyone here have any experience with "Rolfing" or Structural Integration? As far as I understand it, the idea behind it is similar in concept to foam roller/lacrosse ball rolling, only it's done by a trained practitioner who uses their limbs rather than rollers or balls in a series of 10 weekly sessions whereby they address the entire body, releasing any tight areas that they may find. 

 

I've always been intrigued, and was considering trying it out, though I wanted to see if anyone here had any feedback about their experience with it. 

[Scott Malin]

Compared to Rolfing or SI, foam and lacrosse rolling are a a toddler's plastic hammer to a surgeon's toolkit. Both modalities rely heavily on working the various fascial layers and lines of the body, and Rolfing goes further to adjusting tissue on nearly every piece of the body.  While your joy will vary by practitioner, Rolfing especially is not for the squeamish. 

 

The basic concept is this: fascia is like a thick plastic wrap with the durability of a used tire that gels together all of your innards (muscle fiber, whole muscles, joints, insides of your skin, and so on). Like plastic wrap, portions of the fascia can get "stuck" and cause restrictions. This may happen in the immediate area, somewhere along the line of connected fascia, or both. The goal of the 10-12 sessions is to remove these restrictions by combination of mechanical pressure and the heat generated by it. Each session will have a particular area that it is addressed, usually in a predetermined order.

 

Both are excellent tools when applied in the correct context and various types of connective tissue massage are an important tool in the medical massage paradigm I use in my own practice. You'll very likely see benefit from going to either type of practitioner, though neither is cheap and some expect you to pay for the whole series upfront. What's most important regardless of going through the sessions or not, is to change lifestyle factors that cause the types of issues addressed. GST and mobility training do wonders there.

 

I would also caution that Rolfing and SI also aren't a solution to everything. Some practitioners in these areas (like GB Athlete Paul in NYC) are excellent about bringing together modalities as needed, while others see all patients as a nail to their shiny hammer.