Is back pain stopping you from getting things done in your life?
Approximately 80 % of adults aged 30-60 in the US have reported back pain according to MTJ magazine. The pain can start out as mild, but if left untreated, can end up being severe, keeping you from work or doing the things that make you happy. Why not be proactive and take good care of yourself now before things escalate?
Life takes us each on our own unique journey’s. What causes one person to develop back pain symptoms may be totally different than other. What can be said from my perspective after working about 18 years in massage and bodywork is that typically what primarily causes back pain is a misalignment around the structure of the spine. Something is out of balance. If the structure can be addressed at first signs of trouble, the easier it is to bring back healthy posture.
As a myofascial therapist, it is easy to discern between healthy and unhealthy tissues through palpation. The healthy fascial tissues bounce back and feel hydrated, soft, flexible and differentiated. The unhealthy tissues often feel stiff, lumpy, dehydrated, and stuck. So until the client gets into the massage room, it is difficult to guess how to treat. We need to allow the body to give us the necessary information to support the healing process. That is because we need to see and feel where there are restrictions, rotations and other points of stress in the body. Planes of tension can be coming from anywhere based on how each person moves in relationship to gravity and their center. Thousands of spinal nerves exit the spinal cord that can become impinged reaching out into other parts of the body, and the root of the pain must be discovered. Who knows the story of how the fascia, spine and other body systems have evolved into a pain pattern? It can be complicated. But while the therapist may not know the total picture, the intelligence of the body does.
Relieving Back Pain
With Craniosacral Therapy, the therapists work with clients by trusting the “Inner Physician” within. Now to some people, this idea may cause some doubt. They may have never considered that the cellular tissue holds onto traumas and stress patterns as well as the possible resolution which can be communicated to the Craniosacral Therapist through dialogue. Yet-basically we are human beings of habits. Habits that can stay if they keep us healthy or habits that can be let go if they have become a hindrance. Our bodies are wise and do in fact have a lot to say about us and how to feel better. It is the job of a Craniosacral Therapist to help the client journey and self-discover and self-correct patterns that no longer serve overall health.
The first thing a Craniosacral Therapist will do during a session is “listen” to the tissues, the fluids and evaluate what is going on. What this means, is there is no routine, but in fact a formulated plan based on what the body is saying. We follow this plan from one moment to the other, while melding and helping the body to release adhesions, restrictions, and disorder. The plan will change constantly as the body starts to shift and open. Sometimes this means that we will be working directly with the Craniosacral System, and other times, we will focusing on fascia, or monitoring bone movements. Ultimately, we dance with the releases of the body until pain diminishes, and hopefully dissolves. Craniosacral Therapy can be very helpful in release back pain. And it is also very gentle, yet profound.
Craniosacral Therapy has been around for many years, but many people have yet to hear of it. It does fall under the license of massage therapy, but it was founded on the work of a doctor of osteopathic medicine. So I am taking this opportunity to share the work of Dr. John Upledger, of the Upledger Institute to see how it may help you. As a licensed Massage Therapist, I have found the Craniosacral Therapy along with Structural Integration to be very beneficial in helping many of my clients to release back pain and so much more.
If you are living in the Columbus Area (located near New Albany), and would like to talk more about how to release your back pain symptoms, please feel free to call with a free 15 minute phone consult.
Sharon Hartnett LMT
740 966-5153
Certified Advanced Craniosacral Therapist through the Upledger Institute
Structural Integration Therapist
Brennan Healing Science Practitioner/Teacher through the Barbara Brennan School