Have you been suffering from pain after a Car Accident?
Is your neck bothering you? Your back? Noticing discomfort years later?
Even when you think you have not been hurt right after a car accident impact, the smartest thing you can do is see a physician. That’s because you can be thrown out of proper alignment without being aware of it. The impact of all that energy coming at and through you is bound to create some type of imbalance in your system. Any incurred stress patterns can potentially turn into pain. So get checked out thoroughly.
Car Accident
The best thing you can do if having been examined is first to make sure that everything is alright. If you are feeling any stress at all, you might ask your physician to offer some suggestions of practitioners who can help you either proactively or to help relieve pain. Some ideas might be that you see a:
Specialist
Chiropractor
Physical Therapist
Massage Therapist
Movement Facilitator
Being a Licensed Massage Therapist, what I can speak about is bodywork and hands on healing. I’d like to speak to the benefits of this type of work because many people see massage therapy as a luxury. Rather- I’d like to offer that therapeutic massage can reach you in places that restore health and wellbeing uniquely and that are tailored to your individual needs more than any type of therapy I can think of. I have seen clients who have tried just about everything without good results. But with Myofascia Therapy and Craniosacral Therapy, the therapist listens to your inner body intelligence and addresses soft tissue and the Craniosacral System to bring you back to health .
Myofascia Therapy: The fascia is a tissue that can be re-educated to help you to find a more efficient line in which you can move more easily. The less you have to work against gravity, the more optimal your movement can be. By looking at the structure of each individual body, one can see and also feel into rotations, adhesions and any dysfunctional pattern that contributes to pain. By observing and listening with sight and palpation, an experienced massage therapist or bodyworker can help you iron out those issues out of your life!
Craniosacral Therapy (CST) is a light touch modality which emphasizes balancing of the Central Nervous System in relationship to the rest of the body, as well as gently allowing the fascia to release and come into balance. With about 5 grams of touch the therapist works with the flexion and extension phases of the cerebrospinal fluid motion to revitalize and strengthen. Clients are often amazed by the end of the session at how much lighter and freer they feel.
In combination, these two modalities can do wonders.
You don’t have to live in pain. Commit to your health and wellbeing.
If you have questions and are located in the Columbus, Ohio area, call Sharon Hartnett at 740 966-5153.
Whether you are experiencing neck pain from degenerative disk disease, an injury, osteoarthritis or bad posture, there is usually something you can do to help your condition.
Today, we are going to look at massage and bodywork as a way to treat neck pain. I think this is a relevant topic because millions of people in the US are faced with daily discomfort with their neck. Often the pain will go away by itself, but other times it may become severe enough that people will go seek a doctor’s help, often receiving a steroid injection. This may or may not help overall, but in conjunction with other modalities, there may be a more effective integrative approach.
Neck Pain?
Let’s start by talking about different types of pain. Acute pain is usually the result of the body saying to itself that it is injured. If you have been in an accident or hurt yourself in some way-time to go get this issue checked out with a physician right away. Even if it hurts a little, it can end up becoming a bigger problem later. Chronic pain, on the other hand, is long lasting. Pain signals are constantly firing in the nervous system with no relief. This can go on for a day, or continue into years. The most common types of longing last pain are in the back, next with headaches, and following that with the neck. Neck pain can be serious, and it is important to get it checked out-especially when one starts to feel tingling, numbness or pain down the arm into the hand. What these all have in common though, are that they are connected to the structure of the spine, the cranium and the surrounding soft tissues.
Fortunately, physicians like Dr. John Upledger understood the advantages of using a hands on therapy to help alleviate both acute and chronic pain. His modality of choice, Craniosacral Therapy, came from his background as a doctor of osteopathic medicine. He developed a protocol with different techniques to help therapists worldwide be able to address pain issues with a very gentle touch. We now call this Craniosacral Therapy. While the foundation of the work is based on working lightly with the Cranium and Spine, the work can improve overall functioning of the whole body. In regards to the neck in particular though, Dr. Upledger established a routine so to speak regarding the thoracic inlet, neck and cranium to release tension in that area. It’s called the Avenue of Expression because this of course is the area that connects the body to the head and allows us to fully express ourselves in relationship to others.
The Avenue of Expression when opened up can be life changing for a person. It helps one to find pain relief, open up the throat, the breath and the voice. First, we always begin by spending some time releasing any adhesions or restrictions along the dural tube. Once this is completed, we can take a look at the thoracic inlet which connects the root of the neck with the thorax. Many vital anatomical structures lie within this area. Just to name a few, there is the phrenic and vagus nerve entering the chest, subclavian and thoracic arteries, the T1 nerve room, supra pleural membranes, scalene, lamp channels and brachiocephalic artery and vein on the left side. We do a gentle pressing and releasing there that opens up the area so there is an increased flow between the head and the chest. Next we move on to the infra hyoid musculature, the hard palate and the supra hyoid area. There is more detail to this, but basically the work is designed to approach the avenue of expression in a way to promote flow, dialogue and interconnection. Often, after this is accomplished clients will find themselves also being able to verbally communicate better. When the tension in the throat and chest is released, it’s easier to have a brighter more integrated outlook in life.
If you have more questions about how Craniosacral Therapy can help you to find more balance, wellness and feeling good, please contact Sharon Hartnett LMT, CST, SI at 740 966-5153
Not able to sleep Well? Looking for some help for Insomnia?
Today I was reading an article that discussed how women often have more challenges with sleep insomnia than men. In my experience, due to hormonal fluctuations, many women that I have seen in my practice would confirm this. They feel restless and can’t stop thinking or worrying either before going to sleep or in the middle of the night. Especially around 3AM. For me, this makes perfect sense as the body system’s are fluctuating due to the menstrual cycle, perimenopause or the like, that for some women, they would not sleep as well due to hormonal falls and rises. They could probably benefit from some type of hormonal support. But the number one reason for insomnia is stress. For women in particular, my guess is that stressful thinking and emotional swings, along with hormonal shifts can make it even more difficult to get the needed rest to have a productive day. That can be tough for a woman.
Can’t sleep well?
What surprised me the most though, was that the article mentioned taking drugs as a remedy to this challenge. On second thought, I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised because as I am writing this, the Universe in its full wisdom has sent a television commercial to come on for a sleeping drug that works with neurotransmitters with a list of negative side effects being marketed to help women sleep better. This has become our social norm. At the end, the watcher is told to ask his/her physician about this drug. I am sure that there are some good benefits to some of these pharmaceuticals. Sometimes we could use an easy way to help us through the night. But is it possible that there are some more natural ways long-term modalities of self-correcting care that are just as good or even better to alleviate stress and sleep disruption? My hope would be that physicians would more often say, “here is a prescription for massage once a week for three months”. Work on getting more exercise and eating well. Why not go take a yoga class?”
I don’t know why I am still constantly baffled that medical insurance covers drugs so easily (which are quite expensive), and that when we watch TV-we are bombarded with drug ads, yet massage and bodywork are still considered more of a luxury than a therapeutic modality that can help with things like sleep, stress, and tension. It does take time to support the body to change longterm and I know that this work doesn’t remedy insomnia for all people, but I have heard lots of positive feedback indicating how much better my clients sleep with their sessions. Research has shown that massage and bodywork are key in helping many people to feel better in so many ways. In my view- one of the keys to this is that we are focusing on the human body with massage which is quite sensory and mindful. During a massage, the thinking brain can relax and feel pleasure again instead of focusing on troubles. The more we receive, the easier it is to re-educate our nervous systems to wind down when done in a professional and healthy way. The integration between the mind, body and spirit is integral to wellness.
Craniosacral Therapy, Myofascial Therapy and Structural Integration have especially been helpful from my view in helping people to relax and let go of stress too. By working with the fascia, which is a 3 dimensional web of connective tissues that holds the body together (including being richly innervated), and helping it to let goof tension, the whole body can relax. Have you ever come out of a good massage and everything feels and looks more positive? The reason I specialize in these modalities, is that I LOVE hearing how relaxed and good people feel afterwards. As human beings, we have the capacity to love, feel pleasure, and to be happy. But sometimes we need a little help. And I am not sure that it always has to come in the form of a pill.
I am not suggesting that medicine be replaced. And by all means, I am not a physician. But my hope is that Massage Therapy, SomatoEmotional Release bodywork and perhaps work by psychotherapists that focus on the mind-body start to become more widespread to the public as a possible alternative to taking drugs for sleep and wellbeing. My hope is that this will eventually be covered by insurance so that all of us can sleep well.
Can the Fluidity of Myofascial Work Help Alleviate Fibromyalgia Pain?
Fibromyalgia is a condition which involves widespread pain and hypersensitivity with specific tender points in the muscles. This syndrome can stop people from living their daily lives with ease.
Creating a healthy life style is one way to approach improving quality of life. Some positive ways to improve your sense of wellbeing are: healthy sleep routines, exercise, and of course-good eating habits. But can you find someone who can actually help you through your discomfort with hands on manual techniques to decrease or maybe eliminate the pain?
In more recent times, the importance of working with the myofascial and craniosacral systems has come to the forefront for improving many pain issues. Fibromyalgia is one of the conditions where I have seen clients finally find some relief. Whether it is done by a Craniosacral Therapist, a Myofascial Therapist or a Structural Integration Rolfer type of work, fascia is key in finding support. This is because the superficial fascia is highly innervated, and releasing it can balance the Central Nervous system while bringing about a better quality sense of wellness. But because of the tenderness, it is important to ask your therapist to work lightly and to respect your boundaries for what can be tolerated. Gentle work can be profound too without having to dig in and cause more pain.
Fibromyalgia Relief
If you would like to find a healing response to Fibromyalgia, why not find a fascia practitioner in your area and give it a try. I will say from my experience, that my clients often can sleep better and do find relief. The work will help clients to feel more fluid and more open.
When I ask clients who come into my practice with a diagnosis of Chronic Myofascial Pain (CMPS) symptom about their lifestyles, the first significant thing that I usually hear is that they are in jobs with repetitive contractive positions or that they are athletes.
Some of the difficulties they may share are: deep chronic pain that may seem unrelated in different parts of the body, symptoms worsen, eyes tearing up, difficulties sleeping, big knots, and aggravation due to their unrelieved symptoms.
For years I have been working with clients who face similar chronic conditions that don’t seem to get resolved in the traditional sense, so they find me. My approach is to work with the client directly on the myofascial plane first. That is where the pain is, and that it where the body can begin to self-correct.
Often, clients with CMPS, have connective tissue that feels abnormally tight, rigid, immobile and dehydrated. But that doesn’t have to stay that way. Fascia is easy to work with if one is trained properly. By layering in from the more superficial layers into the deeper planes, the all encompassing fascial web can release tension and bring the whole body back into alignment with more ease in rest and motion. However, with CMPS, eventually the massage therapist does need to get in deeper to release those stressed areas. So it’s necessary to find a massage therapist who is willing to use a little elbow if necessary. Also, I have found that although the added pressure is best, Craniosacral Therapy can be very helpful too with its additional techniques as well. By working with the fascia and CSR, especially around the spine, painful energy patterns can dissipate, and the clients often feels more flexibility in motion.
Chronic Headache relief
Not being a physician nor a PT, I can’t give you that type of advice. But I will say, from my experience of many years as a licensed massage therapist, that if you are doing the same contractive movement every day, it might be difficult to get out of pain permanently. This is one those times, that making a commitment to weekly myofascial therapy would be beneficial for most. On the other hand, if you can stretch, do yoga, learn new ways to move that create more balance in your body, that would probably make life a lot easier. Truly an integrative lifestyle approach is going to help you the best.
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
