Rolfing Treatment for Sciatica

The Rolfing technique of structural integration has been around for more than 50 years. Founder Ida P. Rolfing developed the deep-tissue bodywork technique as a means of restructuring the body's connective tissue for pain relief and the boosting of energy. Among the conditions that Rolfing purports to ease or eliminate are carpal tunnel syndrome; tense or painful back, shoulder and neck; headaches; tennis elbow; knee and foot problems; scoliosis and sciatica, reports HoustonRolfer.com.

Significance

• To Dr. Rolf, the body was arranged as a continuous web of tissues, whereas other bodywork professionals saw the human form as a conglomeration of individual parts. This connective web, as visualized by Dr. Rolf, both supports and runs through organs, muscles, nerve and bone. The technique of Rolfing, with its focus on the connective tissues, serves to free up and balance the human body. Improved posture and flexibility are important outcomes.

Sciatica

• Sciatica is the pain that results from a tender sciatic nerve. This nerve, the longest in the human body, runs from your spinal cord, through your buttocks and down the backs of your legs. Sciatica pain can be felt from the lower back down through the back of either leg. The pain of sciatica often has its cause in a herniated disk. The disk's protrusion can pinch the nerve, causing pain along the nerve fiber.

Rolfing and Sciatica

• Rolfing professionals, including practitioners at the Rolf Institute and HoustonRolfer.com, give much credence to the technique's ability to ease the pain of sciatica and other ailments. Rolfing manipulates the connective tissue via myofascial bodywork (massage). The Rolfer carries out the technique using the fingers, hands and elbows. No oils are used in the process; it's conducted on dry skin.

Considerations

• The Rolf Institute indicates that Rolfing is unlike any other massage technique. The body is made to align and balance along a person's center of gravity. The resultant sensation after a Rolfing session is said to be a burst of energy and sense of body-mind-spirit integration.

Basic 10 Series

• The Basic 10 Series is the protocol in which Rolfing is applied by many practitioners of the technique. The series involves focusing on a specific area of the body, starting with the lungs and breathing, and then moving on to the next. No part of the body is left unmanipulated. It's considered a holistic and elegant means of targeting any and all problem areas of the body, including sciatica. According to MayoClinic.com, studies have proven that massage may serve to alleviate the kind of lower back pain that sciatica can cause.