Evelyn was always squirming and rubbing her arms and neck. Following a double mastectomy, Evelyn was locked-down with scar tissue from her waist to her shoulders. Her breathing was shallow. She could barely lift her arms. She was hypersensitive around the ribs. Her left arm was chronically swollen. She could function, but always in a lot of pain.

We began with fascial release; relaxing thick, unyielding scar tissue that had grown from her surgical sites, to her diaphragm and esophagus. This helped Evelyn bring her head back in line with her shoulders, open her chest and regain some arm movement. It also improved her breathing and her ability to swallow. More was needed.

Now it was time to ‘switch off’ the autonomic guarding -- to normalize tone of nerves, circulatory and lymphatic vessels. This jump-started a whole new level of the healing process. It was so gratifying to watch Evelyn unwind both physically and emotionally.

Do you have ear ringing, bluish fingernails, clammy hands, swelling at the top of your back, changes in speech tone or swallowing, nausea, pain or alignment changes in the low back, sacrum or tail bone?

A woman was referred by her doctor on day 18 of a blinding, life-halting headache. Neither meds, massage, neck mobilization, nor acupuncture (which usually eased her head aches,) had helped. I conducted a longer than normal evaluation, and learned that she had for many years endured "acid stomach." The connection between headache and heartburn can be the vagus nerve (a cranial nerve which branches from brainstem to stomach where it aids in digestion).

Using manual therapy, I opened-up space along the vagus nerve’s path, and relaxed the tone of the nerve itself. The woman phoned a few hours after treatment to say she'd had a "miraculous recovery," and was racing off to "real life."

Recently, I saw a woman who had slipped and fallen on an icy deck that morning. She had a 20+ year history of severe back, neck and sacroiliac joint pain. And now she was bent forward at an angle. Her pelvis was off. Her hips were uneven and rotated. "Everything hurt," from shoulders to legs. A recognizable pattern of tender-points indicated she had overstretched the muscles of her low back and sacroiliac area. These muscles, now in a painful state of contraction, needed to be re-set to a relaxed tone and resting length.

Using a positional release technique (known as Strain Counterstrain) this woman's pain reduced 70% in this first hour, her alignment was corrected as well.

A detailed history could go on for pages, but a quick side-note about seemingly unrelated complaints can open up entirely new treatment territory. This happened recently while listening to a client's history. She was describing chronic muscle spasms in the back of her waist, while my hands found swelling and tone changes in the region of her kidneys and ureters. When I mentioned this, she said she had been experiencing increased urinary frequency and urgency, and was planning to see a urologist.

Visceral fascial release at her kidneys and ureters significantly relaxed the tone of her low back. At our next appointment, she had happy news: Her massage therapist was "finally able to break through" her low back spasms. Plus she could sleep through the night without getting up for the bathroom.

Light touch therapy offers multiple approaches to opening up clogged sinus', ears, and bronchial congestion and relieving discomfort of chronic asthma. Treatment generally includes muscular and fascial release from the head and jaw down through the esophagus, thoracic inlet and lungs. Additionally, neuromuscular release impacts lymphatic and vascular efficiency so the body can return to cleansing itself and maintaining a vigorous immune response.

Symptoms can include chronic low back, sacroiliac and hip pain, piriformis syndrome, deep pain in the pelvis, painful urination or bowel movements and changes in bladder function.

Indirect manual therapy in the pelvic bowl can also improve symptoms and function of the gastro-intestinal tract.