As a physical therapist, I spend my days helping people decrease their pain and improve their function. So what does a physical therapist do when they hurt themselves? I had been working with a patient and heard a loud pop in my back. I immediately knew something was wrong, but did not feel the effects of what I had done to myself until a week later. It was a burning pain running down my entire leg and into my foot that would not go away. I couldn’t sit for longer than 15 minutes at a time or sleep on my side because the pain would keep me up at night. The sensations were so distracting and uncomfortable that work was becoming unbearable and I was becoming depressed that I could not do the things I enjoyed doing before. Even worse, I was getting married in 6 months and I was afraid that I would be in pain on my wedding day and for my honeymoon. With my medical background I thought I could handle this problem on my own, so I did physical therapy on myself with no relief. I then tried physical therapy with a McKenzie expert (a physical therapist who specializes in back problems), a chiropractor, and medications from my orthopedist. Nothing worked. Someone at my work told me that they had been to a Rolfer and it helped them feel better within a few sessions. At this point, three months later, and still living with this pain daily, I couldn’t wait to give it a try.

From my first phone conversation with Ed Hemberger, I knew that I was in good hands. Ed spent 15 minutes talking to me on the phone and answering my questions about Rolfing and Structural Integration, putting my mind at ease. He was friendly, knowledgeable, and listened to what I had to say (a hard thing to find in the medical profession). Ed recommended 10 sessions to complete the entire Structural Integration process and bring my whole body into its correct alignment and natural position. I first started to feel relief after session three and it progressively got better after each session. Ed and I would talk about my symptoms at the beginning of each session and he tailored the session to my body’s needs, using other massage techniques, like ART (Active Release Therapy) if necessary. Even though some of the techniques were uncomfortable, Ed would make me laugh or tell a funny story to keep my mind off the pain. Now that I have finished the tenth session, I am pain free 95% of the time and am back to my normal work and social activities. I can’t thank Ed enough for his guidance and help throughout this entire process and I hope that others will see the benefit of people like Ed and they will have as much relief as I had.