Ida Rolf, Arthritis, and Me

Arthritis can be tricky.
Most of my clients are unaware when their pain comes from undiagnosed arthritis.
​Others, come to me with diagnosed arthritis, and I find none!

I sputter in frustration when clients say their doctor couldn't find anything specifically wrong, yet diagnosed them with arthritis. After brief palpation of the client's tissues, I usually find inflammation, and can even sense restrictions in the soft tissue near the joint. Yet, I find that an arthritis diagnosis is unfair to the patient, who now assumes they have a condition for life. I make an effort to reign in my opinions by suggesting to the client, "Well, we will know for sure before this session is over. If you no longer have pain in that joint by the time we are finished working, then it was not really arthritis."
They usually leave my office without their pain.

How I initially "knew" this about these clients, I do not know. Some things in life come from a gut feeling, and this arthritis thing was one. I felt very alone in my opinion, until I was reading a first edition of Ida Rolf's book on The Integration of Human Structures. Here is what Ida Rolf says:

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"Unnumbered casual, hasty diagnoses of 'arthritis' reflect nothing more serious than a shortened or displaced muscle or ligament resulting from a recent or not-so-recent traumatic episode. 

All that hurts is not necessarily arthritis.

It may be pseudoarthritis, a disorder in the tendons and ligaments. 

Appropriate muscular organization can give the pseudoarthritic movement and render him pain-free."

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Until I borrowed Ida Rolf's book, my idea of Rolfers was woefully ignorant. I had only a general idea that they made you go through a series of sessions that had to be done in order, and they did a lot of poking and punching into your abdomen.
My only experience of a Rolfer was one who refused to “Rolf” my abdomen, because he intuited (rightly) that I was too sensitive for that work.
Ida Rolf and Rolfing have just not been a part of my life, so it was a genuine surprise to read her thoughts on pseudo-arthritis.

In my opinion, Ida Rolf is the mother of original knowledge about connective tissue and its role in health. She has since been honored as the Grandmother of connective tissue research by the World Fascia Congress.
Although Ida Rolf spoke more commonly of muscles, tendons, and ligaments when she explained pseudo-arthritis, she was really referring to the connective tissue within and around these known elements.
Science is just starting to learn about this connective tissue she was so obsessed about. So, Ida Rolf was way ahead of her time! I hope one day she is also recognized for it in the mainstream medical community. I have been obsessed with connective tissue, too, much to the annoyance of my peers, when I sensed during training that it was a powerful way to access the body’s natural healing potential!

If your doctor gave you a general diagnosis of arthritis, of which there are over 100 different kinds, might I suggest you talk to a connective tissue specialist before succumbing to the belief that you are stuck with this for life? No sense living with pain if you don't have to.

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Originally written: January 7, 2010