In the Press

Here are some press releases and articles published by Carol

Growing Older is Required, but Feeling Older is Optional...

The downward spiral - you see it in yourself and those all around you. As the birthdays go by you get stiff, lose your balance, and appear to shrink as you age. You stop participating in sports or other physical activities you used to enjoy. Simple things like bending over to pick something up or walking up several flights of stairs become an effort. Your joints start creaking and your doc passes it off as arthritis. Your neck, back and shoulders ache. Not to mention your feet. You throw in a few visits to the chiropractor. It helps at first but the pain comes back or shows up in different places.

Most people think that this downward spiral is simply normal aging. It certainly happens all the time. It may be commonplace, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Much of our loss of function is NOT normal aging. The key underlying common denominator in the downward spiral is the loss of structural alignment in your body. Your head no longer rests comfortably on your shoulders. Your shoulders are not aligned over your hips. Your feet and knees are not aligned properly to support your pelvis. Like machinery, if your body is misaligned your whole person can’t function efficiently. This leads to lack of movement in your daily life and then gravity pulls you further into the downward spiral with more pain. Looking and feeling old (whatever age you pick) is in great part related to how you are able to move or not move.

Fortunately, there is something that you can do about it. And it doesn’t require long hours at the gym or becoming a fitness freak. About 75 years ago, Dr. Ida Rolf, a biochemist at the Rockefeller Institute, discovered that the connective tissue layer in the body becomes thick and dehydrated over time due to injuries, stress, surgery, and habitual sitting and movement patterns. These connective tissue “adhesions” result in structural misalignment and cause you to feel stiff and your muscles to ache. But Dr. Rolf’s research also proved that this tissue is very “plastic” and that through touch and movement, it can be restored to a more normal state.

Over the next 30 years, Dr. Rolf, working with thousands of people, developed a 10-session protocol for restoring lift, length and flexibility to the body. She called her method “Structural Integration” which is very descriptive of the process. It is often referred to as “Rolfing” now a service mark of the Rolf Institute in Boulder, Colorado, one of two schools which train practitioners. The 10 sessions, each about 60-75 minutes in length, can be received in as little as 5 weeks, but more typically once a week for 10 weeks.

Dr. Rolf did not originally develop the 10-session protocol as a healing modality for specific conditions. But what Dr. Rolf and those who have carried on her work have found is that regaining a structurally aligned body is the missing link in health and well-being. People who have gone through the process have often found relief from a wide range of conditions when prescription drugs and other types of physical therapy have failed. Conditions which respond well to Structural Integration include chronic conditions like sciatica, foot pain, TMJ disorder, low back pain, headaches, neck & shoulder pain, acid reflux, carpal tunnel, scoliosis, and fibromyalgia. People often report that they feel reduced stress and are able to handle life’s challenges with more ease. And with improved postural alignment, they look younger and feel better. It is the smart choice for aging baby boomers who want to feel and look their best. Structural Integration has been highlighted in national publications like AARP’s The Magazine, Yoga Journal, Nursing Times, Running Times, Wall Street Journal, and Skiing magazine.

Carol Orrell, MS, LMT, Certified Practitioner, Structural Integration

Ms. Orrell practices Structural Integration with Manual Therapy Solutions in Fredericksburg, VA Contact 540-846-7653

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Carol Orrell

Manual Therapy Solutions

Fredericksburg, VA 22401

(540) 846-7653

info@manualtherapysolutions.com

Innovative Approach to Workplace Repetitive Stress Injuries Now Available in Fredericksburg

January 2005 – Workman’s compensation costs have been skyrocketing over the years. But if you are expecting to find out about the usual approaches to work-related pain and disability, you better stop reading. You'll find no mention of light-duty assignments, wrist splints, job redesigns, maintenance drugs, employee reassignments, job rotation, or referrals to chiropractors, physical therapists or yet another company doctor.

Instead you will see a pair of employees – one person standing with his foot squarely planted on the other person who is lying on the floor. “Lock your feet, stretch your arm out, roll your head, keep your eyes open, keep breathing!” bellows the person standing. It only lasts about 10 seconds but it is virtually pain free and remarkably effective at restoring function to frozen shoulders, wrist problems like carpal tunnel, back, hip, and foot problems caused by overuse or cumulative trauma.

It is called the Rossiter System® offered by certified “coaches” of Manual Therapy Solutions. The Rossiter System is different. It's unique. It takes a more effective approach to pain, disability, injury and ergonomics than what's traditionally been offered. It deals directly with the physiological causes of work-related pain, not the resulting symptoms.

“It gives employees control over their pain AND their recovery.” says Carol Orrell, Certified Rossiter Coach. “It gives managers and employees entirely new sets of tools to keep work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) from developing, Once MSDs start, it gives them all new methods of alleviating and reversing them with as little external interference as possible. In effect, you and your workers become the experts at controlling your costs and injuries. And it meets many of the MSD guidelines laid out by OSHA.”

This system is proactive, not reactive. It gets to the root of problems before they become severe and disabling. Many of the traditional solutions offered over the years can be discarded as ineffective, misguided, or too little too late (as they should be).

"The Rossiter System has increased production in our incentive area by 20%.” Says Ruth, a manager at a poultry processing factory. “The people are no longer in pain. They are healthier, more alert employees. I worked my way up to plant manager, and I know what it's like to be in pain on the line. I believe in this program. I've seen it work over and over."

"In the first year, the benefits of the program quickly took effect”, says Mary, the Human Resource Manager of an automotive plant. “Medical costs, before the Rossiter implementation, were over $80,000. One year later, they dropped to $283 and at the end of the second year, to $68 -- a dramatic decrease in cumulative trauma disorders, workdays lost, and the previously escalating costs associated with them. The Rossiter System^® has been well accepted and appreciated by our associates.”

The Rossiter System eases, relieves and prevents pain because it directly tackles the causes of pain. Tightness, pain, throbbing, aching and limited movement in muscles and joints occur because surrounding connective tissue has shortened and tightened from overuse and repetition. The Rossiter System's stretching techniques loosen entire areas of connective tissue, restore mobility and circulation. The result -- effective pain relief and free movement.

In contrast, the solutions offered by traditional medicine for carpal tunnel syndrome, back pain and structural aches/pains often address the symptoms but never get at the causes of pain. Rarely is the relief permanent, forcing people to remain on drugs, wear splints or undergo repeated cortisone shots and surgeries -- all of which have potentially disabling side effects.

Medical intervention ignores a basic tenet: PAIN is information. It is the body's way of asking for help. Pain relief is simple using easy-to-learn techniques like the Rossiter stretches. They fix the body by restoring its natural functions, ability to move and space.

Manual Therapy Solutions offers workshops for employees either on-site or at office at 2217 Princess Anne Street.

Call for more information or a demonstration (540) 846-7653

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General information: info@manualtherapysolutions.com

Practitioners: carol@manualtherapysolutions.com 540-846-7653