Alt Med - Rolfing (7 of 20)

(from PT and Alternative Medicine)

Rolfing® is named after its creator, Ida P. Rolf, Ph.D. Also called “Structural Integration”, it “allows a person to re-align their own energy fields with that of the earth and gravity.” It is essentially a very deep and very vigorous massage. Many proponents claim it may cure illness, however, there is no scientific evidence of such.

There is no quality research in support of Rolfing being more effective than any traditional soft tissue massage/manipulation technique. The research cited by the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration is of low quality and/or the improvements noted were relatively insignificant.

Warning: There are significant questions regarding the safety of this aggressive deep-tissue process.