FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions About Upright Health, Posture, and Pain
General questions
- Why should I come to Upright Health?
- How are you different from a doctor, chiropractor, or physical therapist?
- How do I know if I need to improve my posture?
- Isn’t my pain just from my body getting older and falling apart?
- Isn’t my pain from a pinched nerve or a slipped disc?
- Why shouldn’t I just get surgery or continue on my regimen of mind-altering and liver-rotting painkillers?
- Do you accept medical insurance?
- What exactly do you do?
- How long will it take before I feel positive benefits?
- How long will I need to work with you?
- Are there any reasons I shouldn’t come see you?
Questions about Egoscue
- What is Egoscue posture alignment therapy?
- How is this different from what a doctor, chiropractor, or physical therapist would do with me?
- Is this a lot of core work?
- A doctor told me my only option is surgery since physical therapy didn't work. Can Egoscue Posture Alignment Therapy really help with bulging discs, nerve pain, shoulder problems, and general chronic pain?
- What about injections, painkillers, and surgery?
- How do I know you aren't just blowing smoke?
- How long will it take before I feel the effects?
- What does a session look like?
- Do I have to memorize all the exercises you show me in one session?
- If this is so effective, why doesn't insurance cover it?
- Is there any special equipment I need to do these exercises?
Questions about Rolfing
- How is Rolfing different from massage?
- Can Rolfing fix my posture?
- Do the effects of Rolfing last?
- I've heard/read that Rolfing can be painful. Is it as bad as it sounds?
- What's the 10-series?
- Do I have to commit to the 10-series?
- Where did you get training in Rolfing?
- What should I wear for a session?
Answers to General Questions
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Why should I come to Upright Health?
You want to feel good in your body. Whether you’re looking to improve your posture, reduce chronic or acute pain, or get your body moving better so that you can take your athletic activities to the next level, we can help. Our ultimate goal is to get you on the road to health without having to rely on a nonstop regimen of appointments for the rest of your life just to keep your body feeling "okay." We want you to have the tools that will get you better in the long term and to be your support when you need it.
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How are you different from a doctor, chiropractor, or physical therapist?
We are not chiropractors or physical therapists. We are not trained to snap, crack, or pop your back, nor are we interested in using ice packs, heat, or electro-stimulation to address the points where you feel pain. Quite simply, where you feel chronic pain is (almost always) NOT the source of the problem, so we work with you to address the dysfunctions all over your body that get you out of alignment and cause pain.
The body's parts all work together to balance and adjust for each other, and our approach holds that interdependence in the forefront. Pain in one part of your body does NOT necessarily mean that that specific part of your body is bad. It means a whole chain of dysfunctions is placing strain on that body part to a level that is no longer safe or tolerable.
If you had a car with one wheel misaligned and pointing off to the side, you'd be lowering your gas mileage and wearing down your tires unevenly as well as stressing the shocks. To fix that, you would not just replace the tire, get a bigger gas tank, and replace the shocks more often. You would fix the inefficient alignment and stop the other problems from ever developing in the first place.
Here's an example: your shoulder could be causing you knee pain. Incorrect shoulder position can shift your weight asymmetrically and alter the position of your pelvis. The shifted position of your pelvis creates asymmetrical function in your legs leading to the feeling that one leg is longer than the other.
As you go through your daily life, one knee takes impacts and twisting forces that it's not designed for. If you allow the situation to persist long enough, knee pain develops to tell you that something is wrong. Icing the knee, taking anti-inflammatories, trying to build quad or hamstring strength, injecting stem cells, and finally removing torn tissues from inside the joint may bring relief from the pain for a short while, but until you address the upper body's asymmetry and how it relates to the improper function of your legs, the knee will have to continue to complain as further damage is being done daily. Sound crazy? Ask this dentist about how he got rid of his foot pain.
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How do I know if I need to improve my posture?
If you feel like your posture needs to be improved, it almost definitely does. But, to be sure, go to the DIY posture assessment and find out!
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Isn’t my pain just from my body getting older and falling apart?
While we can’t deny that you are getting older, a lot of that “falling apart” is just a matter of imbalances in your body that you can address. We work with clients everyday who see the results of a dedicated effort to rebalance their bodies, so we know that a dedicated, intelligent effort makes a huge difference for even the worst pain. We have personally dealt with chronic pain and fatigue, so we know that falling apart is not just a question of age: it’s a question of misalignment.
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Isn’t my pain from a pinched nerve or a slipped disc?
Possibly! Ignoring the fact that MRI's and X-rays have been shown conclusively to be extremely unreliable for diagnosing actual causes of back pain, let's assume that a pinched nerve or a slipped disc is causing your pain. How did your nerve get pinched? How did your disc slip? Is the nerve always pinched all the time? Does the slipped disc always cause you pain? If not, why not? What’s keeping these things out of position and what are you going to do to make sure they actually stay in the right position? How is cutting into your body and attempting to tether the nerve somewhere else going to address the tensions in your body that moved things into the wrong position in the first place?
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Why shouldn’t I just get surgery or continue on my regimen of mind-altering and liver-rotting painkillers?
If you’re considering surgery to deal with your pain, I encourage you to look into the available research literature for the surgery you’re considering. The long-term effectiveness of most “pain-curing” surgeries tends to be rather discouraging and the loss in quality of life is immeasurable.
As for mind-altering painkillers, if you’re happy operating in a fog while continuing to do more damage to your body, by all means do so! If you’re at this website, you probably aren’t happy with that.
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Do you accept medical insurance?
No. We are not a provider of medical or chiropractic services, so no medical insurance companies in California that we are aware of cover our services. Some flexible spending accounts do accept spending on our services.
Insurance coverage, however, is no guarantee of effectiveness.
Vicodin pills are generally covered by health insurance companies to help kill pain, but nobody would seriously claim that Vicodin actually helps an injured body part heal. It simply does its two jobs well: kill pain and impair your ability to operate heavy machinery. Cortisone shots are also often covered by insurance but, again, only kill pain and do nothing to address the processes that are causing that pain in the first place (and actually make things worse). Arthroscopic knee surgery is no more effective than placebo for relieving knee osteoarthritis, but it is also still covered by insurance despite its hefty price tag (around $4000).
Insurance coverage is a product of political and financial pressure on health insurance companies. It is not, in itself, an indicator of efficacy.
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What exactly do you do?
With Rolfing, we use advanced, hands-on, targeted manual therapy techniques to balance tensions across the joints of your entire body.
After any soft-tissue restrictions or adhesions that are blocking proper movement are taken care of (or if none are present that obviously block your progress), we use Egoscue Posture Alignment Therapy to show you how YOU can progressively make your body feel, look, and move better on your own at home.
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How long will it take before I feel positive benefits?
This varies based on whether we're doing Rolfing or Egoscue Posture Alignment Therapy. Generally if you haven't felt any positive developments after a month and there's no good reason for that, you should probably stop working with me.
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How long will I need to work with you?
It depends entirely on your situation. Sometimes people's pain resolves quite quickly. Other times it takes longer to get the body to realign itself to the point that the pain goes away. We've had clients come and have their issues resolved in one or two sessions. We've had others for whom it takes months to get where they want to be!
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Are there any reasons I shouldn’t come see you?
If you have cancer, hemophilia, blood clotting issues, phlebitis, or aneurysms, please consult with a doctor before undergoing any manual therapy or deep tissue work so that you are aware of your body’s safe limits. That being said, even with the aforementioned issues, it is often still possible for us to work together to get your body balanced again with Egoscue Posture Alignment Therapy.
If you have a contagious disease that we could possibly catch (including the common cold), we would appreciate it if you didn’t come in until you are healthy again.
Answers to Egoscue Questions
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What is Egoscue posture alignment therapy?
Posture Alignment Therapy is the key to a long term posture solution. It is a systematic way of addressing your body's misalignments with gentle stretches and exercises (some of which you may have seen, some of which you definitely haven't).
Personalized to your body and your needs, the self-care regimen you develop with your practitioner goes beyond the quick-fix mentality of the ineffective stretches and exercises circulating the fitness, chiropractic, medical, and physical therapy worlds.
It is effective in addressing structural issues in your body, and, unlike the pills you might otherwise use to keep your pain at bay, addiction to these posture-improving regimens is actually good for you.
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How is this different from what a doctor, chiropractor, or physical therapist would do with me?
On a hot San Diego summer day, you're lying on the sidewalk, overheated and dehydrated.
A doctor walks along, hands you a cup of water and a bag of ice to put on your head and says, "that should fix that problem." You feel fine for an hour and then you're back in the same situation.
A chiropractor walks along and kneels down by you with a spray bottle with electric fan and cools you off for ten minutes and tells you, "I'll be back in two days and we'll do that again over the next 4 weeks to ensure you never overheat or get thirsty again." In 45 minutes, you're overheating again.
A physical therapist happens along, puts an ice pack on your head for 5 minutes, removes it for 5 minutes, puts it back on, removes it, puts it back on, removes it and finally says you just need to practice being exposed to heat more and that he'll be back tomorrow to do the same with you for the next 12 weeks until you build your endurance to heat.
An Egoscue® Posture Alignment Therapist comes by, shows you the way to an air conditioned room with water, and gives you a GPS navigator so that you can always find your way back.
We work to get your whole body moving properly so that the symptoms of poor body mechanics (pain, fatigue, numbness, stiffness) resolve themselves. Rather than treating the symptom, we address the context that sets the stage for the symptom.
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Is this a lot of core work?
No. The myth that all body problems can be fixed by working on "the core" is like saying that all you need to do to maintain your car is to put gas in it.
More often than not, clients I see have already tried going after the core only to find their pain get WORSE (this is especially true for back pain sufferers). The problem isn't with the core muscles. It's with imbalances in muscles all over the body.
The process of Egoscue Posture Alignment Therapy is about changing the spark plugs, swapping the timing belt, getting a new air filter, flushing the radiator, topping up your fluids, and detailing the interior and exterior. We look at how your entire body functions as a unit. We improve the coordination of all your muscles to improve efficiency and reduce strain throughout your body instead of becoming narrowly focused on where you feel pain or on magical cure-alls.
We look at your body and address the imbalances specific to you.
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A doctor told me my only option is surgery since physical therapy didn't work. Can Egoscue Posture Alignment Therapy really help with bulging discs, nerve pain, shoulder problems, and general chronic pain?
Yes. Discs do not bulge without a reason. Nerves do not get irritated without a reason. Pain does not surface without a reason. No matter what kind of pain you have, it's important to recognize that the pain is not CONSTANT (or if it is constant these days, then recognize that it wasn't always constant) because it means the reason for your pain is subject to the changing positioning of your body.
By gently retraining your body's muscle memory, you can realign your body -- moving discs, nerves, and muscles back into the right positions -- so your body can stop signaling (with pain) that there's something wrong!
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What about injections, painkillers, and surgery?
If you’re considering surgery to deal with your pain, I encourage you to look into the available research literature for the surgery you’re considering. The long-term effectiveness of most “pain-curing” surgeries tends to be rather discouraging and the loss in quality of life is immeasurable, even when deemed "successful." If you think never being able to walk or run quickly again is a fair trade-off for relief of back or knee pain, then by all means consider surgery.
As for mind-altering painkillers, if you’re happy operating in a fog while continuing to do more damage to your body, by all means do so! If you’re at this website, you probably aren’t happy with that.
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How do I know you aren't just blowing smoke?
Sit down for an initial consultation.
The therapists at Upright Health have personally suffered with a very long list of chronic pain issues in the past that just never seemed to go away. We speak from personal experience with our own bodies and professional experience helping countless others get out of debilitating pain. The most stubborn kinds of pain -- pain that has been around for decades -- is often just waiting for the right sequence of exercises to get things back to normal.
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How long will it take before I feel the effects?
At your initial consultation, you will very likely experience relief as we test your body with a few different exercises to determine the underlying causes of your pain.
You should feel the effects of your first full sequence of exercises during or within a few days after the first session.
In some cases, depending on the severity of your issues, it may very well take longer than a month for your posture and pain issues to go away. If you've had pain for 7 years, it MAY not be reasonable to expect it to disappear in 7 days. Sometimes, however, it does disappear in 7 minutes.
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What does a session look like?
In the the first session, we'll be setting up a systematic sequence of exercises tailored to your specific issues. With this sequence of exercises, we'll be peeling back layers of dysfunction and compensation so that muscles that have been too tight can loosen up and muscles that haven't been working properly are nudged back into their proper function. You receive one-on-one instruction to ensure you know what you're doing and why you're doing it.
In subsequent sessions, we address questions and concerns that you have from doing your exercises at home, double-check you're doing all your exercises correctly, and make any changes to your menu of exercises based on the changes and improvements your body has already made.
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Do I have to memorize all the exercises you show me in one session?
No. Because these are unique exercises that you've likely never even seen before with little details you may not be used to paying attention to, you'll receive full instructions for each and every exercise we do in your session in PDF format. It's recommended that you print out a full copy of your sequence of exercises and keep a PDF copy on your smart phone (if you have one) so that you are never without them!
If you have any questions between sessions, you are strongly encouraged to ask them via email or phone at no charge whatsoever.
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If this is so effective, why doesn't insurance cover it?
Insurance coverage is no guarantee of effectiveness. Vicodin pills are generally covered by health insurance companies to help kill pain, but nobody would seriously claim that Vicodin actually helps an injured body part heal. It simply does its two jobs well: kill pain and impair your ability to operate heavy machinery.
Cortisone shots are also often covered by insurance but, again, only kill pain and do nothing to address the processes that are causing that pain in the first place (and actually make things worse). Arthroscopic knee surgery is no more effective than placebo for relieving knee osteoarthritis, but it is also still covered by insurance despite its hefty price tag (around $4000).
Insurance coverage is a product of political and financial pressure on health insurance companies. It is not, in itself, an indicator of efficacy.
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Is there any special equipment I need to do these exercises?
For the most part no, but there is one key piece of equipment that some clients do need to ensure their long term success. It is $135 and will become your best friend for life (without exaggeration). If you use it once a day over the course of a year (like you should), it will cost you 36 cents per use (assuming you throw it away right then). It is well worth the initial investment as it helps keep you from curling into a decrepit-looking ball as you age by keeping your hips, back, and shoulders functioning with proper alignment.
We have that piece of equipment and some other cushions and straps on hand for you to buy so that you can get started at home right away after your session.
If you need something that we don't have or you need to have something shipped somewhere, you can go to Railyard Fitness to purchase your own set of posture therapy tools.
Answers to Rolfing Questions
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How is Rolfing different from massage?
Typical massage focuses on bringing you relaxation, improved circulation, and is generally a good support to your overall health.
Rolfing supports your overall health by addressing the postural misalignments in your body that make it hard for you to relax and tough for your body to maintain good circulation.
When pain is present, Rolfing is good for targeting the connective and muscular tissues that hold your body in improper positions and cause you pain.
For those doing maintaining heavy athletic exercise regiments, Rolfing can help maintain soft tissue flexibility and pliability so that muscles and joints don't lock up and impair your performance.
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Can Rolfing fix my posture?
For some postural issues, yes. For others, no.
Everyone's posture is the result of the balance of tension of the muscles and connective tissue throughout the body. Where tight areas are dragging you into bad posture or compromised ranges of motion, Rolfing can be a big help.
Where your posture is distorted due to weakness of stabilizing muscles, no amount of Rolfing can reactivate and re-tone the weak muscles. That is where Egoscue exercises come into play.
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Do the effects of Rolfing last?
Some of them do, and some of them don't.
Rolfing is exceptionally good at loosening up tight areas that have been locked up for long periods of time for no good reason. By applying appropriate pressure and tension to those areas, your body can be allowed to move properly again. The more your body moves properly, the better it gets at it. In that sense, the result is permanent.
When areas of tightness are actually compensating for other areas of weakness and malalignment, Rolfing will NOT have permanent effects. The areas of weakness and malalignment need to be strengthened and repositioned for any lasting, long-term, positive change to occur. This is where Egoscue® Posture Alignment Therapy becomes clearly necessary as an adjunct to Rolfing.
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I've heard/read that Rolfing can be painful. Is it as bad as it sounds?
It really depends on your body and on the Rolfer.
Some bodies are very sensitive to hands-on work. Others are not. What is outrageously painful for one person may feel like heaven for another. Many people often say Rolfing elicits a sense of "good pain." It's an intensity that signals release of pent up tension rather than just a lot of hard pressure.
Some Rolfers often substitute strength for strategy, choosing to press harder on a certain spot when pressing lighter on a completely different but related spot would actually be far more effective. I generally choose strategy over strength.
If at any point you feel like you are gritting your teeth because the intensity is too much, I ask that you let me know so that we can adjust our approach to better suit your body.
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What's the 10-series?
The hallmark of Rolfing Structural Integration is a standardized “recipe” known as the Ten Series, the goal of which is to systematically balance and optimize both the structure (shape) and function (movement) of the entire body over the course of ten Rolfing sessions.
For more information, you can visit the Rolf Institute website's Overview of the Ten Series.
At Upright Health, Rolfing can be experienced in the Ten Series format or in sessions tailored to your specific concerns.
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Do I have to commit to the 10-series?
No. In fact, for many people, I recommend considering a blend of a handful of Rolfing sessions paired with Posture Alignment Therapy work. Rolfing helps address the tightness and shortness that distorts your posture and puts you in pain, while Posture Alignment Therapy helps you stabilize and recoordinate your body for more efficient movement patterns. In the long run, this blended approach can save you a lot of time and money.
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Where did you get training in Rolfing?
I trained at the Rolf Institute in Boulder, CO.
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What should I wear for a session?
Exercise clothing is best, as you will be asked to get up off the massage table periodically to walk around to assess how your body's responding. Wear light clothing that will keep you comfortable while sitting, standing, and lying down. Shorts, tank tops, t-shirts, and sports bras all work well.