Sharon giammatteo cause of death

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The Burnham Review Kimberly Burnham, PhD Editor

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The Burnham Review Benefits of Touch and Neurofascial Process (NFP)

Manual Therapy and CAM Complement Your Health Care Program

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Neurofascial Process–Why You Should Try It?

From the field of Integrative Manual Therapy comes a remarkable self-care program that can alleviate pain, increase range of motion and improve function. Anyone who has used Neurofascial Process, knows the effectiveness of this hands-on technique.

There are plenty of testimonials on the benefits of Neurofascial Process (NFP) (Weiselfish-Giammatteo,1 2002) and case studies with before a n d a f t e r t e s t s s h o w i n g improvements following a few hours of NFP. For many clients these suffice to motivate them to try Neurofascial Process for themselves.

Others want to know more about how it works, before they spend the time and effort using it on themselves and their family members.

So, is it reasonable to believe that a simple hands-on technique will decrease pain and increase function?

Lets start with a look at some of the components of the NFP is thought to work on and then look at

the medical literature that supports those theories.

First, NFP is a process of connecting certain areas of the body, called Process Centers (PC), for example, the ureters

and the liver to improve the neural connection between the two areas, to improve the fascial relationships and fluid flow in the body and to normalize emotions content of the two areas. Sometimes it is referred to as the “one hand here and one hand there” self-care. Touch or contact with the two areas is all that is needed to make a shift.

“The experience of being touched, new research shows, has direct and crucial effects on the growth of the body as well as the mind.”2 (Goleman, 1988). The New York Times article goes on to say, “Touch is a means of communication so critical that its absence retards growth in infants, a c c o r d i n g t o researchers who are for the first time determining the neurochemical effects of skin-to- skin contact. The new work focuses on the importance of touch itself, not merely as part of,

say, a parent's loving presence. The findings may help explain the long- noted syndrome in which infants deprived of direct human contact grow slowly and even die.”

Hands-on contact can shift brain chemistry, which certainly affects how we feel and function. “New research suggests that certain brain chemicals released by touch, or others released in its absence, may account for these infants' failure to thrive. The studies on the physiology of touch come against a backdrop of continuing research on the psychological benefits of touch for e m o t i o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t . ” 2 (Goleman, 1988)

One study looked at the influence of touch on the ability to feel that area. Researchers explain, “the mature mammalian nervous system alters its functional organization in a use-dependent manner.” This means the more you touch an area the better the sensation in that location. Continuing they said, “enhanced

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24 Issues per year TheBurnhamReview.com 2 (c) 2007 Kimberly Burnham 7-1 Benefits of Touch/NFP

Testimonial Mother of a baby boy with colic. (2002). "My husband and I adopted our son, J. on 2/13/02 when he was 2 days old. Our time with him has been the most rewarding, joyful thing we have ever done and our friends constantly ask "How did you get such a happy baby? He's sleeping through the night already? You mean he doesn't cry for hours at a time? I give the same answer each time - it's the Neurofascial Processing.!!

stimulation of a body part enlarges its cortical representational zones and may change its topographic order ” (Steer, 1998)3

The brain is more tuned into an area that is touched. Researchers concluded that touch can be associated with changes in an individual’s sensations and behavior.

Touch therapies can save money as shown in studies involving weight gain in babies. ''The massaged infants did not eat more than the others,'' said Tiffany Field, a psychologist at the University of Miami Medical School, who did the study. ''Their weight gain seems due to the effect of contact on their metabolism.” The infants who were massaged were discharged from the hospital an average of six days earlier than premature infants who were not massaged, saving about $3,000 each in hospital costs, Dr. Field said.2 (Goleman, 1988).

“The primacy of touch in infancy, experts say, is tied to touch's being the most mature sensory system for the first several months of life. ''It's the first way an infant learns about the environment,'' said Kathryn

Barnard, a professor of nursing at the University of Washington. ''About 80 percent of a baby's communication is through its body movement. It's ea s i e r t o r e a d a bab y' s communication with skin-to-skin contact.'' (Goleman, 1988).2

“N” as in Neural The first part of Neurofascial

Process, indicates that this technique affects the nervous system. Can hands-on contact change neural conductivity or fascial dysfunction?

Certainly, touch can cause pain as in the case of someone with dysreflexia, a dysfunction in which even a slight touch causes pain. This makes it reasonable to believe that touch influences the nervous system and can influence it in a positive or negative way.

The medical literature also discusses the connection between the nervous system and the fascia or connective tissue of the body. In one case they describe a blood flow problem due to "a stenosis [narrowing of the blood vessel] immediately distal to a transverse neurofascial band formed by the hypoglossal nerve” (Ranval, 1994).4 This quote illustrates the effect of a dysfunction in the nervous system and the fascial system (neurofascial band). They noted, turbulence or flow problems in the blood vessel can result from restrictions of the neural or myofascial bands.