Jersey Shore Myofascial Release Center

Marianne
I am a musician, educator and yoga practitioner in my late forties. When I was twenty –seven, following the birth of my second child, I began to experience severe pain and weakness in my muscles and joints, which was diagnosed  a year later as fibromyalgia. Since that time, I have tried a variety of traditional and alternative healing modalities, including medications, acupuncture, chiropractic, and many different massage therapy techniques. Some of these were temporarily helpful,  but none produced lasting results.  My symptoms were so severe that on three occasions I was forced to take disability leave from my position as a public school teacher.

In the eighteen months that I have been treated by Brian with Myofascial Release Therapy,  I have seen amazing results. The work itself is uniquely effective for this condition, because it simultaneously addresses the  physical, psychological and spiritual aspects of this condition. Brian’s willingness to treat me as an individual,  recommend readings and self-care techniques, and be available whenever I had questions or problems, all contributed to the success of this therapy.  This year I was able to maintain a full teaching and performing schedule, recorded and released my first CD ,  and recently completed a 10 –day yoga teacher training program with one of the top instructors in the country.

I knew from my very first session with Brian that he was very different from the “average massage therapist.” In addition to his superior technical skills and knowledge of the human body and therapeutic techniques, he is highly educated, well-read across a variety of disciplines, and one of the most compassionate and caring people I have ever met.   I have been particularly impressed with his knowledge in the field of human psychology, biomechanics, and the mind/body/spirit connections in healing. I have also had a three –hour “mini-intensive”  which included treatment with Michele, and found that her expertise and perspective provided an extra dimension of healing to my experience.

Renee – Fibromyalgia pain

Seventeen years ago, after the birth of my daughter, I began to have acute pain throughout my body. Not knowing why I was having these pains, I had gone to see a doctor who told me he felt I was suffering from “depression” and wanted me to take medicine for it. But I didn’t feel depressed or unhappy and I didn’t have trouble going to work. All I knew was that I was having acute pain in certain parts of my body and needed to know why. I was especially having pain in an area where I had torn my cartilage on the right side of my rib cage years earlier. One doctor ordered for me to have x-rays and ultrasound in that area only to find out that nothing would show up. Another doctor I saw was an orthopedic surgeon who sent me for physical therapy. The treatments did give me some relief but never cured the problem and the pain would come back once the physical therapy stopped. I even went to see a doctor for Acupuncture. Again, there was some relief but the pain would reoccur. There were times that I couldn’t lift packages or wash the dishes. It was also difficult to vacuum and lift up my daughter as well as having difficulty washing certain areas of my body. I was also finding that my body was becoming increasingly sensitive to touch in certain areas. The orthopedic surgeon also sent me to a Rheumatologist who diagnosed me with all the “trigger points” that would give me a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. In 2001, a friend had asked me if I knew about “Myofascial Release”. I didn’t know what to expect. The Myofascial Release was unlike anything I had felt before. When I described it to my friends, I mentally pictured my body opening up like a perforated piece of paper tearing apart down the middle of my body. The right side of my body that was having pain began to release. What was happening inside of me was that the fascia was unraveling. I also was finding that new pain was starting up in my body where I didn’t have it before and I was learning that when we have an injury, our fascia constricts and can become stuck together causing tightness and other symptoms. In some cases bumps under the skin can be felt and these bumps can be painful and tender. In 2007, six years after being diagnosed with “acute Fibromyalgia” I found Michele Ashenfelder-Ruhmann, owner of the Jersey Shore Myofascial Release Center in Toms River, NJ. She is an advanced Myofascial Release Therapist trained by John F. Barnes. From the moment of my first treatment, I felt tremendous release. I would sometimes have treatment two times a week. Then it would go to once a week and then every other week. I could feel myself healing. I began to be able to lift things again. My mobility was becoming increasingly better and my body was becoming stronger than it had been in years. Michele was helping me to get my life back. Next month, it will be two years that I have had Myofascial Release with Michele Ashenfelder-Ruhmann and 8 years since I was finally diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. My acute Fibromyalgia is under control. I still go for Myofascial Release on occasion, but I am able to do self treatment at home. I am also finding out that Fibromyaia is not uncommon and that many people are becoming diagnosed with it. When someone tells me that they have had pain and the doctors cannot find anything that is causing it, I have mentioned “Myofasical Release.” If they are open to finding out what it is, they are having tremendous results. My aunt in Florida was told she had to have surgery on her hip. She was having trouble walking and I referred her to a MFR Therapist in Florida. She never had the surgery and couldn’t thank me enough. So this is my experience with Myofascial Release.  Michele Ashenfelder-Ruhmann has helped to give me back my life.

Sincerely,

Renee S. Tompkins