A friend has set up a business as a practitioner of Structural Integration. (I had to look it up as I thought it had something to do with buildings.) What is the Straight Dope? Is it really different from massage? What about this “fascia” idea (again with the building terms 
)? Has anyone been through the treatment?
I started to read the first few paragraphs of the linked article, and in the first line, my Straight Dope Missing Citation Alarm [sup]TM[/sup] went off (Ping! Ping! PingPingpingpingping). “Scientifically-validated”? By whom? How? Where are the results? Footnotes! I demand footnotes!
That being said, Structiral Integration doesn’t sound particularly implausible.
If the Structiral Integration paractitioner starts talking about soffit as well as fascia, be worried. He or she is either going to try to sell you aluminum siding or is going to hammer nails into you.
I went to a few rolfing sessions, and it is definitely different (better?) than massage. For starters, it doesn’t feel good/relaxing and you also ache the next day. If I could afford it, I would get more done. Afterward, I felt like I practically doubled my stride length when walking just because my hips were loose and my legs could swing farther with no extra effort.
Here it seems to be practiced by someone who also does craniosacral therapy :rolleyes: and “visceral manipulation”?!? This scares me.
My friend is a bright person who has done a lot of amazing things in her life, but then she also believes in things like reiki.
It never worked for me, personally.
However, it DID do wonders for the soffits on my house, but not so much for the fascia. YMMV.