The patient I described in the October 13, 2021, post flew from a Rocky Mountain state into Philadelphia for a three-day intensive of six therapy hours with me.
She presented with pain in many parts of her body along with anxiety. Her neck pain was constant, and doctors were suggesting right pelvic surgery. Since it all may have been related to a restricted fascial web, she wanted to try this more conservative approach first—a wise decision.
She had the typical history: a whiplash accident four years ago, a concussion, many volleyball traumas to her face, and forceps at birth. My question: Was fetal soft tissue birth trauma at the core of her issues?
It was. At the beginning of the third hour of therapy her body slowly went into an uncomfortable full pelvic-spinal-neck-head twist. I could see why she had constant neck pain. No lifetime trauma could ever have accounted for it, except for a twisted fetal position, compressed for an extended period of time.
By the end of the intensive she had no pain anywhere in her body. Most of her fetal fascial twist had resolved, and I showed her husband one technique to do at home just to avoid another trip to Philadelphia.
That fetal position may have worked for the first 40 weeks in utero but was not physiologic in the post-birth world. The distinct quality of fascia is that it holds the memory of its strains, even the fetal ones. If you are born with a fascial twist similar to this one, I believe that you will be strongly predisposed to many structural issues affecting you for your entire life.
As a result, health practitioners will manage your conditions forever, since they will not be aware that their root cause is in your soft tissue birth trauma. The Gillespie Approach recognizes the importance of this missing link and presents effective techniques to mitigate it. Better yet, let’s do the work at birth to avoid a lifetime of suffering.
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