Manual Therapy Improves Digestion and Elimination

Many of our patients have reported relief from symptoms associated with poor digestion or elimination following therapy at Clear Passage. We believe this may be due to decreasing painful adhesions and restrictions affecting the various organs in the abdomen and pelvis, including the digestive, urinary and reproductive tracts.

Adhesions may cause problems near sites of
former surgery, inflammation, or trauma.

Many of these patients have at least one or more abdominal or pelvic surgeries. There is no doubt that surgery is often necessary, and may be a life saving procedure. But even the most skilled surgeon cannot prevent the formation of adhesions after some surgeries. A study in Digestive Surgery showed that more than 90% of patients develop adhesions following open abdominal surgery and 55% to 100% of women develop adhesions following pelvic surgery.¹ Surgeries such as episiotomy, C-section, abortion, hysterectomy, D. and C., and even lysis (removal) of adhesions may cause additional adhesions to form.

If the stomach mobility is restricted due to adhesions, (pictured right) we may see symptoms such as heartburn, gas, heaviness, difficulty wearing a belt or lying on stomach, and reflux.

Restricted mobility of the small intestine can cause symptoms such as a feeling of unease and pulling under the navel, especially three to four hours after a meal; difficulty in wearing belts and tight trousers; lower abdominal pain after standing for a long time; and breathing difficulty when standing which is improved upon lying down.

Symptoms associated with restricted mobility of the colon may include constipation, spastic colon or irritable bowel syndrome, especially the cecum and right ovarian problems as well as right kidney problems, hip or knee problems (due to muscles and nerves that they share in common), impotence, varicose veins and sciatica.

Poor Digestion or Elimination Treatment

Alternative Therapy Without Surgery or Drugs, a "Hands-on" Approach

Treatment methods vary significantly. Many people do not obtain pain resolution after conservative treatment such as traditional physical therapy and medications. While most physicians agree that surgery is a treatment of last resort, a percentage of people do not obtain pain relief even after one or more surgeries.

We have helped many people who suffer from ongoing digestive and elimination conditions. Our directors spent years studying techniques and developing protocols to restore patients’ bodies to a state of balance, harmony and increased function. Our treatment sessions are individualized and last approximately one hour based on individual needs. Treatment is one-on-one, and is in private treatment rooms. From your first visit, we use a "hands-on" approach to treat your symptoms and discover the causes of your pain. We begin by treating tight and dysfunctional areas in your body.

A few minutes into your first treatment, our therapists will be providing a gentle 'hands on' therapy to areas of your body where we feel abnormal tensions. This has been very effective in decreasing and frequently resolving pain symptoms. Our goals of treatment are to restore alignment, balance and mobility to the pelvis, sacrum, thoracic and lumbar spines, the back and hip muscles, connective tissues, and abdominopelvic organs. Other treatment goals include decreasing pain and restoring range of motion. We work with you to improve your function, your tolerance for physical activity and return you to an active, productive lifestyle.

Patients generally discover within the first few hours if our work will be effective in decreasing pain and other symptoms. As pain decreases and function begins to return, we educate in a lifelong preventive and restorative exercise program to improve flexibility, strength, lifting ability and endurance levels. Enhancement of personal and professional life generally follows as a result. We work hand in hand with your physician, although physician referral is not required in the state of Florida for our work.

What should I expect from treatment?

The best way to determine if this work will help you is to schedule two or three visits. After three visits, most patients find their pain level noticeably improved. After six visits, they begin to notice significant structural and functional improvement in their bodies. Our goal is to help you achieve a pain free, more functional and productive life, with all your goals met.

If you have questions, we can schedule a personal consultation in one of our clinics or over the telephone. If treatment appears indicated, we will send you all necessary paperwork including a medical history questionnaire and release of medical records. We may request clearance from your physician for the very few conditions which would prevent us from treating you. These include diseases such as HIV and active cancer which could possibly worsen with treatment. Other contraindications are hemophilia, abnormal cysts and active infection.

Your treatment is always conducted in a lovely, private room. The first treatment includes an initial evaluation, and lasts up to 1½ hours. Thereafter, treatment sessions are generally 45 minutes of uninterrupted manual therapy. As manual therapists who often work on delicate areas, we are sensitive to your physical and emotional comfort level. We feel you should be fully informed in every step of treatment. We take the time to explain our theories and techniques while we are working with you. Your personal privacy is respected. Patient gowns are available each session for those who would like to use them.

Treatment feels similar to massage

But calling our work massage is like calling the space shuttle an airplane. Our work is a very "site specific" slow and deep body work to the soft tissues of your body. We use our hands to locate abnormal tensions in and around the organs, muscles, connective tissues and support structures of the body. We then apply gentle, specific sustained manual forces designed to reduce adhesions and encourage normal mobility, tone and function. Most patients say they find treatment sessions interesting, informative and relaxing. Most patients with pain complaints usually begin to notice pain reduction or relief after the first two or three sessions.

Therapist Qualifications

Therapist qualifications are a significant part of your comfort level. We invite you to visit our "About Us" page. Belinda Wurn is a physical therapist with more than 20 years experience. Larry Wurn is a massage therapist with more than 10 years experience. Both are nationally certified body workers who have performed literally thousands of manual therapy treatments. They are therapists trained and licensed to practice manual ("hands-on") therapy in Florida in their respective fields of physical therapy and massage therapy.

Following licensure, they both attended extensive continuing education courses, as well as many courses on manual pelvic, urogenital and abdominal therapy treatment in America. They furthered their education by studying manual urogenital therapy at an osteopathic medical school in France. Their goal is to provide a quality and level of service which is unavailable anywhere in our area. Clear Passage Therapies’ staff is committed to give our patients the finest one-on-one treatment available, in a relaxed and healing setting

Liakakos T, Thomakos N, Fine PM, Dervenis C, Young RL. Peritoneal Adhesions: Etiology, Pathophysiology, and Clinical Significance. Dig Surg. 2001; 18: 260-273. PMID 11528133.

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About our Book.

What physicians say:

Learn more about therapy for digestion and elimination pain and dysfunction in our book Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain (publication date: 9/2009).

“This technique makes sense: to put 'hands on' the problem and nurture the body's innate desire to heal from pelvic pain . . . and related dysfunction. Read this book if you suffer from pelvic or digestive disorders, or if you are a doctor who sees patients with these problems.”
- Leslie Mendoza Temple. MD
Medical Director, Integrative Medicine NorthShore University HealthSystem
Professor, Northwestern University Medical School

“In the past treatment for adhesions has been even more surgery, which caused even more adhesions. Now with the amazing ‘Clear Passage’ technique, patients have a safe and effective alternative to surgery. . . . I know it does work and recommend it to all my patients with adhesive disease.”
- Jacques Moritz, MD
Director of Endoscopy Section and Division of Gynecology,St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

“The Wurns are revolutionizing woman's health. Tried and proven, documented and studied again and again – the proof is in the results.We have shared many patients who had . . . complete tubal obstruction, scarring or intractable pelvic pain. I have seen their work help all of these conditions, and more. Their therapy is beyond surgical intervention; it taps right into the body's inherent healing capacity.”
- Dr. Randine Lewis, L.Ac.
Author of The Infertility Cure and The Way of the Fertile Soul