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Treatment Theory and Philosophy

Theoretical Framework: Adhesion Formation and Deformation

When we are injured or have had an infection or surgery, we may later experience pain, dysfunction or increased tissue tension in our body. Symptoms may appear in muscles, joints, connective tissues, organs or throughout the body. Initially, problems can occur in the body due to the adhesions formed following the original trauma. Pain and dysfunction can also occur months or years later, due to the body’s compensations in response to the injury, surgery or infection. We are highly trained in treating both of these causes of pain and dysfunction.

Adhesion formation occurs after trauma to the tissues, as a response to the tissue damage. After an injury, infection or surgery, tiny but strong collagen fibers form as part of the body’s response to the trauma. These collagen fibers form adhesions by laying down ‘cross-links’ in random patterns. These cross-linked adhesions are the building blocks of scar tissue. Adhesions can be tough and wiry, or filmy and thin. They may be large enough to be seen by diagnostic tests, or so small that they are microscopic. Either way, they can exert tremendous tensile forces on the tissues where they form.

Adhesions and cross-links remain in our bodies long after the original inflammation or trauma has healed. They may adhere the injured tissues to nerves (causing pain) or to neighboring structures (causing dysfunction). As the body’s tissues heal and adhesions are formed, the tissues begin to shrink somewhat, resulting in decreased movement in the injured area. Thus, the healing process can actually create more mechanical irritation and more cross-linking of collagen fibers, perpetuating the cycle of adhesion formation.

The primary goal of our therapy is to increase mobility (motion) and decrease pain by using specific techniques to break down the excess collagenous cross-links which are at the core of adhesion formation. These excess cross-links may cause pain and limited movement. We have strong clinical evidence and published studies that indicate that we can greatly decrease the (often) vast amounts of excess cross-links in our bodies, the tiny or large adhesions which appear to be the cause of so much pain and dysfunction.

Our Treatment Philosophy

Our philosophy of treatment is to offer individualized "hands-on (manual) therapy to the body’s soft tissues in order to:
  1. Significantly decrease or totally eliminate pain
  2. Improve motion
  3. Improve circulation
  4. Improve bodily functions
  5. Restore mobility, balance and functional ability.
A major focus of our treatment is in treating adhesions in the "soft tissues" of the body. Soft tissues include:
  1. muscles (which help us move),
  2. organs (which help us function),
  3. nerves (which alert us to problems, through pain),
  4. ligaments (which connect bone to bone)
  5. tendons (which connect muscles to bone),
  6. fascia, or connective tissue (which supports and separates all of the body structures, and is the body’s main shock absorber).

As pain decreases and function begins to return, we educate patients in a lifelong preventive and restorative program to improve flexibility, strength, lifting ability, and endurance levels. Most patients report initial pain relief, followed by enhanced abilities to move in easy, normal patterns. Patients generally report enhanced personal and professional life, performance and well-being. Our goal is to return our patients to active, productive and enjoyable lifestyles.

Our Treatment Overview

Clear Passage Therapies is a group of small, private clinics that perform highly specialized manual ("hands-on") therapy for patients experiencing pain or decreased function. We feel it is important to address the body as a whole, rather than in parts. We use our hands to gently adjust, apply traction, mobilize, massage and stimulate the structures of the body from head to toe, in order to restore balance and symmetry.

We specialize in treating conditions which have not resolved with traditional treatments such as physical therapy, medications or surgery. Many of our patients come to us with abdominal or pelvic pain, or unresolved back, hip, shoulder or neck pain. Clear Passage Therapies was founded as a "women’s health" clinic, but quickly grew to encompass treatment of men and women suffering from all types of pain or dysfunction. Many of our patients have had an injury, surgery, infection or radiation therapy.

We are licensed professionals, trained to evaluate and treat your body. Our job is to decrease or eliminate your pain and improve your mobility and function. All of our treatment is without drugs or surgery. Your physician may still prescribe medications or other interventions to help you achieve your goals.

Most patients discover within the first six hours that our work is effective in decreasing their pain and other symptoms. We have helped many people who suffer from chronic, complex pain and persistent dysfunctions. Our directors spent years studying numerous different techniques and developing protocols to restore patients’ bodies to a state of balance, harmony and increased function.

Our treatment sessions are individualized and generally last one to two hours (less time for fresh linens, and for therapists to confer about your case). The actual 'hands-on' part of therapy generally comprises about 45-50 minutes, each hour. Treatment is based on individual needs. Treatment is conducted one-on-one, in private treatment rooms. As pain decreases and function begins to return, we educate patients in a lifelong preventive and restorative program to improve flexibility, strength, lifting ability and endurance levels. While physician referral is not required in some states, it often helps with insurance reimbursement. We are comfortable and happy to work with your physician, in a team approach to your care.

We provide convenient five day packages (Monday - Friday) for out of town patients. Our present clinics are located in:

We hope to open soon in other major population centers throughout the US.

What should I expect from treatment?

The best way to determine if this work will help you is to complete our questionnaire. After the first three hours of therapy, most patients find their pain level noticeably improved. After six hours, they often 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. This is most effective once we have your completed questionnaire in hand. If treatment appears indicated, we will send you all necessary paperwork including an Informed Consent and a 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. We would wait for any infection to pass, prior to providing therapy.

Your treatment is always conducted in a lovely, private room. The first treatment includes an initial evaluation, and lasts one to two hours. Thereafter, treatment sessions are generally around 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. Blankets, towels and knee length gowns are always available each session for your comfort.

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 pressure in adhered areas. This pressure is designed to reduce adhesions and encourage normal mobility, tone and function. Most patients say they find treatment sessions interesting, informative and relaxing. Clear Passage Therapies’ staff is committed to give our patients the finest one-on-one treatment available anywhere, in a relaxed and healing setting. 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 "Clinical Staff" page to find links to all staff descriptions. These include both therapists and medical and research staff. Therapeutic staff are required to have several years of clinical experience prior to applying for certification to be Clear Passage Therapists. In fact, we have received inquiries from over 2,500 therapist and physician applicants and have accepted and certified only nine applicants to date (November, 2005). We are quite choosy.

All Clear Passage therapists are personally trained and tested by the inventors and developers of the Wurn Technique®, before they are allowed to be certified as Clear Passage therapists. Belinda Wurn is a physical therapist with more than 25 years experience. Larry Wurn is a massage therapist with more than 15 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 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 else in the world. Clear Passage Therapies’ staff is committed to give our patients the finest one-on-one treatment available, in a relaxed and healing setting.

An Interesting Historical Note

This historical note gave us goosebumps. We will eventually have a "history of infertility" page. For those of you who have read this far, we give you this interesting jewel, from ancient Egypt.

The earliest recorded reference to female infertility was noted in 2200 BC, in ancient Egypt2. Remarkably, we discovered that it was based on the concept of "Clear Passage." The theory holds that in order to be fertile, a woman must have a "Clear Passage" throughout her body, from vagina to mouth. We learned of this reference, six years after we created our 'Clear Passage Therapies' clinic, to treat female infertility. Here is the reference, as paraphrased by one of our resident Ph.D. research scholars, Eugenia Scharf, Ph.D., with the most ancient footnotes I can ever remember citing.

Some 3500 years before anyone1 actually showed that conception was the result of contact between sperm and eggs, the ancient Egyptians described their time-honored methods of diagnosing and treating infertility.2 The problem, they assumed, was usually due to the female, and diagnosis was based on the concept of a clear passage through her body. For example, a clove of garlic was placed in a woman’s vagina, and the examiner smelled to note if he could detect its odor in her breath. If yes, she was deemed fertile; if no, then she was considered infertile.

More than a thousand years later, the Greeks—including Hypocrites3 (“father of medicine”)—still held to the ancient Egyptian gynecological practices and beliefs, including that of the 'clear passage' connection between the vagina and the rest of the body. Their tests included wrapping a woman in a blanket and fumigating her with some substance. If the odor appeared in the breath, she was fertile.

Although these venerable diagnostic tests were finally discredited in the second century A.D. by Soranus4 (“father of gynecology,”) the relationship between fertility and a clear passage through the reproductive tract is indisputable.

– from Shamma FN & DeCherney AH, “Infertility: a Historical Perspective.” In Keye WR et al. Infertility Evaluation and Treatment. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, 1995.

  1. Lazzaro Spallanzani, 1780 A.D.
  2. Kahoun papyrus (2200–1950 B.C.); Ebers papyrus (1550 B.C.)
  3. Hypocrites (460 – 370 B.C.)
  4. Soranus (98–138 A.D.