Perineal Technique for Trauma-Related Chronic Pain

The therapeutic rituals of energetic touch I practice, Polarity Therapy, derives from the integration of the healing traditions of China and India and 20th-century cranial osteopathy developed in the United States. These energetic practices are also part of a larger repertoire of bodywork methods that focus on structure and balance, muscle and tendon, blood and lymph, and benefit the client.

One goal of Polarity Therapy is to trace (by palpation) and release (by skilled touch) those energy blockages that manifest as pain or dysfunction. To do this, the practitioner applies three depths of touch depending on whether the energy blockage reflects a hyperactive, hypoactive, or neutral state of activity. This application of the continuum of touch pressure (from very light to very deep) makes polarity therapy unique among all the systems of biofield therapies currently employed.

One of the most important methods of Polarity Therapy is called the Perineal Technique, which begins with the placement of the palm on the lower back over the sacrum (sacred bone) and the other hand in contact with the 10th cranial nerve in the neck and rocking for deep relaxation and sleep.

This method may then advance toward gentle contact underneath the coccyx and along the pelvic floor muscles that proceed along the inferior rami of the pubis, ischial tuberosity, and the sacrotuberous ligament.

These gentle contacts are often vital for the treatment of trauma-related chronic pain and dysfunction such as chronic pelvic pain, bladder pain syndromes, and chronic noninflammatory nonbacterial prostatitis, which occur at high rates associated with survivors of abuse (Meltzer-Brody et al., 2007).

Some trauma-trained orthopedic physical therapists (not massage therapists) specialize in working therapeutically internally in the pelvis with both men and women to help release chronic myofascial restrictions (Pastore, personal communication, January 16, 2011).

You can learn more in my book  Rhythms of Recovery: Integrative Medicine for PTSD and Complex Trauma.

You can learn more about this method by taking my CE and Certification course PTSD, Complex Trauma, and Traumatic Brain Injury.

References

Meltzer-Brody, S., Leserman, J., Zolnoun, D., Steege, J., Green, E., & Teich, A. (2007). Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in women with chronic pelvic pain. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 109 (4), 902–908.