Visceral  Therapy
Viscera are the organs within the pelvic, abdominal, and thoracic cavities, such as the lungs, kidney's, liver, stomach, pancreas, spleen,
intestines, bowel, bladder, uterus, ovaries, prostate. Visceral Therapy is based on specific placement of soft manual forces to encourage
the normal mobility, tone, and motion of the viscera, thus improve cellular fluid exchange.
















Visceral Therapy is a technique used to free adhesions and restrictions. This gentle therapy can potentially improve
the functioning of  individual organs,  the systems the organ function within, and the structural integrity of the entire
body.

For example the caecum and the psoas muscle. The caecum is a little cul-de-sac where the small intestine meets the large intestine at the
hip in front of the psoas muscle. If the caecum adheres to the psaos muscle, this can reduce your strength of lifting the right leg, reduce the
range of stretch, and can cause pain.  Digestion may be agitated too, as the caecum is the area of high absorbtion of electrolytes which are
essential to the normal function of all cells,  and involved in metabolic activities,  and electrochemical impulses in nerves and muscle cells.
Freeing the caecum from the psoas can facilitate both structures to return to there optimum function.
How Did Visceral Therapy Begin?
Methods such as  Visceral  Manipulation have been apart of the medicinal cultures of Europe and  Asia since prerecorded times.  Manual
manipulation of the internal organs has long been a component of some therapeutic systems in Oriental medicine. So it's no surprise that
practitioners in many parts of the world have incorporated manipulations designed to work with the internal organ and their functions.

Jean-Pierre Barral first became interested in  biomechanics while working as a registered physical therapist at the Lung Disease Hospital
in Grenoble, France. Where he met Dr Arnaud, a recognized specialist in lung diseases and a master of cadaver dissection. Working with
Dr Arnaud, Barral followed patterns of stress in the tissues of cadavers and studied  bio-mechanics in living subjects.  This introduced him
to the visceral system and the notion that tissues have memory which was fundamental to his development of Visceral Manipulation.

In 1974  Barral  began forming the basis for  visceral manipulation during an unusual session with a patient he'd been treating with spinal
manipulations.  During the preliminary examination,  Barral was surprised to find appreciable movement.   The patient confirmed that he
felt relief from his back pain after going to an "old man who pushed something in his abdomen."  This incident piqued Barral's interest in
the relationship between the  viscera and the spine.   That's when he began exploring  stomach manipulations with several patients, with
successful results gradually leading him to develop Visceral Manipulation.

Using his work with Dr Arnaud as a foundation, Barral continued to investigate how thickening of tissues in the body creates areas of great-
er mechanical tension that,  in turn,  pull on  surrounding tissues.  That discovery led him to the  theoretical and  practical  development of
visceral listening techniques.

With the assistance of Dr Serge Cohen, a Grenoble radiologist, Barral also documented changes in the viscera before and after manipula-
tion.  They employed x-ray fluoroscopy and ultrasound to record changes in position, motion,  fluid exchange and evacuation.  Later they
conducted additional research with a team of electrical engineers and technicians using infrared emissions from the body.

Jean-Pierre Barral began teaching visceral manipulation in the United States in 1985 through the Upledger Institute and is author of a num-
ber of text books.
Why  is  Motion/Movement  of  Viscera  Necessary ?
Firstly  you need to  know what restrictions and adhesions are. A restriction is a decrease in motion of a structure.
An adhesion is the sticking together of layers of tissue, e.g, scar tissue, resulting in reduced movement.  When an
organ is  reduced in movement and/ or can no longer move in harmony with its neighbours because of abnormal
tone, adhesions or displacement, it begins to work against its neighbours. This sets up a course of chronic
irritation in the  body and paves the way for dysfunction.
If a structure or an organ is  reduced in its  capacity to move,  s the  fluid  exchange between
the cells can also be reduced. Fluids contain energy in the form of blood, oxygen, nutrients,
chemical  messengers,  and is  essential for the removal of waste products from cells.  Thus
cellular function,  repair and  replacement  is  compromised.   Waste  products  within  and  
surrounding the cells accumulates.  Imagine the accumulation of waste products impact on
the  ovaries,  uterus,  cervix,  prostate, colon,  liver,  gall bladder,  kidneys, pancreas, lungs,
heart, and breasts.
                     Massage Manly   ~         Life of Health        ~  Massage Balgowlah
Interview with Jean-Pierre Barral