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A Well Wrapped ”Goldmarie”

 

A Well Wrapped ”Goldmarie”

This has been an exciting year for ABR development and also for our team in general.  There have been many challenges to be met and new methods of working have been initiated.  We hope to write more about all of this later, but at the moment it will suffice to say that even severe illnesses within the lives of the team members and their families are being treated with a wealth of ABR ideas and techniques.  Leonid Blyum is untiring in his development of ABR Practices and these wrapping techniques have been revised and improved this season as well.  For our team, it is always exciting to see how the techniques work in the daily and practical life!

One of the newer ABR techniques we have been writing about frequently in the blog in 2017 (see: https://abr-denmark.blog/2017/09/12/as-good-as-being-yours/ ) are the new “Power Wraps”.  These wraps are being integrated into the daily lives of more and more of our children and young people working in the program – but not only that – into the lives of adults with various conditions.

Some of these stories are so amazing that we need to start to share them and so we will begin below with the story of “Goldmarie”!

This is a hemiplegic woman of 48 years of age.  When she was 8 years old she was run over by a drunk motorcycle driver.  Upon awakening, she could not do anything at all, but then received 1.5 years of rehabilitation which brought her to the stand which she was before she started with the wraps in October 2017.  The physio therapists told her when she was 9, that she could not achieve anything more – and so it was and her condition has been stable since then.  Marie walks, she is independent, but the spasticity on the right side of her body – both arm, hand, leg, foot and face being affected –  had remained since she was a child and had not improved at all.

When she heard that she could start to integrate the ABR wraps into her daily life, she was very excited and wanted to start straight away. Her husband agreed to help her apply the wraps.  Within the very first day of doing wraps on her right hand and foot, she could start to feel changes.  The tensions were much less, she could rest her weight on the right foot and put the heel down.  After ten days of doing wraps she gave a long report of the transformations she was experiencing:

  • After one or two nights with the wraps on I started to notice a difference. My lower arm was more relaxed than I could ever remember it being.
  • My shoulder is not as tense and I do not pull it up into that tensed position as much as I used to do.
  • It is easier to integrate the right hand into some usage.
  • My face is more symmetrical – my husband noticed that I smile more symmetrical and talking is also easier.
  • The tensions are much less.

When I started with the foot wrap a few weeks later, I could notice that it was much easier to walk on the right foot after only one night. The wrap bothered me in the night so I took it off, but the hours I had it on had an affect anyways.

Now after 9 months of continued wrap usage Marie has told us:

  • The changes I could experience from the very start of using the wraps are less dramatic, but improvements keep coming.
  • For me one of the most important things is that the tensions I always felt are mostly gone! This changes my entire day.
  • Something is happening inside of me – it is not easy to explain.
  • I am happy and relaxed and now enjoy life in a much different fashion! I am glad. My mood is much better.
  • Improvements with my right hand continue to happen. It is easier to use it.  I do not simply forget it because the left hand and arm are so much easier and stronger.  But I can use the right hand with not as much effort and therefore I do use it more!
  • The thumb on the right hand does not hide itself under my palm.
  • It is much easier to turn the hand – (supination) and to open and
    spread the fingers.

  • It is much easier to walk on the right leg.
  • My right foot can balance better and is not pulled up on its toes as much
  • The position of the right leg is not as turned inwards as it was before.
  • I can walk faster and even keep up with my husband when we go for a walk – otherwise he always needed to wait for me.
  • I do not tire as easily as I used to.

It is astounding that 40 years after a severe accident a woman of 48 can achieve so many improvements with such little efforts over a short amount of time.  Stories like these – and we now have many of them – are showing us that the entire understanding behind ABR is working and effective.  For our ABR Parents it is a wealth of information that these adults are bringing us which makes us understand how important ABR effects are!

For a child with CP or other Special Needs ABR is as important as food and water is for the healthy child.  ABR impact – mechanical tissue stimulation and mechanical tissue feeding – raises daily life quality on a day to day basis, and helps to prevent the downwards cycles from taking over!

We send a big thank you to “Goldmarie” for sharing her “Wrap Story” here with all of us.

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Question from a Mother – Tom Myers Three Types of Movements

Today I received the following question from an mother in Finland in respect to a post she had read from Tom Myers. His post is below:

There are three types of movement:
• Embryonic movement, which is the movement of the cells, the flow of fluids, the movement of physiology
• Intrinsic movement of the smooth muscle in the organs and vessels.
• Extrinsic movement – how we move ‘voluntarily’ every day.
The next comprehensive theory of movement must unite all three of these movements in one coherent whole.”
— Tom Myers, Anatomy Trains
Photo Credit: antiqueanatomy.com

(The picture included from the original post obviously shows muscles which have been thoroughly  “cleaned” of the fascia and connective tissue structures which are the architectural and stabilising structures.  D.V.)

The question from the mother is:

Diane, what do you think about these three types of movements in relation to the ABR – aren’t we able to improve them all with ABR – are we? 🙂 Have you heard any discussion about what kind of a relationship or an interconnection there would be in between these three types of movement?

Hello S.– Thank you for this question!  Yes, ABR is able to address all three types of movements described above by Tom Myers because the ABR applications achieve their positive effects by initiating a step by step reconstruction of the bodies intrinsic Biotensegral base of stability. Through building and/or rebuilding or improving the intrinsic architecture of the body – which is of course also “Embryonic” in nature due to the fact that the internal mesenchyme related tissues first appeared during our embryonic development – this then allows for and improves the other three types of movement described above. On the other hand, when the body is without or is lacking in a sufficiently intrinsically stable architecture, then those three characteristics of movements described by Tom Myers are impaired. The body cannot sufficiently exist in a spatial dimension, it collapses either fully or partially and this internal weakening or collapse effects the three described movements.

1. “Embryonic Movement” is impaired because the “spaces” necessary for the flows of fluids or for the movements of cells does not exist sufficiently. The fluids cannot penetrate and infiltrate the tissues in a manner that would keep the tissues adequately healthy and thriving. The tissues of the body begin to “fall in upon themselves”. They become “stiff”, fibrotic, dense, under nourished – in the end – we can redefine the meaning of “spasticity” simply by understanding what occurs when the movements of the fluids in the tissues is impaired! Contractions and distortions of joints are the obvious long term result of insufficient Embryonic Movement quality.
In the case of a brain injured child, even if the brain would be in good enough shape to actually maintain the health of the tissues once it is there, the body simply cannot achieve enough momentum to penetrate tissue areas of the body that have been partially shut down from the fluid flow.
This is one of the main effects of ABR applications: Restoration of the flows of liquids within the tissues which in itself has a tissue remodelling effect which works to release spasticity, strengthen weak joint capsules, and attain the next level of improvement of architectural stability.
2. “Intrinsic Movement” – Tom Myers describes intrinsic movement here as the movement of the smooth muscles. From the very early days of ABR – this has been a central goal of the techniques: To improve the quality of the smooth muscles of the lungs and the other internal organs. Palpitations of especially severe children reveal how “empty” the volumes of these children are internally. One can often grasp the vertebral column through the abdominal wall! This is a sign of extreme depletion of the internal organs. They are also “dried out”, under developed and functioning at a very low level. ABR would not have such a good success in helping these individuals, if it were not for the fact that one is able with the various abdominal and thoracic techniques to raise the functional level as well as the tissue quality level of the smooth muscles! It is through these effects that we consistently see reduction of mucus, colds and pneumonias, improved respiratory capacity, improvement of reflux and constipation issues, – the list is long. This brings the children a much higher level of life functioning which also in turn boosts the fluid movements described in #1 above. The body is a highly interwoven system! If one can achieve improvements of #1 or #2 then these improvements are immediately systemic in nature and bring all the surprising effects of improved concentration, attention, awareness, which also emerge with the application of ABR.
3. “Extrinsic Movement” – This Tom Myers describes as our voluntary movements. Of course, this is what all parents want to achieve and how the parents base their evaluation of whether ABR “works” or not. “Has my child achieved a better functional level with respect to either sitting, rolling, crawling, standing or walking. It is however obvious that without achieving improvements in #1 and #2 above, there will be either severe or less severe limitations to what can be achieved by the child in respect to his voluntary movements. It is therefore that ABR concentrates on #1 and #2 above in order to achieve the improvements in the Extrinsic Movements. And it is also therefore that parents need to understand the sequences and the connections between the deeper lying weaknesses of their children and the emerging functional levels of the Gross Motor Function. When the flow of the fluids to the tissues is inssuficinet, then the result is that the tissues become dried out or too dense. This becomes then a negative cycle with either larger or smaller areas of the body that cannot be sufficiently penetrated by the fluid exhcange system! Improvement of the flow, the improves the tissue remodeling. Improved quality of the tissues, improves the level at which the child can then utilize the body for the extrinsic movements. With ABR Patience and Time is necessary in order to attain the desired improvements, but these improvements can be achieved when the tenacity is present!
In the last years ABR has developed an enormous selection of applications all which directly promote the quality of the extrinsic movement level. These include the wraps, the osteo-tapping and also the PAVE (Peri-Articular Visco Elastic) applications which have been showing great effects for many years.

Yes – we enthusiastically confirm – there is a dynamic interconnectivity between #1. #2, and #3 described above which the ABR Method seeks to promote with as many techniques and accompanying suggestions as is possible. I look forwards to any discussion or further questions about the above from the families!

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How the Three Wise Men Heal the Biotensegrity Tower

After the Biotensegrity Interest Group IX meeting had come to an end Leonid Blyum raised his proverbial pointer finger towards the ceiling and said:

“Diane, tomorrow morning we shall ask Steve whether we can try to “heal” his Biotensegrity Tower with the ABR wraps!”

Whether this got Leonid out of bed earlier than usual is not sure, but in any case we were filming the short interviews with Steve and Graham by around 10:30.

Afterwards we filmed the video below where one can clearly see how the mechanically weakened Biotensegrity Tower obtains a much improved tensional uniformity when an ABR Wrap is added in a clever manner.

We hope you enjoy seeing this demonstration that illustrates how an ABR Biotensegrity Applied Wrap can help to reinstate tensional uniformity in children and adults whose structures have weakened, are sinking, folding or buckling – just as Steve’s Model made by Bruce Hamilton does when one loosens the tension slightly.

This improved tensional uniformity then leads to improvements at the level of the body to which it is applied as well as having a global effect.  We will write more about this in another post!

In addition the video gives a small taste of the coming Christmas Holiday!

 

 

 

 

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ABR is an Applied Biotensegrity Therapeutic Intervention

ABR is an  Applied Biotensegrity Therapeutic Intervention

As I wrote this week in my last post: There Is So Much to Tell About! The Autumn and pre-Winter seasons have been amazingly full for our Denmark Team. We have been working, learning and finding new persons to be inspired by! Then again – the children and families themselves are a source of constant inspiration to whom we are most grateful for their devotion and diligence with the ABR work. Without ABR parents who do ABR at home most every day, there would be no ABR and no ABR development at all! It is your “home work” that shows us how to go further, how to change how to improve.

But now to the titled post theme: “Biotensegrity”. What is Biotensegrity and how does it relate to you as a parent of a child with developmental difficulties or to any person with a handicap himself?

Biotensegrity is a word first coined by Dr. Steve Levin. Steve Levin was an orthopaedic surgeon, who became inspired by Buckminster Fullers ideas of tensegrity and who then realized that one could apply the concepts and thoughts developed by Fuller to living organisms. Thus the term: Bio-tensegrity.

Those who have been following my blog will have read the chapter written for Dr. rer. nat., Dipl. phys. Danièle-Claude Martin’s book called “Living Bio-tensegrity”. (https://abr-denmark.blog/2017/01/03/bio-tensegrity/) This book illustrates the many concepts inherent to Biotensegrity. Daniele could see that these concepts and ides that she strives to describe in her book were being applied in practice in the ABR work. When writing her book she asked for a chapter about ABR so that the readers could see how Biotensegrity can look in practical application.

Dr. Steve Levin and Dr. Danièle Martin initiated a Biotensegrity Interest Group already nine years ago. This group met again for the IX BIG meeting in October and the members shared and discussed concepts related to Biotensegrity and how they relate to the new and emerging science about fascia and connective tissues. This is a very exciting meeting to take part in and this year again Leonid Blyum made a presentation about larger questions having to do with the Biotensegrity model. I took the opportunity to present our practical work in the field with ABR.

A day before the actual conference started however I could meet with Steve Levin and Graham Scarr. Graham is also extremely active in the field and has a book out about Biotensegrity as well. They were looking at a Tensegrity Mast that Steve had with him and as soon as I saw it I became very excited because I could see that the model would illustrate exactly to the point what we see in children and adults with cerebral palsy and related handicaps!

I did my best to hold a short interview with Steve Levin about how he sees ABR and how he could see the Biotensegrity Mast showing us something about our children. Here is a short clip from the interview:

The lecture I held at the BIG IX conference about ABR is called:

ABR Efforts – Addressing Buckling, Folding, Bulging, Sinking Volumes And Slabs

An Applied Biotensegrity Model For Children With Special Needs

In this sense the presentation fit perfectly with the illustration that one could get from Steve’s new Mast Model. If one loosens one strut, the entire model is weakened. If one tightens up one strut, the entire model re-gains its tensional uniformity.

It is this uniformity and tensional integrity that children with special needs are lacking. Their bodies react with sinking, bulging, folding and buckling under. These severely effected individuals perfectly illustrate the biotensegrity concepts in their structure, their attempts to move and even in their “behavior”! When the structure is architecturally unsound and reacts with buckling, sinking and folding – then no amount of brain or of muscle training can rectify this. The muscles and the brain are rather forced to try to find ways of working within the constraints of a seriously weakened structure.

The video clip below gives a description of an extremely creative child with microcephaly.  His “small head” has been given the cause of his difficulties in walking.  But one can see how creative he is.  He manages to walk in spite of:

  • knees that buckle under and give way
  • A stiff spine
  • A weak trunk

His interesting usage of his hands for stability to be able to manage the weaknesses is very inventive and creative indeed.

ABR Techniques are all about restoring structural soundess and uniform reactions for individuals who have lost this or who have never had it. The Biotensegrity models are firing and inspiring our technique development and have been doing so for years.

ABR Biotensegrity Wrap Demonstration below:

Below are some slides from the presentation of our children and their progress.  First some younger children.

Now an older guy – a GMFCS Level V young man (although he is moving up in his GMFM scores)  – who is now 20.  He is much older and far beyond  an age or GMFCS Level where any improvement would be expected at all – only further deterioration.  It is great to see how this young man is improving day by day!

Our next post will be about Leonid Blyum and how he “heals” Steve Levin’s tensegrity tower with ABR wraps .  And also how ABR wraps get a new name!

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The Last ABR Assessment in 2017 – So much to tell!

 

The last months have been extremely full for our team, and there is so much to write about, but before I start to add all the half written posts that are waiting to be published, our last story of the season must be told.

This evening when we were ready to hold the last ABR Assessment for 2017 the Team was very tired after many weeks of holding courses back to back – and in no case were we ready for such an amazing surprise. A 25 year old young man from Austria named Christian  and who started with ABR in March 2017 drove his wheel chair through the door to our seminar room in Reichenau a. d. Rax.

We knew Christian as a generally very fused and stiff young man with only minimal independent movements and bodily mobility. He can drive his own wheel chair by employing a joystick and can talk, but it was very difficult to understand him. He is however a very engaged young person and works in an organisation that promotes the interests of handicapped people in Austria.

When he entered the room, it was clear that an enormous development had occurred. One could see that his face was much more relaxed and his eyes sparkled with excitement.

Before we could even sit down together, he and his parents began to tell about all the changes he had made in the last few months since we last met in June 2017. The list was long – we took an hour to gather all of it and they were not finished telling the story. But a good portion of it is below:

– Hand usage – he now stretches ou this arm and grasps the hand when he “shakes” hands – not only offering a stiff unmoveable hand at a close range to his body.
– He now easily drinks out of a big glass and does not spill anything
– He opens bottles alone and can drink from a bottle.
– Independent eating.
– There is a very difficult clasp that he has learnt how to open.
– At work, he sets the table.
– At his workplace, they often give him more complex tasks to do on his own.
– They now send him shopping at work, and he goes alone and seeks independence
– He can use the ATM machine for getting cash on his own.
– He is extremely motivated and now wants to do everything himself. Refuses help even when it takes much longer to do things his way!
– Takes off his jacket and can put it on.  More independence when dressing.
– Has learned to open and close zippers.
– Shaves, washes and brushes his teeth alone.
– He figured out himself how to propel his wheel chair alone manually – not using the joystick. Then he figured out how to use his upper body and not only the arms alone so that each push propels him much further along.
– He can now walk with his walker without assistance – slowly albeit but never the less!
– It is much easier for him to read.
– His speech is not only much clearer and easy to understand, but he uses more words and composes more complex sentences.
– His facial mimics expression has expanded and blossomed.
– He can now lie relaxed on his front – it was not possible for him to be on his front before due to stiffness.
– Put all fingers together in front of his body.
– Fold the hands together easily.
– He can sit on his own without support.
– He can play with a ball and do other activities when sitting freely.

And a big hug with Johannes was also possible!

At the Assessment we could also observe that his body was beginning to become much softer and less stiff. In addition one could see:

– Waist divisions appearing allowing for waist mobility
– Hip releases allowing for leg movement in the pelvis
– Divisions within his thorax allowing for a huge improvement in the respiration.
– General relaxation
– Improved shoulder and finger mobility
– Improved toe, feet and leg relaxation
– Neck relaxation allowing for improved head mobility

The parents commented that before they started with ABR, he had not improved in any function in years and that it is also the expectation for severe young people with cerebral palsy like himself, that he would simply get worse with age and time. They are also very surprised how much he has changed.

This does not mean that there is not a great deal that can still be achieved or needs to be worked on with ABR Applications, but it is wonderful to see that a 25 year old young man with a level IV Cerebral Palsy can make such fantastic improvements in the ABR program in such a short time span.

Thank you Christian for letting us share your story!

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“As Good As Being Yours”

As Good as Being Yours

 Those of you Dear Readers who have been applying ABR Techniques with your children or your own selves for many months or years, may from time to time have to explain the variety of ABR Techniques to other family members, friends or visitors. Not everyone can immediately find the words to be able to introduce others to the meaningfulness of the unique ABR work.

The newest Power Wraps, which we at ABR Denmark have been eagerly experimenting with for the last few years for example, could pose a certain difficulty in explanation. Although this need not be the case, when today the Internet is full of the most amazing images of women who wrap themselves from head to toe as if they were preparing for a Living Egyptian Ceremonial Mummification!

 

No one seems to find anything strange about these rather odd looking techniques because one silently accepts that a woman would do anything when chasing youthfulness or beauty – and the “Before and After” photos of results achieved are surely very convincing! These type of beauty and wellness wraps are gaining in high acclaim and women and men alike are prepared to spend anywhere from 200 to 400 Euro and upwards to have their body remodelled through these weight-loss, cellulite diminishing, wrinkle erasing wrapping techniques. One hour of sweating with a wrap and clay, coconut oil or other substances and your body could be reborn! – Yes, only one hour of sweating with wraps.

Should it be surprising? Body wrapping in various forms is a civilisation old technique. One of the most well known and – equally well-forgotten being the “baby swaddling”.

Baby swaddling was done through out the world by rich and poor in the so called “primitive” and civilised peoples alike – until that moment when the microscope-based medicine took over in the Western World. Any reason for swaddling a baby could not be found under a microscope or in any of the other more sophisticated diagnostic tools being used today such as MRI’s, CAT Scanning, blood tests, tissue biopsy’s, gene analysis, etc. All of these modern forms of diagnosis can show nothing about the importance of baby swaddling!

The same will of course be true for an ABR based Power Wrap.

We will talk about baby swaddling in a future post, but what is important about our present ABR wraps?

The ABR Team – who even takes the time to thoroughly observe and characterize the bodies of the weakened individuals in the ABR program, have been continuously been struck by several observations. Instead of having a body that gives a uniform response to the loads coming to it through the interactions with the environment – the body of a CP individual elicits a variety of responses – none of which are characteristic of the healthy individual. One can typically observe the following:

Sinking

Bulging

Folding

Buckling under

Twisting and

Sliding

None of these responses are however representative of the healthy individual. The healthy individual has a uniform response to loads coming from without – a response that could be called an internal “Bio-Tensegral” response to external motion or loading.

 
CP Child: Non-Uniform Response – buckling, sinking, chest and abdominal fold – all as a response to the loads of the child’s own body.  

Healthy Child: Uniform Response – Even extra loads from the top do not cause any sinking, twisting or buckling under.

 

The CP child however exhibits all of these:  sinking, folding, buckling under and twisting. This is a part and parcel of the life of a CP child in respect to his own body and own body experience and reactions.

The “own body experience” is more popularly termed our “proprioception”. This is the word used for ones internal body perception with respect to movement and spatial arrangement. What do we have as organs of our movement perception? We have “receptors” – and these receptors are anchored within our tendon/muscle system.

These are all the so-called “stretch-receptors” meaning that they are dependent upon tissues in our body coming into tension or being stretched. The tissue that is lengthened and brought into tension is normally a tendon. When the tendons are stretched through movement, then the neurons fire and send information back to our central nervous system. But on the other hand, if there is no tension – if the body reacts through bulging, sinking and buckling under –then this means that there is a severe loss of information returning from the body to the central nervous system.

Non-uniformity of response means that the area of the body is excluded from the body map and cannot perform any proprioceptive feedback.

What does an ABR Power Wrap do? It seriously reduces all of the above-described non-uniform reactions to loads coming to the body or to the body area. One does not re-position the foot when wrapping, but a well-performed wrap of the foot provides uniformity of response to the area being wrapped. A well-performed wrap of the hand provides tensional uniformity to an excluded hand with the typical horizontal fold or derailed wrist.

This tensional uniformity then ensures that the area begins to return the bodies proprioceptive system.

In addition the wrap serves to “re-connect” the “dis-connected” areas to more stable body areas.

Tensional uniformity and uniformity of response means that the excluded area can be re- integrated into the proprioceptive organisation of the body.

A return to the body map of an excluded body area has enormous consequences, which we are now seeing as:

  • Reduction of spasticity
  • Improved automatic responses of the feet and legs to loading
  • Improved weight bearing responses
  • Improved trunk stability
  • Reduction of scoliosis
  • Spine development
  • Spine stability
  • Reduction of hip pains

The list of improvements being seen with the Power Wrap usage is long! Above is only a partial list. The biggest impediment is of course the time needed to put a wrap on.

We show photos below of the foot to leg development of a child who used the wraps for a few months. During the time period, we were employing a much simpler and less effective wrap in compared to our new wraps set-ups – and still one could see the fantastic effects!
November 2014 – The girl’s feet do not take any weight. There is no load transfer through the feet. June 2016 – By this time the girl eagerly takes the weight on her feet.

Of course the improvements in trunk stability and head control were not coming from any of the simple foot wraps that we were using at that time – this came through other ABR Techniques – but the fact that she eagerly takes the weight on the feet – that the feet react spontaneously to the body loads – this was wrap work.

In spite of the time needed to put on the newest version of the wraps, the benefits now being seen are so obvious, that we can only encourage our parents to use the Power Wraps as much as possible.

Wear them during the day, at school, when sleeping – whenever it will work.

Yes, I know: if one puts them on for the school day, then one may need to answer questions from the teachers! Or see the raised eyebrows when one brings the child.

Why is it that teachers take the items below for granted? One would get no strange looks if one brings the child to school with any of the following:

 

It is only a matter of time until the newest ABR based “CP Fashion” hits the world. Be brave and add these wraps to your child’s wardrobe and selected outfits.

The benefits clearly outweigh the funny looks one might get.

And remember: When the area of the body being wrapped achieves a higher level of tensional uniformity, it returns to the body map. In addition the tensional uniformity of the area is the signal needed for those famous myo-fibroblasts to come out of the hibernation they go into when the tension is not present. They then begin to wake up and work hard on the tissue remodelling work! It is only a matter of time until the remodelling takes place allowing for improved structural integration.

The elements of the wrap provide the stability and tensional uniformity needed for a new internal mapping and tissue remodelling of the area. The achieved tensional uniformity is so well integrated  into the child’s body that it is:

“As Good As Being Yours”!