“Frozen Shoulder Gone In 6 Days”

My wife woke up on a Sunday morning and she couldn’t move her arm. After making sure she didn’t have a stroke, I concluded that it seemed like a Frozen Shoulder. In Japanese, it’s called Goju kata, “50-year-old shoulder” because it often happens to people around the age of 50. Her range of motion in flexion, extension, abduction internal and external rotation was approximately 5-10 degrees. Having been a shiatsu anma therapist for many years, I knew what to do. I worked on her for one hour every day for the next six days applying anma (Japanese manual therapy) and shiatsu to specific points. When she woke up on the following Saturday, she had full range of motion and was pain free.

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“Fibromyalgia Treatment When All Else Failed”

A young woman came into the office with a diagnosis from her MD of Fibromyalgia. She had, for the past two years gone through extensive treatments and test, but nothing helped. In fact, she brought and gave me a copy of all the treatments she had gone through. There were so many pages she stapled them all together. She had pain all over her body which kept her from being the very active and athletic person she once was. I said to her “let’s start with the pain issues that’s giving you the most problem.” Using shiatsu anma I treated her upper back, neck and shoulders. The next week she came back and said she felt a little better and was hopeful. After her third session she was feeling so much better, she decided to go with friends, white water rafting. She was very apprehensive and nervous because anytime she did any physical activity, the following day she was in excruciating pain. But the day after white water rafting, very little pain!  She continued for close to ten treatment sessions with me and at the end of that time she left pain free.

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“The Worst Carpal Tunnel Syndrome”

A young office manager for an optometry office was referred to me after being diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome by her physician. When she came in, she explained that her pain was in both wrist and she had to wear braces on both to work. Through tears she explained that every night she would wake up screaming and crying because the pain and the throbbing was so bad. She also told me she was scheduled for surgery in three weeks and that she really didn’t want to go through with it but didn’t know of any other options. This was the worst Carpal Tunnel Syndrome I had ever heard of.  I applied pressure to specific shiatsu points and used amna techniques to loosen certain muscles. When she came back the next week, she said 50% of her pain was gone. After the second session, 80% of her pain had been released and that she cancelled her surgery. After the third shiatsu anma treatment, she was pain free and it never came back. This is now over 20 years since she first came to see me.

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“I Can Only Walk Up My Driveway Backwards”

I saw a woman in her early eighties with extremely bad hip pain. Her doctor wanted to do surgery, but she didn’t. Her daughter recommended her to me, so she called and made an appointment. She explained that her pain was in the front of her hip and that it hurt so bad, she couldn’t get out of a car by herself, and she could only walk up her driveway backwards.

She laid on her back on my table and I gently pressed her hip flexor. Even with very light pressure, it hurt her to be touched. Using an anma technique of cutting or cross-fiber and I slowly was able to get deeper and deeper. Applying pressure to shiatsu points in the area, the hip all of a sudden released. The muscle tension was gone and most importantly, the pain was gone.

I did a follow up treatment with her, and she was pain free and able to drive and walk up her driveway forward again.

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“That Boat Ride Hurt My Butt!”

A patient referred her cousin who hurt herself while riding in a boat. When the cousin came in, she explained that she was in a boat with her husband and a few friends riding in the harbor. Her husband, who was driving, decided to go out of the harbor and into the rougher ocean. As they were out there, the waves started getting really big and all of a sudden she was “airborne” and then landed on her butt in the hard plastic seats over and over again. When they docked the boat, she was in severe pain. X-ray showed there were no broken bones.

When she came in, she was in a lot of pain and was bent over, but there were no bruises. I had her lay down on the table and gently began feeling her lower back and glut attachments to the sacrum. Feeling the tightness of the muscles and tendons I used anma techniques to treat them. There were several points to apply pressure to I so using shiatsu to release them. When she got off the table, she felt so much better and was standing up straight. I treated her two more times, and she was pain free.

Though she had to drive close to 40 miles to get to the office, she said it was well worth it.

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“I Haven’t Eaten Solid Food in Over Five Years”

After teaching a class one night, an elderly women came up to me to ask if I knew how to treat jaw pain. I told her yes so she schedule an appointment. She explained that it was TMJ pain and that she had it for over 5 years. Gently I began feeling the TMJ and could feel the tightness in the small tendon attached to it. A point called  ST-7 is located in that area. Starting off very gently, I could feel the point releasing.

A few days later I saw her at church, and she came up to me in tears. She told me she hadn’t eaten solid food in over five years and last night she was able to eat a steak with no pain. I was so happy for her, she brought tears to my eyes too.

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“I’ve Been Treating Him for Over 50 Years”

My dad injured his neck when I was five years old on a camping trip with my brother. He sought out all kinds of treatments, but the pain relief was short lived. The downstairs of our house looked like a therapy center with a door traction unit, massaging tools and heating devises. So, at the age of five, I became his personal “therapist.” I worked on him for close to 25 years before studying shiatsu with Dr. Kaneko at the Shiatsu Massage School of California. As I was learning, I was practicing on dad. When I graduated, I started working on him regularly and his pain began to dissipate. After close to 30 years of being in pain, he was just about pain free. He would, occasionally come in for a treatment, but sometimes the time in between treatments was close to a year. Because he was happier, so was I. My patient I treated for almost my entire life.

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“Two Days Before the LA Marathon”

A co-worker came to me distraught.  She had been preparing for the Los Angeles Marathon for months and two days before the race she injured her knee. Desperate, she asked if there was anything I could do. From what she described, the injury didn’t seem too severe. I decided to try something that I had never done before but made sense in my head. I put her on my table and used Tiger Balm on the muscles above and below her knee and a cooling oil called White Flower all around the knee joint. The idea was to heat up the muscles surrounding her knee and cool off the knee joint.

Well, she ran the Marathon and completed the 26.2 mile run with very little discomfort and thanked me for helping her make the race.

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“Migraine Relief Over the Phone On Christmas Eve”

A friend called me on Christmas Eve and needed my help. He said his wife, who was preparing for Christmas dinner for their relatives, began having a migraine and didn’t know what to do. Normally, even on Christmas Eve, I would go provide a treatment like this for a friend, but because they lived over 300 miles away, I couldn’t.  Over the phone, I gave him specific instructions of what to do. I told him to have her lay on the bed, face up and apply pressure to shiatsu points (tsubo) to the base of her head and neck, to specific points on her hands and feet.

On Christmas Day I received a call from him telling me that the treatment worked! He normally said her migraines last three days but using the shiatsu therapy got rid of it overnight. He called it “A Christmas Miracle.”

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“Baseball Back Pain”

The catcher on my son’s high school baseball team was suffering from back pain due to an injury from playing. He was a young guy who I have known since the boys were in kindergarten together. I had told his dad to bring him to the office right after the injury occurred, but it took him two weeks to finally come in.  As I felt his back, I immediately identified the problem. There was muscle tightness in the “paraspinal” muscle, quadratus lumborum and ki (energy) blockages in sekisaisen and both UB meridians. As I worked on him using a focused form of shiatsu, I could feel it all releasing. It was a “one and done” treatment. It’s nice to be young and heal quickly!

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“I Had to Stop Dancing on Broadway”

I dance instructor friend referred a professional dancer to me. The dance came to me with a toe injury that occurred when dancing in a Broadway show in New York. She told me she had seen top MD’s that the show had sent her to, tried a list of treatments and nothing worked. She apprehensively took a job in Europe dancing and one night found herself hobbling into a hospital. Given an injection, she was able to finish the shows and come home.

She was so afraid of being injured by me she would only let me to touch her toe with a “whisper light” pressure. Realizing she could trust me, she slowly let me press deeper over the course of the next five treatment sessions. Utilizing shiatsu anma I able to help her become pain free.

She started dancing with the friend who referred her to me and I was able to go to one of their shows. Afterwards she told my wife, “Alan changed my life.” Around a year later, she sent me a letter that said she was back in New York, back on Broadway.

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“Maintenance, Because I’m Not Going Through That Again!”

An older man came into the office bent over, unable to straighten up because he was in so much pain. I helped him onto the table and began working gently into the lower back focusing on the paraspinal muscles, quadratus lumborum, UB points, sekisaisen points and GB points. When he left the office, he was still bent over and in pain.

A week later, I called him to see how he was doing. He answered the phone and told me he was great and in no pain, in fact he was in Las Vegas. He told me “I’m going to do maintenance treatments with you because I’m not going through that again!” I saw him once a month for years until he passed away. I miss you, Ed!

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“Pain Relief the Day I Was in A Car Accident”

A person called me and told me she had just been in a car accident an hour ago and wanted to know if she could come in and see me. She was rear-ended and was hit hard. Having been advised by a friend who’s a chiropractor, I told her to come on in. Providing a very gentle anma therapy to her entire back and neck, she left the office feeling good. She contacted me a week later and told me she that the accident was bad, and she felt she was going to be in a lot of pain. After being treated by me, she said the pain never came. I don’t have to tell you she was thrilled.

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“Computer Neck”

Because just about everyone is on a computer at work, I see the results of it, ‘Computer Neck.” Not surprising, this is the most common condition I see in my office.

Now, proper ergonomics is extremely important, but the problem I see is issues with posture. Most people start off with good posture, but throughout the day, it often wanes. If you do the math, if a person works 40 hours a week, 4 weeks per month, 12 months a year, for 5 years, that’s 9,600 hours. If a person’s posture is not so good, that’s a lot of strain being put on the muscles, especially in the neck.

There are specific points and methods in shiatsu anma to treat Computer Neck proximally and distally. Not only do I see the obvious neck pain and tightness, I also see people with headaches, migraines and numbness, tingling and pain in the upper extremities, often due to this postural problem.

The good news, the success rate for pain relief of computer neck is very high, well over 90%.

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“Plantar Fasciitis Relief in One Treatment”

A person came in to see me with diagnosed Plantar Fasciitis from his doctor.  He had been suffering with the problem for nine months and was referred from someone I had treated before. I had him lay on the table and spent the entire treatment on his foot. I could feel the problem in the soft tissue and knew points to press.

When he got off the table, he said he felt better and was hopeful the treatment worked. He called me a week later and said he was completely pain free and said,” How come I didn’t know of you nine months ago!?”

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“Migraine At Work and Can’t Drive Home”

I got a phone call from a person’s husband. He picked up his wife and was going to drive her home because she could drive due to a migraine. When I saw her, she was no longer at the onset of it, she was having a full-blown migraine. I got her on the table and began gently treating her. In shiatsu anma, there are specific points on the neck, hands and feet. After spending 90 minutes treating her, she got up and said the migraine was gone and that she only had slight headache. She told me, “I can deal with a slight headache.”

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“Business Training”

A movie studio contacted me and asked if I could do a training for their employees on how to take better care of themselves. Having taught for over twenty years, I was happy to provide this for them. In my trainings, participants take an active role throughout, and I do very little lecturing. I learned a long time ago, participants will retain the greatest amount of information by do this. The training was called the Self-Healing Workshop where I taught them shiatsu points for common ailments, anma techniques and simple meditation they can do at their desk.  They were so intrigued by the training, they asked a lot of questions. Many of them lined up afterwards to ask specific questions of problems they were going through.

A person from the company contacted after the training and said they very pleased with the training and their employees got a lot out of it.

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“Back Pain Relief at A Family Event”

At a celebration of life for my friend’s mom, whom I have known my entire life, I saw his cousin for the first time in over 40 years. When we had a moment to talk, he told me about this back pain he had been having for several years. Obviously, I couldn’t do a full-on treatment, but I knew a point that could be very helpful. So, I press the points on his hands for about a minute or two and when I stopped, he was completely taken a back. He began moving around and said, “The pain is gone!” Amazed by how well it worked he said the next time he was back from New York, he was definitely coming in. Shiatsu Anma Therapy!

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“Tennis Elbow Anyone?!”

I was working for a physical therapist once when one of the Pilates Instructors came into the break room where I was sitting. She was holding her elbow, so I asked her if you she was okay. She told me she thought she had tennis elbow after one of the PT’s looked at it. I had some time before having to treat the next patient, so I started treating her in one of the therapy rooms. I felt the radial side of her elbow and it did feel like tendinitis. Starting with the anma method of cross-fiber technique I could feel the muscles releasing quickly. Applying pressure to specific points, I finished the one-hour treatment.

I saw her a few days later and she was excited to tell me that her Tennis Elbow pain was gone!

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“Whiplash Relief”

A new person came in with neck pain following a car accident. Being hit from behind by another drive, she explained how her head moved and pain she was having. She was having pain in her lateral and posterior neck, headaches, and numbness in her arm.

Feeling her neck, occiput and shoulders, there was much tightness in the muscles and tendons and blockages in the meridians. After a few treatments, all her problems resolved, and she was back to her normal self.

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“My Doctor Couldn’t Believe It”

An 80-year-old woman came into my office with a Frozen Shoulder. She made fabric textiles using a loom for a living and thinks that was what cause it. Her doctor wanted to do surgery, but she didn’t it, so she came to me as a referral from her friend.

She had very little motion in her shoulder in every movement. After ten treatments once a week for ten weeks, she came in and said, “Look!” She raised her hand with full range of motion in both shoulder flexion and abduction. Her frozen shoulder had “defrosted!” Having no pain as well, that was the last time I saw her.

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“Ironwoman Triathlete”

An Ironwoman Triathlete came into the office for treatment. As you can imagine, she was in incredible shape doing the sport she does. But, with the stress of competing, injuries can occur. She was having pain in her Achille’s Tendon that was stopping her from running. Being a triathlete, she was able to continue working out swimming, but there was an upcoming race she wanted to compete in.

I had her lay on the table and I began feeling her Achille’s Tendon. I immediately felt the tension not only there, but also in her calf muscles, specifically the deeper on, soleus. Utilizing anma techniques, I could feel the tendon and muscle release. The points, K-3 and UB-58 were key to release.

The following week she stated she was feeling much better. After three shiatsu anma therapy sessions she was back to running and made her race.

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“Dental Professionals Pain Conditions”

Through the years, I have seen many dental professionals. The most common conditions they come in with are: neck and shoulder tightness due to posture, numbness/tingling in the arm because of the length of time holding instruments they use and wrist pain often diagnosed as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Utilizing a focused shiatsu anma method, I have found by release key points, I’m able to help these professional once again move towards balance, relieving the discomforts from doing their work. 

Many of them now come in, not to treat their pain, but to maintain feeling good.

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“Recovery After Hip Replacement Surgery”

A person I had seen many times before for a variety of pain issues, recently had a total hip replacement surgery. After she recovered from the surgery and went through her physical therapy, she was still having stiffness and some pain that she wanted to get rid of.

I began by feeling her lower back and immediately she said, it hurt there. I could feel the tightness in the muscles/tendons and points that were blocked. I also felt the scar from the surgery and began working there are as well. After five sessions, she was feeling much better. Her surgery was close to ten years ago and she still without pain. This is a good example of complementary therapy. The doctors were able to replace the worn out hip and I was able to release the pain following the surgery. For her it was a win win.

Alan Saruwatari, CST

“Young Basketball Player”

A young basketball player came in the other day with pain on the outside of her right knee from playing basketball.  Through the years I had worked on a lot of athletes, many of whom were basketball players. After assessing the problem, I began releasing points along the GB meridian, which is also the area of the iliotibial band, (ITB). Utilizing anma to release the ITB and shiatsu to the points of the GB meridian, in two treatments, she was back to playing her game. Oh, how nice it is to be young!

Alan Saruwatari, CST