Question
Hi Gary,
Thanks so much for your incredible website and your generosity in sharing your wealth of knowledge.  I have been doing all the exercises on your website for my big toe joint pain for the past month and I still have pain, so I am seeking your advice.  2 and 1/2 years ago I stubbed my big toe which lead to a fracture into the interphalangeal joint of the great toe.  I kept returning to the doctor as the pain persisted and I was continuously told the bone was healing or healed and the pain was in my soft tissues and was "normal."  I then had an MRI 9 and 1/2 months after the injury and it was determined that the bone was indeed still broken.  I was then in a walking cast for 12 weeks and the subsequent MRI showed the bone had healed.  I was in even more pain at that point and a bunion on that same toe began really bothering me.  11 months ago I had bunion surgery (scarf osteotomy with soft tissue release).  Well as you can imagine the trauma of the surgery only added to the swelling and the muscle tightness and of course exacerbated the pain in my toe and although the swelling is mainly controlled at this point in most parts of my foot, including where I had the surgery, the swelling and pain in the injured joint persists and is very severe, which makes walking excruciatingly painful.  Your methods have helped me a great deal and I am pleased to observe the progress. There are some places in my foot, leg and low back are no longer tight like they were when I started following your videos, but I think I still have a lot of work left to do on my foot after all it has been through.  There are so many tight muscles in my foot and toe that I believe are still pulling on my toe joint and ligament that attaches to it, so much so that my toe is actually twisted into the place in the joint that was fractured.  I am having another MRI soon and I fear that if nothing can be done to relieve this joint pain I will need to have the joint fused. Do you think it is possible my condition can be helped by continuing the massages/ stretches in your videos?  One thing I have had trouble figuring out is if it is okay to massage the joint itself or if that will make the pain worse?  I avoid it on the front of the joint since that is so tender and swollen and I can see and feel where I think the arthritis is, but on the base and side of the toe and on the back of the joint, the tissue is very tight, so I have been using the press, hold, move and the press, hold, release there.  Is there any danger of getting too close to the back of the joint and irritating it with what I am doing?  If possible I would like to find a professional trained like you are to help me.  Do you know how I can find someone qualified in my area?  I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Thanks so much for your help!
Rebecca

Answer
Hi Rebecca,

Wow, sorry to hear about your big toe pain.  I do hope this helps.

So, since you already have been doing the big toe pain page
(this one, I hope,  http://www.do-it-yourself-joint-pain-relief.com/big-toe-joint-pain.html
you never know, so just making sure), I think it's great to keep doing them
and I would encourage you do work directly on the areas where the break was
and where it is really sensitive on the joint.
Just start slow and work as deeply as you can.  Take your time.
You can do it gently while watching a movie or chatting with friends.
It doesn't have to be torture and you'll probably find as it warms up a bit
you'll be able to go deeper than you thought you could.
You're doing great, so keep up the good work.

There are lots of folks in Santa Fe that could potentially do great work on you,

I'd recommend you go to these two websites,
https://memberleap.com/members/directory/search_rolf_FAR.php
and
http://www.rolfguild.org/practitioners/practitioners#practitionersearch2/interna
Call the practioners in your area and go to someone who you feel has the best chance of helping you.
I'd generally recommend someone who has been in practice at least 5 years, preferably 10 years.  And feel free to try more than one person if you don't feel like you've found a good one. Also, some will only want to do a ten session series, but some will also be willing to do 揻ix-it?work and just fix the areas where you are having pain issues. I'm optimistic that this could be of benefit, so at least think about it.

I do hope this proves helpful.