I've raised £10000 to raise funds for research into Sharon Wheeler's ScarWork
Organised by Dr Beverley de Valois on behalf of Sharon Wheeler's ScarWork (UK) Committee
Story
Help us raise money to fund research into Sharon Wheeler’s Scarwork
Hi, I am Dr Beverley de Valois PhD. I am a researcher representing Sharon Wheeler's ScarWork (UK) Committee.
In 2019/2020, we raised £10,132 through JustGiving. This has funded a research project investigating using ScarWork in the management of post breast surgery pain syndrome (PBSPS) described below. Thank you to everyone who gave so generously to this enable this project.
Please help us start a second project to enable further scientific understanding of how scars react to ScarWork. The funds raised will be divided between funding our next research project and also enabling some organisational developments to support our research work.
Sharon Wheeler's ScarWork (UK) Committee is a voluntary organisation. However, we need some limited funds to support organisational costs related to research. At the moment, these are the costs associated with maintaining a website. This will allow us to become non-commercial partners of the National Institute for Health Research (see below). It will also promote the benefits of ScarWork and our research projects.
Sharon Wheeler is the patron of Sharon Wheeler's ScarWork (UK) Committee.
About Sharon Wheeler and ScarWork
ScarWork is the brainchild of Sharon Wheeler from Seattle USA. In 1970, at the age of 23, she trained with Dr Ida P Rolf, the founder of Rolfing/Structural Integration https://wheelerfascialwork.com/the-rolfing-legacy/about-sharon .
Sharon went on to discover and develop original techniques to promote changes in scars after surgery or accidents https://wheelerfascialwork.com/ceu-courses/scar. She continues to teach worldwide and has a number of accredited teaches across Europe sharing these skills.
Why do we need to raise this money?
On behalf of Sharon Wheeler, Sharon Wheeler’s ScarWork (UK) Committee is looking to raise funds to expand our research portfolio and further our understanding of ScarWork.
Medical practitioners, service providers and insurance companies need to see clinical trials reporting the effectiveness of treatments before they can be approved. Clinical observation shows that many people who experience pain and discomfort after an accident or surgery experience relief with ScarWork.
Research is needed to understand and document the changes, which can be remarkable. In some instances, there are observable visual changes as illustrated below, while many patients report significant physical and emotional changes.
How we will use this money
Sharon Wheeler’s ScarWork (UK) Committee raises research funds through JustGiving, from charitable donations, and through the ScarWork Gathering, an event for ScarWork practitioners. These funds will be pooled to fund an annual research grant, open to applicants in the UK.
In 2021, our objective is to become a non-commercial research partner of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), which supports high quality research projects https://www.nihr.ac.uk/documents/nihr-non-commercial-partner-list/11458 . To do this, we need to have a website platform to issue calls for research grant applications. We are grateful to volunteers Neil Marshall and Amy Peak who are developing the website; we need funds to support the platform.
Some perspectives on the benefits of Sharon Wheeler's ScarWork treatment
“After a couple of sessions with ScarWork, I was impressed to see many of my patient's breast pain had resolved....I would recommend that this treatment should be available to all breast cancer patients" Kelvin Chong, NHS Consultant Breast Surgeon.
“... skin is a lot smoother and feels like my neck belongs to me again, before the treatment my neck felt unpleasant and affected my confidence when talking to people and also at times made me quite distressed. Since the therapy I have felt so much better in myself, it has improved my confidence and I feel more positive about the future and gives me motivation to self-manage the effects of cancer treatment, and after so much negativity this therapy is having a positive result. I was diagnosed in September 2010 and finished treatment December the same year. If the ScarWorks clinic was operational then it would have saved me seven years of discomfort.” (Head and neck cancer survivor, 7 years after cancer treatment and after 11 ScarWork treatments)
I vividly remember my excitement when I watched Sharon Wheeler for the first time working with decades-old dermal scars on human patients in a workshop she and I taught together several years ago. Was I hallucinating? Or was it true, that I observed the skin, after several minutes of gentle and skilful manual treatment taking on a healthier colour and texture than before? Not only that, when I examined the qualities of the tissue underneath the skin with my own hands, such as its adhesiveness, shearing mobility, and elastic properties, I could clearly feel a difference to before.” (Robert Schleip PhD in Scars, Adhesions and the Biotensegral Body, edited by Jan E Trewartha and Sharon Wheeler).
Find out more about Dr Schleip's impressions of ScarWork in this interview with Sharon Wheeler.
Who are we?
Sharon Wheeler’s Scarwork (UK) Committee is an organisation of volunteers working to further the work of Sharon Wheeler’s Scarwork by:
1. Expanding awareness of Sharon Wheeler’s ScarWork
2. Representing the interests of fully certified Sharon Wheeler’s ScarWork practitioners
3. Establishing and maintaining the highest professional standards of practice for Sharon Wheeler’s ScarWork in the UK
4. Overseeing and accrediting Sharon Wheeler’s ScarWork education to ensure excellence in training
5. Funding evidence-based research on the benefits of Sharon Wheeler’s ScarWork
6. Promoting evidence-based research to the public, the media and other healthcare providers
7. Promoting integrated healthcare and contribute to the development of national healthcare policy.
Our members are:
Dr Beverley de Valois – Research
Emma Holly – Joint Vice-Chair
Laura Lane – Administrator
Jan Trewartha – Joint Vice-Chair
John Wheeler – Chair and Treasurer
Volunteer project workers:
Neil Marshall, Website Developer
Amy Peak, Marketing Advisor
Our current research project
Meet Dr Beverley de Valois PhD
Thanks to JustGiving donations, we realised our target of £10,000 to start our first research project. This study aims to investigate how ScarWork can alleviate post breast surgery pain syndrome (PBSPS), a distressing condition experienced by many women who have undergone surgical interventions for breast cancer.
We are delighted to have the active involvement of two oncologists in this study. Information will be updated here as we progress with this project which, COVID restrictions allowing, is planned to start recruitment in the spring of 2021.
To find out more about Sharon Wheeler's ScarWork
We will provide a link to the ScarWork UK website when it goes live. In the meantime, follow these links to find out more about aspects of ScarWork:
Read some therapist case studies: https://scarwork.com/case-study-examples/
Read about Sharon Wheeler: https://wheelerfascialwork.com/
Find a practitioner of Sharon Wheeler’s ScarWork: https://www.bodyinharmony.org.uk/about-us/directory
Scars, Adhesions and the Biotensegral Body edited by Jan E Trewartha and Sharon L Wheeler available from Handspring Publishing https://www.handspringpublishing.com/product/scars-adhesions-and-the-biotensegral-body/ Watch this video to find out more about this book and Sharon Wheeler's ScarWork.
Thank you!
On behalf of Sharon Wheeler and Sharon Wheeler’s ScarWork (UK) Committee, many many thanks for your support.
