Clear Passage

Clear Passage Therapies is a network that provides non-surgical, drug-free physical therapy (USA) and physiotherapy (UK) treatment and research. It was created by physical therapist Belinda Wurn, and her husband, massage therapist Larry Wurn. Clear Passage providers address chronic pain and conditions that occur due to injury, infection, prior surgery, radiation therapy or abuse. The group has a history and focus on clinical research to examine and publish results of their therapy in medical journals.
With a focus on adhesion-related pain and dysfunction, the Wurns broadened Clear Passage’s focus on chronic pain over the years to include adhesion-related conditions such as endometriosis, dyspareunia (intercourse pain), female infertility and recurring adhesive small bowel obstruction (SBO). Their latest work includes treating patients with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO).
Background
In 1986, U.S. physical therapist Belinda Wurn developed severe pelvic adhesions (internal scars) after cancer treatment. The adhesions formed due to healing from pelvic surgery, 40 hours of external radiation, and 144 hours of internal radiation therapy. By 1987, she found herself in debilitating pain due to the adhesions. Her physicians did not want to operate; they felt surgery would just cause more adhesions. They told her she would have to live with debilitating pain for the rest of her life.
Belinda and her husband, massage therapist Larry Wurn, began taking continuing education courses to study adhesions, and how physical therapists and others treat them. After taking many courses endorsed by the American Physical Therapy Association or American Medical Association, they developed protocols to decrease adhesions manually (with their hands).
By 1989, Belinda was pain-free. Feeling that others with chronic conditions would benefit, they termed their work the Wurn Technique - a therapy focused on relieving pain and increasing function without surgery.
The Wurns started in a Florida clinic as Professional Touch Physical Therapy, Inc., in 1989. That clinic grew to five clinics serving over 600 physicians in north Florida before they sold it to Heartland Rehabilitation Services, a network of nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities. They incorporated Clear Passage Therapies, Inc. in Florida in October, 1995 to continue their work and research.
Treatment
According to the Fox News broadcast and Huffington Post in 2015, the treatment at Clear Passage commonly involves 20 hours of manual physical therapy, provided over a five-day period. Whether addressing occluded fallopian tubes, endometriosis, PCOS or other conditions, the technique is a physical manipulation that has been shown to decrease adhesions (scar tissue) that cause pain or dysfunction anywhere in the body, including the abdomen and pelvis.
Treatment for Infertility
Clear Passage was first recognized as a treatment for infertility in the late 1990s, when it was featured in Natural Health magazine as a method to treat female infertility and blocked fallopian tubes. During the same period, the technique was also featured in Woman's World and Massage & Bodywork Magazines. Advance for Physical Therapy published a story about the therapy and the infertility treatment was highlighted by WebMD and in the book “New Hope for Couples with Infertility Problems” in 2002. Citations in Mary Kittel, MD’s 2004 book “Stay Fertile Longer” and a 2005 “First Coast News” television broadcast both discussed the technique, stating that initial treatments had a 70% success rate. At the time, it had led to 50 births from women who had previously been diagnosed infertile.
The first published clinical trials on the use of the therapy for female infertility appeared in WebMD’s Medscape General Medicine in 2004, showing a 70% success rate treating women averaging five years’ of infertility. The information in the publication received coverage from a number of TV broadcasters from 2005 onwards. The therapy was cited for clearing hydrosalpinx (liquid filled fallopian tubes) in a pilot study published in the journal Fertility and Sterility in September, 2006.
In 2008, the therapy was reviewed in a special issue of Contemporary Ob/Gyn for its ability to open totally occluded fallopian tubes without surgery.
A 10-year study of treating 1392 women was published in 2015, showing success treating various types of female infertility (occluded fallopian tubes, PCOS, endometriosis, high FSH, and as a Pre-IVF treatment) was covered by ABC News in Los Angeles and other television news stations in the U.S.A. International coverage of the study was broadcast on Fox network international affiliates, and published online. The television broadcasts noted the therapy’s success reversing infertility due to blocked fallopian tubes and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in women diagnosed infertile.
The report brought forward a number of statistics, including the overall success of the treatment, when compared to more traditional methods of treatment for female infertility. Comparisons have been drawn between surgery and many of the treatments carried out at Clear Passage locations. Statistics suggested that female infertility treatments provided by Clear Passage had been more effective than surgery in some cases.
Treatment for Endometriosis
The group has treated pain and infertility due to endometriosis since 1990. Mary Lou Ballweg, founder of the Endometriosis Association, has served on the board of directors of Clear Passage since 2010. Physician citations for their treatment for endometriosis pain and infertility include the books “What to Do When Your Doctor Says It’s Endometriosis” by Thomas Lyons, MD (2003) and “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom” by Christiane Northrup, MD (2010).
Early pilot studies examining the therapy to treat pain and sexual function in women with endometriosis were published in Fertility and Sterility and cited in a number of medical journals.
Studies published in the Journal of Endometriosis (2011 and 2014) examined its use treating pain and infertility. The website of Christiane Northrup, MD cites Clear Passage for treating endometriosis and pelvic pain.
Treatment for Small Bowel Obstruction (SBO)
The success of the treatment for fallopian tubes, has meant that the therapy is now being examined for other uses. To date, pilot studies have been published on its effectiveness for clearing small bowel obstructions. Pilot studies have been published in Gastroenterology journal and also featured in a presentation at Digestive Disease week. Websites such as the International Adhesion Society, Listen to Your Gut, and Colon Talk note Clear Passage as a non-surgical treatment for adhesions and bowel obstructions.
Treatment for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
In June 2015, the directors the directors of Clear Passage presented their work to the 2nd Annual SIBO Symposium in Portland, Oregon. Physicians and symposium organizers noted that if adhesions in the bowel prevent excess bacteria from leaving the intestines, it is difficult or impossible to resolve SIBO. Hoping to avoid surgery that can cause additional adhesions, physicians at the Symposium looked to Clear Passage for their ability to clear bowel obstructions non-surgically and to work with SIBO physicians to help attain more lasting results.
Treatment for Sexual Dysfunction
A study featured in Medscape General Medicine and a presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine in September, 2006, noted the success of the treatment for sexual function. As reported in Psychology Today 91 percent of the participants in a peer-reviewed study of the technique experienced an overall improvement in sexual function; 56 percent reported an increase in the intensity and duration of orgasm. In April, 2007, CP therapy was cited in Utne Reader’s article “Best Sex Ever” for increasing sexual function, noting “This holistic treatment for pain and infertility can cause really hot sex.”
Locations
Clear Passage Therapy centers are located in the United States and also the United Kingdom.

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