Jordan Rothstein, CMT

Jordan is an amazing guy! Even after two years of seeing him since my last visit, his skill continues to amaze me. My neck was in pain due to an injury I had falling off a tree, and stressing my neck muscles upon impact. At first, I didn’t think much about it, as the pain gradually subsided, but the strength in my left arm diminished and the left side of my neck was had periodic pain on my left side. The pain got to the point where it was really uncomfortable to keeping my neck in neutral position.
Jordan explained to me that the tension on my scalene (neck muscle) caused the cervical spine to be tight, pinching the cervical spinal nerve along the way. He applied his technique (which is still painful but rewarding), and after the session, I didn’t feel any pain radiating on my left arm or pain on my left side of neck when my neck went into cervical extension.
I would say save your money and go visit Jordan if you have any pain. He will be glad to answer any questions you may have.

One session with Jordan made more progress in alleviating my back and neck pain than 2 months of chiropractic work, 3 months of acupuncture, and a year’s worth of physical therapy. Here’s the story:
After trying many different modalities to resolve persistent car accident injuries, a friend recommended I contact Jordan. I had mixed feelings. My friend had many favorable things to say about him, but I’d read his 1 star Unilocal review, and had some reservations.
When I arrived at the office, there was a small, shared waiting area (really a hallway with chairs in it). Jordan arrived on time and let me into his suite. The room is a standard rental suite you’d find in Berkeley: a bit on the older side, plainly appointed, but with big windows for sun exposure.
Jordan greeted me warmly and we went through an hour-​long intake process. I’ve had a rolfing session and other massage sessions that have long intakes, and also require that I stand in my underclothes so that the practitioner can evaluate my posture and gait. Nothing surprising there. Jordan explained the relevance of the intake process at regular intervals along the way, and used a plumb weight to show me the alignment of my hips, knees, and ankles. He showed me how my entire frame was offset – from ankles to facial structures. I realized that was why my jaw had started hurting shortly after the accident.
Jordan used the last 30 minutes of the session for body work. I didn’t think he would be able to affect much change in such a short amount of time. My entire right side had been hurting for the last 2 weeks, and I’d had trouble sleeping. He began with cranial-​sacral techniques, making adjustments to my jaw, facial, and cranial structures. I’d never had this type of therapy, and so it felt strange and uncomfortable at times. He made adjustments to my jaw through my ears, and asked permission to work on my jaw through my mouth (wearing sterile gloves). When that work was complete, he asked me to stand up and check my posture. Not only was my jaw looser and more aligned, but the pain in my shoulder had decreased, and the headache that I’d walked in with was completely gone. Jordan explained my relief by detailing how the cranial structures and spine are related, and then he used a variety of disciplines (rolfing, etc.) to work on my spine and ankle.
By the end of the session, I’d gained more mobility in my ankle, my overall back and neck pain had been decreased, and my frame had come into greater alignment. When I asked Jordan how many sessions I should have, he didn’t try and sell me a package of 10 or 20. He said that I should make the decision based on my needs and how soon I’d like to recover.
After 2 weeks of having difficulty sleeping because of pain along my right side, I finally got a good night’s rest thanks to Jordan. I would recommend him to anyone who would like a well-​researched, thoughtfully executed treatment for pain and injury that yields real results.

Wonderful massage therapist! One of the best I’ve seen. Helped me a lot with the pain in my lower back and shoulders, and my awful indigestion He has intuitive hands, and is great at releasing tension and realigning the body. He uses various modalities that I find really interesting, and actually make my body feel soooo much better! Has a lot of knowledge on how lead a healthy life, I love learning from him! Other than being a great massage therapist and health guru, Jordan is a very kind, good hearted person. All around A+. Berkeley needs him to heal people. Give him a try, you won’t be disappointed!

Have gone to Jordan Rothstein, Massage Therapy for Pain Relief, for Cranio-​Sacral massage, for more than a year and have found him to be a pain-​reliever, and a healer.
Through his understanding of referred pain and trigger points, he is able to pinpoint areas that trigger discomfort and pain throughout the body. He has a very unique practice: Generally his sessions start more intensely, getting into the foundation and stability of your body, especially the sacrum, skull and abdomen and then gets more relaxing with muscle and tissue work. He spends time working on the lower back, neck, shoulders and if you mention other areas of concern, he will address them.
Jordan has been in massage for a long time, so if you have a concern, he will address it but sometimes in a way that he knows might be helpful and not just what the patient might assume needs to be done. This might be offsetting for some people but it’s clear his intention is to relieve pain for his patients.
Jordan is not hotel/​resort masseuse: If you want to relieve pain, he can help you. If you want someone to cover you in oil and play calming sounds of nature, this is not the place. He takes his practice of healing very seriously even if that means the work can be intense for the patient. Sort of a no pain-​no gain approach.

I have been to 100’s of various body workers during my active adult life and never have I felt so uncomfortable that I have had to leave before I received treatment but leave I did after an hour of my life I will never get back.
I was with Jordan for a solid hour undergoing his ridiculously long and strange ‘intake process’ — we never got so far as any body work, which was tremendously disappointing because I was in a lot of pain. I found Jordan from walking by his sign and then going to his web site, which seemed very professional. I felt uncomfortable from the very beginning, as soon as I was seated in his dingy dimly lit waiting room… that space itself was just a sad low energy place … Talk about bad Fung shui! But the real discomfort came immediately upon meeting Jordan and experiencing his presence — I will do my best to stick with facts and avoid colorful commentary — I write this because there is no other remotely negative review and I want to warn people who read Unilocal that they should know some things about my experience.
He is physically overweight, not obese but just not healthy looking, smelling or sounding. He had horrible breath — to the point I couldn’t deal with him talking remotely close to me — and he seemed to just be way closer than was necessary most of the time. He had a horrible sounding cough like he was dealing with some serious respiratory condition. He had white spittle bouncing between his lips which was disgusting and distracting. He was wearing shorts and flip flops — which on a different person might have been fine but his whole physical being was just off-​putting. His exposed toes didn’t, seem clean and we’re generally not easy on the eyes. His face and lips appeared swollen and he didn’t seem to have control of his tongue — imagine open mouth breathing generally slack jawed, like someone intoxicated by some major drug or otherwise not quite with the program.
The first part of the intake he had me draw on a pice of paper with body outlines (I’ve done this many times before, no issues). With Jordan, everything was painfully slow — from his speaking, to his apparent processing speed. My first drawings didn’t suit him, he neded me to put more markings down even though there was redundancy in the 4 different views. Then, w/​o looking @ what I wrote, he aske me to tell him verbally virtually every health issue of my life including getting my tonsils out in elementary school. While this might be his and other’s idea of a holistic approach, it was just way overboard and completely unnecessary. But most maddening was that he kept having me slow down because he said he couldn’t follow me.
I could go on but here’s the worst part — at one point he told me to take off all of my clothes and stand in front of him so he could evaluate my posture! I told him absolutely not! I didn’t even leave immediately then … Why it took me an hour to finally leave I do not completely understand myself but finally I just had to get out and after I did, I actually felt like throwing up.
The whole experience left me queasy. I’m entirely floored that this man has gotten so many outstanding reviews. To his credit he refused my half hearted offer to pay, we said goodbye civilly. I wish him well personally but I do not recommend him as a body worker. Totally creeped me out!

I’m not an individual who is easily impressed with body work or anything else and am one who (silently) demands results. Call it worldly cynicism. Jordan is a very humble, very intelligent individual who is simply a world class healer. He can show and teach you many, many things about your posture and your body. Please read his other Unilocal reviews, they are spot on. He has helped me immensely and continues to do so. I suggest you book 90 minute sessions, he can do so much more in that time frame than can be done in one hour. I’ve literally flown back in to the Bay Area when I’m on the road just to have a session or two with him in the time I have. I spend a lot of time on airplanes and hunched over audio consoles with all the negative effects of those pastimes. What a difference he’s made in my life, it’s difficult to describe really how much. It’s very important to understand that your postural ills and aches and pains CANNOT be corrected without some discomfort. Jordan has to move and stretch things to correct years of stress, hard work, bad habits, and just the wear and tear of life. I should probably mention that I’ve undergone the full series of Rolfing treatments (years ago) and while the results were great, Jordan’s work is better. You really owe it to yourself to discover his skills. I give his work the absolute highest rating. This is the real thing, people.

I cannot even describe how much my husband and I have benefited from Jordan’s work. He got me over planar fasciitis. He got me over a pre-​carpal tunnel condition. My husband is 6’4″ and suffers the compaction that a lot of big men do, and if not for Jordan’s work he would be in constant pain.
Go, suffer, feel better afterward.

I’m a touring musician and chiropractors and massage therapists have done nothing to resolve my back pain. Instead of only working on the the area of discomfort, Jordan focuses on keeping my entire body symmetrical. After the couple sessions with him, I noticed my body wasn’t overcompensating to one side. He problem solves in a different manner and I strongly recommend him to anyone looking for relief.

Long overdue review.
Any other massage is a waste of money, IMO. This man is true genius.
I’m only 22, yet had (note the past tense?) chronic lower back/​hip pain that limited my mobility for the longest. One session… I was literally cured. I haven’t had the pain some back since (knock on wood).
He’s really easy to schedule with, and you can sense that this is his calling — to be a healer. As opposed to someone just doing something to make money.
I won’t lie, the massage itself is gonna hurt. You’re gonna grimace, you’re gonna shut your eyes, you may even squeak. But it’s that good «weakness leaving the body» hurt. lol
But you feel so much better after. I do come back regularly, because I do a lot of physical activities, have those hunchback promoting desk jobs, and am basically doing a lot of weird things with my body, and my natural clumsiness doesn’t help.
(Basically, if you’re a Sagittarius like me… he’s your Jesus. Seriously. This man is put on earth just for the Sagittarii.)
So I get periodic readjustments, since a pound of prevention (and I do mean pound, lol) is worth a ton of cure…
He will provide lifestyle suggestions, too. If you’re a chocoholic, he has bad news for you… same for coffee drinkers and Splenda users. And if he sees you wearing high heels, brace yourself for a vivid description of exactly what those girl stilts do to your body… yikes! lol
5 stars, across the board! I just wish he was located closer to me – I have to BART it over there from San Francisco. That’s how amazing he is.

Look at his web site, so many people were healed by him. EXCELLENT Body Work. You know he’s good if still has an office space. He has for OVER 20 years of experience…
Jordan’s strong yet gentle hands can heal you and relieve you of your pain.
His knowledge and reputation is great. He even has other Body Workers referring clients to him. I personally know one Body Worker gave him 7 referrals.
Note: He will evaulate your Body on your first visit.

Jordan offers a very unique practice that shifts your pain for the better and for good. this is not a ‘feel-​good’ massage by any means (at least during the work). he literally moves bones and realigns your body to permanently relieve pain (so after you feel great!). he shows you the before and after in the mirror so you can see for yourself. during my first appointment with him he shifted my face back to it’s natural symmetry. i noticed a difference.
i’ve been seeing him several times recently for TMJ. i found he is the only one that is truly helping to correct the shifting in my jaw. he works the body as a whole, proving that once again everything is connected. when one area is out of balance, it can cause all sorts of problems. i highly recommend him if you are looking for a permanent relief to your pain.