If you’re of a certain age, the word conjures up ’60s- and ’70s-era memories of crystals, pyramid power, EST training and other generally short-lived New Age phenomena.

But the fact is, Rolfing is still around, and increasingly becoming a mainstream, sought-after solution for those suffering from chronic pain.

Rolfing adherents describe it as a hands-on manipulation and movement education - a kind of super-massage system that has roots in osteopathy, homeopathy, yoga and chiropractic medicine.

Brad Jones, a certified advanced Rolfer practicing in Seattle, said that his clients usually come to him out after they’ve tried physical therapy, visited a chiropractor and an orthopedic specialist and basically run the gamut of Western medicine.

Jones sees people with chronic problems - lower-back or neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome or a bad knee, for example.

But the whole body is involved in the healing process. Jones looks at how various segments of a body line up. He looks at a client standing. Walking. Moving. He checks to see when and how feet hit the floor, and what happens to the body when they do.

“Stilted movement is indicative of misalignment or some sort of structural asymmetry,” he said.

Only after checking out the full body does he begin working with connective tissue, the fascia that covers, supports and connects muscles and inner organs.

He focuses on changing the structure by getting his hands into connective tissues and manipulating the tissues. He’s emphatic that it isn’t massage. He goes after “knots” where connective tissue has become thick and dehydrated.

Personal trainer Philip Johnson, who works in Seattle, said that “for people unaccustomed to massage, Rolfing is uncomfortable,” Johnson said. “That’s a potential drawback. It would take the right Rolfer to make it work.”

Ele Sale sought out Rolfing about eight years ago when she was having repetitive stress problems and body aches that she called “the aging athlete thing.” Sale is a fitness instructor.

A friend suggested that she try Rolfing. “It was painful. I always refer to it as the worst massage I’ve ever had,” Sale said.

But after about 12 sessions, she said, Rolfing changed the way her body moved - for the better. The sessions still hurt, but she endures because she knows it will be good in the end.

“Look at it as an investment in yourself, especially if you’re an athlete,” Sale said.

Zoe Scofield, a dancer and director of a dance company, has been working with Jones for several months. She suffered a knee injury a year ago. The pain was misdiagnosed as arthritis. An orthopedic specialist suggested surgery. Finally, a physical therapist suggested Rolfing.

Jones discovered that she had both knee and hip problems that affected her left side. When she arrived at his Fremont clinic for an appointment recently, she stood quietly while he inspected her body to check alignment. She walked across the room so he could study her movement.

Jones explained that if one foot isn’t bearing weight evenly, it can adversely affect one side of the body. One of Scofield’s feet is slightly out of alignment.

Then the work began. Scofield lay on the massage-like table, a pillow between her knees. Jones leaned on her knee and hip, “trying to open up the left side,” he said.

He picked up a replica of a spine and showed her how her sacrum is slightly bent. Using hands, knuckles and elbows, he worked on her left leg, back and torso.

Toward the end of the 75-minute session, Scofield reported a “dull ache” in her left leg. Jones explained that her sciatic nerve is irritated.

“When this settles down, you’re going to be looser,” he said.

Rolfing was invented by Ida P. Rolf, a graduate of Barnard College with a doctorate in biological chemistry from Columbia University. She was also a serious student of tantric yoga.

In the 1940s she moved to California to study with osteopaths and began to formulate her work methods, which she called “postural release.” In the 1960s she began teaching at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur. She trained teachers of Rolfing and founded an institute that moved its headquarters to Boulder, Colo., in 1972.

Jonathan Martine, the faculty chairman at the Rolf Institute in Boulder, said students must complete three eight-week sessions with practice and home study in between.

Anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, Rolf movement, therapeutic relationship, touch skills and clinical work are involved.