CranioSacral Therapy For Common Health Complaints

CranioSacral Therapy is slowly gaining recognition in the medical community as an acceptable alternative healthcare modality. Part of the reason that the acceptance is so slow is because it challenges long held beliefs that there is no movement in the dura mater or the craniosacral system as a whole, which is the basic principle that inspired the creation of craniosacral therapy.

There are some scientists of late, however, who have determined that there is a movement in the craniosacral system. Their contention, though, is that it cannot be detected by the therapist but only by means of specialized instruments. While it is true that specialized instruments can detect it, the sensitivity of the therapist’s hands has long been under-appreciated. Micro movements, such as the movement of the craniosacral system, can be detected with practice and development of sensitivity. In the classes, learning to feel the rhythm is the most important part of the teaching.

One of the more common health conditions that craniosacral therapy has been shown to be effective in treating is migraines. As healthcare professionals are well aware, migraines have been studied for a very long time, and conclusions have been reached about what they are. Migraine is a type of headache that is caused by vasoconstriction in the area of the occiput and neck. A possible but unstudied cause of migraine can also be that the vasoconstriction occurs because the occiput has become improperly set upon the atlas, or first cervical vertebra.

When patients are treated with craniosacral therapy, this issue is reversed, and many of the participants in the studies related to migraines reported an immediate relief of symptoms. The most promising part of these studies was that some of the migraine sufferers reported that the migraines did not return for a month the treatments had been discontinued. This is great news for those suffering, since most of the treatments available must be continuously administered.

Another health condition which is a great deal rarer than migraine, but no less difficult to treat, is fibromyalgia. When patients were treated with craniosacral therapy for fibromyalgia, they reported less anxiety, less pain, and a better quality of life. Fibromyalgia is another condition that requires life-long treatment most of the time, since it is such a mystifying disorder without a thoroughly understood causative relationship having been determined.

Many patients with this disease are given regimens of various pharmacological interventions throughout their lives. However, alternative methods such as massage therapy and craniosacral therapy are gaining recognition as acceptable treatment methods, since they improve the quality of life and reduce the pain these patients experience.

There are many other examples of conditions that can benefit from craniosacral therapy, which will be discussed in greater detail in future blogs. If you would like to learn more about CranioSacral Therapy, please visit our CranioSacral Therapy page by clicking here.