Origins of Alternative Medicine
An Interview about the Emergence of Alternative Med. with a Practitioner of:
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r a n i o s a c r a l - t h e r a p y - m e n u - s y s t e m
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Craniosacral therapy manipulates the bones of the skull to treat a range of conditions. Various forms of cranial manipulation have been used to improve overall body functioning. |
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| Description:
Within the human body there exists an important rhythm, the craniosacral rhythm, that results from the increase and decrease in the voume of cerebrospinal fluid within and around the craniosacral system. This system consists of the brain and spinal cord (the central nervous system), the cerebrospinal fluid that lubricates the brain and spinal cord, the surrounding meninges (membranes), and the bones of the spine and skull that house these membranes. The human Life Force (a.k.a. "breath of life"), which is the main fixture in healing, is said to be transported via the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to all the tissues of the body. Thus, this fluid is involved in the healing of all of the major organs and organ systems of the body. An increase in the craniosacral fluid pressure, resulting from the filtering of the fluid from the bloodstream to the craniosacral system, causes the movement and vibration of the cranial bones of the skull. The only time that the cerebrospinal fluid pressure decreases is when the fluid is reabsorbed into the bloodstream through the inner membranes of the brain. This decrease in fluid pressure, in turn, allows the bones to return to their original position. Maintenance of proper functioning of the craniosacral system may be the key to promoting homeostasis. Furthermore, this system may be the most important body system in regards to ensuring health because the disruption of this system filters down and eventually affects all of the body's vital rhythms (e.g. cardiac rhythm and respiratory rhythm). The purpose of craniosacral therapy, quite simply, is to enhance the functioning of this system by examining the movement of the bones of the system, locating restriction points that result from injury, and by monitoring and manipulating the energy manifestation of the anterior portion of the human being. Craniosacral therapy is "holistic" because it tries to prevent illness and dysfunction by viewing the entire body as a whole. It attempts to cater to the physical, mental, and emotional needs of the patient. The goal of craniosacral therapy is to determine the cause of a particular condition or conditions and to eliminate it; not necessarily to alleviate all of the symptoms or ailments that a person is enduring immediately. Craniosacral practitioners listen to the subtle rhythms and pulsations of the craniosacral system. This deep listening enables them to hear the expression of the body's patterns of stress and resistance. Craniosacral therapy does not, per se, heal the patient itself; rather, it facilitates, encourages, and thereby elicits the body's own innate healing mechanisms to act accordingly. In addition, the cranial therapist monitors the wavelike motion of the cerebrospinal fluid's changes in pressure to determine any restriction or dysfunction. He or she feels the motion of the craniosacral system and diagnoses the movement of the system by locating critical points of restriction in the cranium. These restrictions result from injury, inflexibility of the joints of the spine and cranium, or from dysfunctions in other parts of the body. The abnormal motion in the craniosacral system, which the restrictions cause, can contribute to poor health and dysfunction throughout the body, but particularly in the brain and spinal cord. There are three separate approaches to craniosacral therapy: sultural, meningeal, and reflex. These three approaches are, for the most part, very similar. However, they do differ slightly in their approach to craniosacral therapy. |
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| Sutural Approach | ||
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In
the sutural approach, popularized by Dr. William Garner Sutherland,
the therapist manipulates the sutures of the skull to ease pressure
and increase mobility of the cranial bones.
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| Meningeal Approach | ||
| John Upledger, D.O., O.M.M., an osteopathic physician, headed research in the 1970's which fostered the birth of the meningeal approach to craniosacral therapy. This approach abides by the dogma that tension or restriction in the meninges creates disturbances in the craniosacral system. This therapy suggests practitioners use hands-on contact on the bones of the craniosacral system to release restrictions of the cranial sutures an the underlying membranes. | ||
| Reflex Approach | ||
| The reflex approach relieves stress in the craniosacral system and in the other organs and structures of the body. This approach triggers the nervous system to turn off stress signals due to the stimulation of nerve endings in the scalp or between cranial sutures. All of these three forms of craniosacral therapy share one thing in common: they all advocate and practice using the hands to sense the rhythms and overt movements of the cranium. In fact, there is a system of craniosacral therapy that combines the sacral, meningeal and reflex approaches: this therapy is called the Sacro-Occipital Technique (S.O.T.). It was developed by Dr. Major B. DeJarnette, a chiropractor who studied with Dr. Sutherland in the 1920's. | ||
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Common cures:
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Applied kinesiology utilizes the reflex approach in conjunction with specific cranial adjustments to locate and treat distortions in the craniosacral system. |
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Modern medicine's perspective: Craniosacral therapy is rapidly gaining acceptance among health practitioners and the public. As is the case with almost all cost-effective alternative medicine therapies, this newfound popularity is probably due, in part, to the notintrusive nature of craniosacral therapy. Yet, it is also gaining acceptance because it deals wth the entire structure and physiology of the human body, rather than merely focusing on one isolated aspect of the body. Further research into the function of the craniosacral system could help provide a broader understanding of human anatomy, physiology, and the role of the craniosacral system in health. Because it addresses a multitude of different conditions (not just the central nervous system), craniosacral therapy can offer substantial long-term cost savings to consumers. |
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| Case Studies: | ||
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#1: An owner and chef of a French restaurant had slipped and hit the back of his head against a stove. "As a result of the trauma, he lost his sense of smell, vital to his work as a chef," cites Dr. Norett. "We found significant restriction of the area inside the cranium where the olfactory nerves pass through, and within about five minutes, he had improved dramatically." |
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| #2: A United States naval officer on active duty during World War II suffered recurring headaches accompanied by a loud noise in his ears after he stood next to a connon as it was being fired. He tried every treatment available through the navy, but found absolutely no relief. When he visited Dr. Upledger, he had been living with the pain for twenty-five years. Dr. Upledger found that the skull bones on the left side of the man's head were jammed inward and stuck. He manually released the compression of the cranial bones and the left side of the head expanded immediately. The sailor's pain vanished on the spot. By the third visit, his ear noise had stopped completely. | ||
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| #3:
A
patient reported continual pain from a two-year-old radical mastectomy
scar. She also had swelling and pains in the arm on the side of the
surgery. Using one of Dr. DeJarnette's S.O.T. cranial techniques,
Dr. Unger was able to diminish the pain from the scar, to the point
where it was actually eradicated. Over the next two to three weeks,
the swelling in her arm diminished almost to normal.
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| Links & Resources: | ||
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Cranial Academy 3500 Depaw Boulevard Indianapolis, Indiana 46268 (317) 879-0713 |
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SORSI (S.O.T.) P.O. Box 8245 Prairie Village, Kansas 66208 (913) 649-3475 |
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Upledger Institute 11211 Prosperity Farms Road Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 (407) 622-4706 http://upledger.com/ |
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Colorado Craniosacral Polarity Center http://www.polaritycolorado.com/cranio/cranio.html This site explains what exactly the craniosacral practitioner's job is. |
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| Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide, Compiled by the Burton Goldberg Group, Future Medicine Publishing, Inc., Puyallup, Washington, 1994. | ||
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Colorado Cranial Institute 1080 Hawthorne Avenue, Boulder, CO 80304 Tel: 303/449-0322; Fax: 303/329-8107 |
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