Craniosacral therapy (“cranium” and “sacrum”) is the treatment of the whole organism by the manual impact on the craniosacral system through the normalization of the craniosacral rhythm. A quite young, but effective and promising area of alternative medicine.
Craniosacral therapy is based on the knowledge that the human spine, together with the skull bones, buttocks, brain, membranes of the spinal cord, and cerebrospinal fluid are closely related and are elements of a single system. This system is called craniosacral. In it, especially in the bones of the skull and buttocks, there are constant rhythmic oscillations, which can not be seen, but they affect the body in some way. If the rhythm of oscillations is disturbed, the effect will be negative. For example, a coccygeal injury can cause a migraine, and an intervertebral hernia or scoliosis can result from a traumatic brain injury.
Craniosacral treatment is a gentle massage that is performed at a moderate or slow pace and does not cause any discomfort. The specialist easily presses his fingers on the bones of the skull and spine, muscles, and ligaments. This releases the nerve endings, which are pinched, relieves muscle spasm. This, in turn, leads to the restoration of normal cerebrospinal fluid circulation (cerebrospinal or cerebrospinal fluid). It harmonizes the work of the entire central nervous system.
The beginning of research in cranial-sacral therapy was laid in the first half of the XX century by William Sutherland (1873-1954), a doctor of osteopathy, a student of the founder of osteopathy Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917).
Indications for craniosacral therapy
This therapy can be prescribed for people with several problems:
- headaches of various origins, including migraine;
- osteochondrosis of the spine, vertebrobasilar insufficiency syndrome;
- chronic fatigue syndrome;
- treatment of birth injuries;
- children with delayed psychomotor development, language development, autism, hyperactivity;
- to work with the epileptic syndrome;
- in post-traumatic encephalopathy (as a result of traumatic brain injury);
- people with vegetative-vascular dystonia;
- at the increased intracranial pressure;
- in the pathology of the temporomandibular joint;
- for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia and facial nerves;
- memory loss, antenna-depressed states.
Contraindication
Well, you need to carefully read the contraindications. Below you can see this list:
- vascular aneurysms;
- acute stage of the infectious process;
- oncological pathologies of the brain.
How is craniosacral therapy?
As a rule, during treatment, the patient lies on his back. Barely touching the head, the specialist will assess the amplitude of movements of his bones, the symmetry of the left and right sides, as well as the front and rear sections, to determine the condition of the seams – whether there is pain and limited mobility.
From the outside, it seems that all the treatment comes down to simply putting your hands on your head. The doctor works hard, making very subtle, almost invisible to the eye movements that can be caught only by looking closely.
The duration of one procedure is about 30-60 minutes. The effect usually lasts for five to seven days. The number and mode of sessions conducted, the doctor selects individually, taking into account the patient’s condition and his reaction to the procedure.