Why cranial therapy is silly

Relying on CST instead of effective treatment can be dangerous. Moreover, its practice indicates poor judgement that may harm patients in other ways. At least two deaths associated with craniosacral therapy have been reported:. I do not believe that CST has any therapeutic value. Its underlying theory is false because the bones of the skull fuse by the end of adolescence and no research has ever demonstrated that manual manipulation can move the individual cranial bones [12].

The brain does pulsate, but this is exclusively related to the cardiovascular system [14], and no relationship between brain pulsation and general health has been demonstrated. In , after doing a comprehensive review of published studies, the British Columbia Office of Health Technology Assessment BCOHTA concluded that the theory is invalid and that practitioners cannot reliably measure what they claim to be modifying.

In , the Archives of Disease in Childhood published the results of a well-designed randomized, controlled study of children ages with cerebral palsy.

Our own and previously published findings suggest that the proposed mechanism for cranial osteopathy is invalid and that interexaminer and, therefore, diagnostic reliability is approximately zero. Since no properly randomized, blinded, and placebo-controlled outcome studies have been published, we conclude that cranial osteopathy should be removed from curricula of colleges of osteopathic medicine and from osteopathic licensing examinations [12].

In fact, I believe that most practitioners of craniosacral therapy have such poor judgment that they should be delicensed. Too many patients and therapists have been duped by this so-called therapy.

If these therapist were ever to suggest to any self-respecting neurosurgeon, that they could move the sutures of the skull with ounces of force, they would get laughed right out of the room. I have personally witnessed how saws and drills are needed with more than a few ounces of force to alter the structure of the adult skull. They should lose their license. References Discover CranioSacral Therapy.

Undated flyer distributed in by the Upledger Institute. Upledger CranioSacral Therapy I. Brochure for course, November For serious education in complementary care. Brochure for course, Upledger Institute, Aug Discover CranioSacral Therapy. Upledger Institute Web site, accessed Feb 10, Visceral manipulation. Cottam C. The first known statement about any cranial adjusting technique by any professional group. Including in a promotional mailing in Upledger JE. Berkeley, Caliifornia: North Atlantic Books, , p Barrett S.

Chirobase, July 7, Findings of fact, conclusions of law, and disciplinary order. Missouri Dental Board v Joseph H. Kerwin, D. Cause No. Bio Cranial Therapy in action. International Bio Cranial Web site, accessed Aug 21, Homola S. Bonesetting, Chiropractic, and Cultism , While looking at a dismantled skull, Sutherland was struck by the idea that the cranial sutures of the temporal bones where they meet the parietal bones were "beveled, like the gills of a fish, indicating articular mobility for a respiratory mechanism".

This is excusable because it was and they were stupid then. These flexible plates allow the large head of the infant to pass through the pelvis, which in humans is unusually narrow due to walking upright and evolution and whatnot.

This is called "moulding" and is why some infants born vaginally initially have a cone-shaped head. These plates start fusing together at around 3 months, generally finishing the process by about 9 months of age. Upledger goes on to recount successfully communicating, via the craniosacral system, with the inner physician of a four-month-old baby of French parents who had never been exposed to English.

He diagnosed the root cause as "a toxin that was inhaled by the mother [ Practitioners claim there are small, rhythmic motions of the cranial bones, which they attribute to cerebrospinal fluid pressure, or perhaps arterial pressure.

The therapist places their hands on the patient's head and apparently tunes into the craniosacral rhythm, the regular flow of the cerebrospinal fluid, allowing cerebrospinal fluid to move through the spine more easily. They then lightly palpate the patient's body and focus on the communicated movements. After this, the theory becomes wildly inconsistent between different authorities and practitioners.

In the United Kingdom, parents are shelling out massive amounts of dosh for osteopaths to lightly tickle their babies heads, as cranial osteopathy is a popular treatment for colic in infants.

And you might only need 1 session but possibly up to three! But you absolutely cannot do it yourself because the touches are very soft and go in very specific places and make permanent changes! But not to the shape of the skull itself because you could actually measure that and it would be dangerous - baby skulls are actually very malleable because the plates generally don't finish growing together until 9 months. In adult this is impossible to do unless, say, you fracture their skull, which is inadvisable.

CST is a gentle, hands-on method of evaluating and enhancing the functioning of a physiological body system called the craniosacral system — comprised of the membranes and cerebrospinal fluid that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. Using a soft touch generally no greater than 5 grams, or about the weight of a nickel, practitioners claim to release restrictions in the craniosacral system to improve the functioning of the central nervous system.

CranioSacral Therapy deals very subtly with an important mechanics in our body. It claims to correct direct damage and trauma that our body receives from birth trauma, trauma from car accidents, trauma from sports injury and other traumatic incidences. Therapy is conducted via a very gentle touch of the CranioSacral rhythm. This rhythm is created by a hydraulic fluid system called the CerebroSpinal Fluid CSF which is produced within the brain and spread throughout your head brain and skull , face and spinal cord; with training and palpation, you can feel this rhythm pulse all over the body.

CranioSacral Therapy is a gentle therapeutic modality that works by applying gentle pressure to the bones of your skull as well as your spinal cord and other areas of the body to provide you relief from pain to misalignment and arrthyms. Through combining CranioSacral misalignments as well as your somatosensory history, we guide you through a release we work called SomatoEmotional Release.