Craniosacral Therapy FAQ

The world of craniosacral therapy is quite large. Craniosacral has its origins in Osteopathy. I have been fortunate to study many types of craniosacral techniques, including Core Synchronism (Cranial and Polarity Therapy), Upledger Craniosacral Therapy and a style of cranial osteopathic-like work that my main mentor developed after studying with some of the top osteopaths in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am very fortunate to have wide repertoire of craniosacral techniques, as each technique serves an important function in addressing each client’s unique issues.

Accidents, injuries, and repetitive strain can all cause mobility problems which can lead to chronic pain. It has been my experience that the body remembers everything, especially old injuries that have not been properly dealt with. Often these old injuries can be the root cause of chronic pain and other issues. The problem is that the body forms a habit of staying in limited range of motion, just like a folded-up piece of paper in your pocket likes to say in that configuration. The good news is that it is possible to regain mobility even decades after an injury. With repetitive sessions, the body will learn to let go of stuck patterns and eventually re-learn fluid movement. Uncovering and addressing these long-forgotten injuries can drastically turn around many current nagging concerns. By gently placing hands on the body, a craniosacral therapist can feel the mobility, or lack of mobility, of the bones. The craniosacral rhythm refers to cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) moving like the tides of the ocean flowing in and out. A therapist can feel where there is constricted movement or literally no movement at all. A gentle pressure, and at times firmer pressure is needed to get stuck bones moving again.

Temporomandibular joint, TMJ, pain or tension can be caused by different factors, including dental work (in particular wisdom teeth extraction) and head trauma. Inner-oral craniosacral therapy can be extremely helpful in creating greater mobility of the jaw, as well as relieving tension in the jaw muscles – masseter, temporalis and pterygoid muscles. When range of motion of the jaw is increased, and movement of head bones is more fluid, pain and discomfort in the mouth and TMJ are diminished.

There are many forms of chiropractic care. Most chiropractic care is more forceful in its adjustments, where you will hear an audible crack. There are also many different craniosacral techniques as well. Most craniosacral work is much more subtle and gentler compared to the typical “rack and crack” type of chiropractic care.

Craniosacral therapy benefits include relieving stress and tension, which in turn contributes to greater health. Craniosacral therapy is extremely relaxing and calming to the nervous system. Chronic pain which comes from lack of range of motion and immobility can be alleviated in a soothing way. Additionally, getting the head bones to move correctly can relief fascial pain, headaches and tension in the jaw. If the bones in the skull are out of alignment, the rest of the body will be affected. The entire body, including bones, organs, muscles and fascia can be addressed with craniosacral techniques.

Myofascial techniques had evolved from a type of osteopathic manipulation. Fascia is a type of connective tissue, a thin membrane that envelops muscles, bones, ligaments, and organs. Fascia runs through the entire body. When fascia is not moving freely, it can be experienced as tightness, immobility or reduced range of motion, all of which can cause pain. Myofascial massage is a gentle form of bodywork that increases circulation and creates better range of movement by getting the fascia to move fluidly again.

The benefits of receiving craniosacral therapy after having a stroke are profound. It would be ideal to start getting sessions as soon as possible after a stroke. I’ve had the honor of working on quite a few stroke victims in my years of practice. In my experience, clients feel more like themselves at the end of a session and have more clarity, as if their systems got rebooted.

Craniosacral therapy offers many benefits as an adjunctive therapy in recovery from having a concussion. Helping people recover from concussions is some of my favorite work, as I myself have had many concussions throughout my life. I have found craniosacral therapy invaluable in my own recovery. My experience with numerous clients has been that craniosacral therapy is a gentle and effective way of getting the cranial bones moving and attending to the brain lobes creates tremendous relief.

Craniosacral therapy is extremely helpful for relieving migraines. Getting the head bones moving fluidly is a great first step in providing relief. In some cases, I was able to pull clients out of migraine pain in just one session. The long-term goal, however, is to get to the root cause of why migraines are happening, which will be different for each client.

The founder of osteopathy is Dr. Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917). Dr. Still was a physician and a surgeon who was unhappy with the way medicine was practiced at the time. Common procedures, which he felt were causing more harm than good, included bloodletting and administering arsenic and mercury. He came up with an alternative approach, which he officially named Osteopathy in 1885. His methods were based on his belief that ailments and disease were results of disturbances in the muscular-skeletal systems, particularly the spine, and that restoring proper alignment would activate the body’s innate healing abilities. Dr. Still’s osteopathic philosophy incorporated elements of manual therapy as well as proper nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. The discovery of cranial osteopathy is attributed to the osteopath William Garner Sutherland (1873-1954). When Dr. Sutherland was a senior at the American School of Osteopathy in 1899, he noticed similarities between the structure of bones of the human skull and gills of a fish. He spent the next 20 years exploring this idea — since fish gills were a part of a respiratory mechanism and therefore had mobility, the skull bones could possibly move as well. At the time, cranial bones were thought to be fused together. By studying the bones and anatomy textbooks, he noticed the serrated borders of the cranial bones. Dr. Sutherland did a series of experiments on himself in which he used a helmet that applied pressure on the skull, which proved to him that with force the head bones did move. With the help of his wife, he recorded the impact of exerting pressure and compressing the cranial bones on the mental and physical states of the body. In one of his experiments, he almost passed out when pressure was applied, and then felt a fluid movement from his head through his dura lining of his spine to his sacrum as soon as pressure was reduced. Dr. Sutherland incorporated these discoveries into his practice, palpating his patients’ skulls, observing their cranial bones and adjusting the bones to remove restrictions in articular mobility in his patients. His practice exploded as word got out about Dr. Sutherland’s success in helping so many patients that were not helped by other means. The larger osteopathic community did not accept his discoveries until the early 1940s. Dr. Sutherland’s cranial osteopathic manipulative treatments are still taught worldwide. Another osteopath, Dr. John Edwin Upledger, (1932-2012) while assisting at a surgery, noticed that there was a rhythmic movement of the dural membrane of the spinal cord. Dr. Upledger went on to develop his own variety of craniosacral therapy techniques which he called CranioSacral Therapy. Dr. Upledger made it possible for osteopathic manipulative treatments to be practiced by non-osteopathic doctors like naturopathic doctors (ND), massage therapists, speech therapists, physical therapists and dentists. There are many forms of cranialsacral massage that have been created, expanding the field of CranioSacral Therapy, such as Core Synchronism, Biodynamic craniosacral, and Ortho-Bionomy.

Infant craniosacral therapy is one of the sweetest and most gentle therapy one can do for their infant. A baby’s head bones are so mobile because of the soft spot on the top of the head. It is helpful to do craniosacral therapy on babies and children especially after injuries or traumas as it is so effective and so soothing.

Fascial sheaths run the entire length of the body from head to toe. Craniosacral fascial therapy targets and opens fascial sheaths in the face and jaw. Head injuries or other kinds of accidents can cause fascial binding or high levels of tension. It is not uncommon for cosmetic surgeries such as facelifts to generate scar tissue that ends up pulling on the face, causing headaches and facial tension. Breaking up scar tissue and opening these adhesions, getting the tissue moving fluidly with a gentle, relaxing technique creates a level of freedom and tremendous relief in the face and the entire body.

Most craniosacral therapists are doing bodywork and massage. These modalities are not covered by insurance unless one has an HSA (health savings account) that allows them to choose alternative health procedures. Visits to an osteopath doctor (DO) are usually covered by insurance. If you decide to work with an osteopath, you should ask if they do manual manipulation, as many osteopaths have chosen not to do hands on work.

Unlike osteopaths, who do need a license to practice, craniosacral therapists do not need a license. Craniosacral therapy is a technique taught in many massage schools, and as advanced continual education classes for bodyworkers and massage therapists. A skilled craniosacral therapist will have years of experience and many levels of advanced education under their belt.

Pregnancy and birth may be an intense and possibly traumatic experience for both baby and mother. It is not uncommon for the head of the baby to be pressed against the mother’s pelvis for long periods of time in utero which can cause issues for both mother and baby. Forceps birth injury is not uncommon in some adult clients, and that compression can cause problems later in life. In an ideal world, a client would see me right after an injury. The reality is that I am often working on clients who have experienced injuries several decades ago.

There are no dangers to craniosacral therapy. It is fantastic for newborn babies, people on their death bed, and everyone in between. It is gentle and calming, and the effects are often profound after just one session. Of course, if you have a true medical emergency, such as a broken bone or a severed finger, you need to get yourself to an emergency room immediately.