Cranial Sacral Therapy (CST) is a component of Osteopathic Manual Treatment (OMT). CST involves assessing the rhythmical pressure fluctuation or cranial flow of the cranial bones and sacrum (tail end of the spinal cord). Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) is produced in the brain and then reabsorbed to prevent pressure building within the craniosacral system. If for some reason the body is unable to keep this rhythmic flow of production and reabsorption (often from accident, trauma from any point in life) the Central Nervous System is affected, due to its boundaries enclosed within the craniosacral system. 

Up until 1924, it was taught that the bones of the head fused together and were immovable. Dr. Sutherland, Doctor of Osteopathy (DO), proved this theory to be wrong by testing it on himself. He explored what would happen when different bones of the head were induced into compression and the effects that caused. He kept a journal of his findings, as did his wife, recording his mood, if he kept consciousness and even changes in appetite that would shift based on different areas of the head that were being compressed. Through self-experimentation Dr. Sutherland was able to conclude that every part of the body is there for a reason and is there with motion and fluid for function.    

The craniosacral rhythm can be felt on any part of the body such as the feet, pelvis, arms, sacrum and head.  For example, to assess the craniosacral rhythm on your legs, rest your hands palms down on your thighs. Noticing what you feel under your hands. There will be a very slight movement where the leg is turning out, and then gently turning in. 

When I am assessing the sacrum some considerations I like to keep in mind are how does the sacrum move with each breath, is there a gentle rocking motion available, what is the wavelength of the flow (this can vary from being a strong vibration, to a slow wave or even very faint, we may describe it as stuck in the mud).  

The cranial bones all move in a direction of flexion (the head filling with CSF) and extension (emptying of CSF) and this continues in an endless loop of a pressure system feedback (think thermostat on your wall, turns on when it’s cold, turns off when it reaches the set temperature, until it cools off to turn on again). The bones of the face also follow the CSR. 

In a Manual Osteopathic Assessment, the motion capacity and rhythm are felt to understand what part of the cranium may need treatment and how that relates to other patterns seen in the body that day. 

Benefits:

Craniosacral Osteopathy is a very relaxing and gentle form of treatment that does especially well in helping to treat the nervous system by balancing out the autonomic branches of sympathetic and parasympathetic. A heightened nervous system creates extra cortisol (stress hormone) which becomes an inflammatory marker in the body. (Note: Cortisol is a very helpful hormone to us when it’s in balance with the rest of our body, it’s only when it becomes in excess from stress does it induce inflammatory reactions). 

Try it yourself: Video to Release the Jaw and improve cranial flow and drainage of the cranium. 

In the video I demonstrate how to release your temporomandibular joint (TMJ), part of the cranial bones. We will be taking the joint into ease, taking all pressure off the muscles and capsule, and holding here with the breathe.  Then gentle bringing the joint in a downwards motion to release the mandible from the joint and then slightly forwards towards the chin (or front) to realign the joint with the capsule.  

This video also includes an exercise called cranial pumping that you can do at home when you need more blood to the head, increase clarity and to help improve your overall system flow.  Place one hand on the occipital bone at the back of the head (above the neck), and one hand on your forehead. The fingertips of your hands will face each other, gently bring the finger tips together as the head moves into flexion and then away for extension.  Don’t worry you can’t do it wrong, just start pumping the hands slowly and comfortably with zero grams of force in your fingers (think touching a newborn baby – GENTLE HANDS). Close your eyes and breath. Stay here for 1 – 2 minutes and see how you feel!

On episode 71 of Osteocast Amanda and I share our experience at the Upledger Craniosacral Course. You can listen to the podcast on apple, spotify and anchor: https://linktr.ee/OsteoCast 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic, info@smtosteopath.com.

A quick history – overview where did the idea of using ice or heat on an injury even start?

– 1978 the acronym RICE was formed to help us remember to Rest, Ice, Compress, and Elevate.

– 1998 this was adjusted to PRICE, protection, meaning to protect the injured area from undergoing more inflammation by injuring too soon again.

– 2012 POLICE was released as Protection, Optimal Loading, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. To the naked eye it’s obvious that ice brings down inflammation, but it was also beginning to be understood that using the injured structure in the proper way (proper loading) would aid in the recovery of injury and limit compensation patterns that often occur when an injury is not treated. 

Thus far it appears ice reduces swelling… but why does the inflammation process exist in the body?

Picture 1 is my sprained wrist (I fell off my bike a few summers back, note to self, unclip your feet when you get to a stop light!).  My wrist was very swollen after fall, almost double in size. The inflammation process started after the fall due to too much pressure put on the wrist that resulted in bruised tissues and broken blood vessels.  The wrist became swollen within a few hours of injury as the beginning steps towards healing. That’s correct, inflammation is an immune response to clean up the damaged tissues in the body by releasing macrophages that breakdown dead cells and release Insulin-Growth Factor-1. IGF-1 promotes growth and diffusion in satellite cells (muscle stem cells), which on activation can re-enter the cell cycle to become myoblasts which turn into muscle cells.  IGF-1 can influence cell behaviour and type 1 collagen expression which helps form ligaments and tendons.

How incredible is the body! It moves into immediate action using inflammation as an autonomic response when there is injury that needs to be cleaned out and rebuilt.  As the founder of Osteopathy Dr. AT Still once said “The body has an innate ability to self-heal and self-regulate”.

Picture 2 shows how a blood vessel vasodilates (expands) due to chemical signals, these chemical signals can occur from injury that send signals to the body to begin the cascading events of inflammation. Picture 2 also demonstrates a constricted (smaller diameter) blood vessel, this is also due to chemical signals in the body, that can be caused by an external energy such as ice.  In general, ice will constrict blood flow to the area, whereas heat can increase blood flow by increasing the diameter of blood vessels.

If you have severe inflammation due to a break or a fracture, it’s extremely important you head straight for your medical doctor so they can assess the impact of injury and send for imaging to confirm the type of injury. Often, ice is highly recommended in such cases to help control pain and initially reduce the cascading inflammatory event that brings swelling and pain, due to irritation to the nerves in the areas.

Ice is not recommended past the initial time of injury, it’s important to allow the body’s natural healing process to occur to repair and function. After we know you do not have a break or fracture it’s important to get in to see your Manual Osteopath to open up the drainage pathways in the body to make sure the old blood and dead tissues can be removed to allow new blood to flow freely to the area to reduce recovery time and improve overall loading patterns through the body.  I will help you figure out what the optimal loading time is for the specific injury in question, whether you should use ice or heat.  Our initial focus in treatment is to make sure the drainage channels are open; the lymphatics are free of restriction to make way for new blood to promote healing.

Whatever you decide to use, ice or heat, remember that it will often only be only to make you more comfortable. Limit your use for only 10 minutes at a time to limit changing the chemical composition in the tissues with prolonged use of either cool or warmth.

On episode 53 of Osteocast we discuss the use of ice versus heat and how Osteopaths view injury and the necessary healing time. You can listen to the podcast on apple, spotify and anchor: https://linktr.ee/OsteoCast 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic, info@smtosteopath.com.

9-minute Mobilization Routine with Sara

Go ahead and grab your yoga mat, or a carpeted floor.

From a standing position we will target the shoulder complex, neck, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and hang in a forward fold to decompress the spine with the help of gravity.  Next we lay down on our mat, hands free, to engage and connect to the core with a dead bug, then flip to your belly for a mackenzie press-up to extend the spine vertebrae by vertebrae, and we finish with slow breaths in child’s pose.

Want a personalized wellness and movement routine? Let’s talk! 

Tune in to the Osteocast! 

Welcome to a Canadian Podcast about all things Osteopathy, functional anatomy and movement. Available on Itunes, Spotify and Anchor. 

Your hosts are three local Osteopathic Manual Practitioners in Ontario, Canada:

Colby (in Windsor), Amanda (in Fergus) & Sara (in Scarborough). 

My colleagues and I first met in 2014 at the Osteopathic College and spent 4 years sharing space, attending school and clinic together; we have been friends ever since.  Feel free to send us a message through Instagram @osteocast_ and you can listen to our podcast on your favorite streaming platforms: https://linktr.ee/OsteoCast.   We are releasing new episodes every Monday.

The Hounding Health Show is the health and wellness journey of George Chountalos, health and wellness coach.  I had the pleasure of providing George with a Manual Osteopathic treatment. Afterwards we sat down to discuss his treatment on his podcast; Hounding Health, his health journey. George’s focus is to get himself back to optimal health after neglecting his body for 365 days.  He has seeked the help of many different practitioners for treatment and health advice.  On the Hounding Health Show, we also discuss the origins of Osteopathy, who can benefit from hands-on Osteopathic treatment, the importance of balancing your nervous system, manifestation of one’s genes and what health means to me.  Please visit houndinghealth.com for a full breakdown of the show notes and to listen to the full podcast.   

Here’s a snippet of the interview from Hounding Health’s Youtube Channel: 

https://youtu.be/qaovh7rufB4 

Let’s talk posture:

Whether you are working from a desk or your kitchen counter, it’s time to get creative to give yourself the best working environment. 

 

Have you taken the time to set up your work from home space?

 

It is essential to set ourselves up to be in the best physical and mental state possible, and having a comfortable supportive physical work space can be the start to that.

 

The Chair:  Your chair needs to provide you with stability.  Did you know hard chairs (the old wooden chair by the front door or the chair in your dining room) provide your hips with the best stability.  Due to their lack of cushion for the gluteals (butt) muscles, it forces you to sit tall from the pelvis to the crown of your head.  Sitting away from the back of the chair allows you to sit in a dignified posture, feet flat, knees under hips in front of you.

 

The Feet: Having your feet flat with your knees at right angles, provides the hips and legs with support.  If your chair is too tall and your feet dangle, try putting a shoe box or step stool under your feet until you find the right height where your knees are slightly lower than your hips, and not above them. 

 

The Desk: Whether you are at a kitchen counter, dining room table or desk, laptop or computer, have a family member take a few photos of your workplace set-up for you to analyze.

 

Notice the angles of your elbows, can they comfortably rest on the desk in front of you as you type or write? If not what can you change to make that possible?

If you are not using a laptop, are you able to bring the monitor higher up so you aren’t looking down as much?

 

Take breaks: The only real way to salvage poor posture and pain from a repetitive motion is to take breaks! If you are having trouble remembering to get up, set an alarm or an event in your calendar reminding you to stand up, roll the shoulders forwards and backwards, and take a walk. This walk can be 5 deep breaths in one direction and 5 deep breaths going back. It doesn’t have to be long, consider it your 5 min wellness break. Try and do this at least a two times every day (once you get in the habit you might notice you will want to take more of these breaks!).

 

Unsure about your current ergonomic set-up? Send me a picture and we can go over it together.

 

 

“Every part of your body is connected and works together using bony and muscular connections and the nervous system.”

CALLING ON ALL MAMA’S!

Are you familiar with the rhyme: “your head-bone is connected to your butt-bone”? As funny as this may sound, it’s completely true!  Your head is connected to your butt-bone in two distinctive ways: physically and through the nervous system.

Your sacrum and coccyx is located at the very bottom of the spine, and with the help of the rest of the pelvis, it supports all of the structures above and below it.  It consists of many major muscles that assist in standing upright, bending forwards, and many other forms of movement that occur in daily life!  Poor functional movement through this area, can be caused by a restriction in the pelvic floor muscles, or altered mechanics from an accident or fall.  During pregnancy and labor the pelvic floor and abdomen go through changes that require the body to alter it’s normal weight-bearing mechanics in order to make room and support the fetus.  Changes through the body often compromises posture with increased tension rippling up the spine into the cranium (skull), affecting alignment of the body from the tip of the toes to the top of the head, and therefore overall health.

The sacrum and cranium are also connected via the parasympathetic nervous system – also known as the Rest and Digest System. This part of our nervous system kicks in when it’s time to eat, relax, and sleep.  Any tension through the muscles of the upper back, into the cervicals (neck) and into the cranium (skull) will in turn affect the lines of tension into the jaw and along the temporal and frontal lines of your forehead.  Tension or restriction in the head (including the jaw) can be caused by many factors including poor alignment from poor postural habits, an accident (such as a fall or collision), or birth which may result in altered mechanics of the pelvis, the spinal column and up into the cranium (skull).  This can lead to structural misalignment which affects the nervous system, pain perception, functional movement and overall health of the body.  

Every part of your body is connected and works together using bony and muscular connections and the nervous system.  In order to address any pain and misalignments you may be feeling in your body, the manual therapy of Osteopathy assesses and treats the body based on anatomy and physiology. This means the mechanics and functional movements of the body are assessed, and treated.  Your Manual Osteopath will work from the top of the head, to the bottom of the feet (not always in that order), and everything in between to improve overall function and mechanical alignment in the body.  Treatment is beneficial prepartum to help prepare you for birth, and postpartum for postural pain, breastfeeding difficulties, healing from c-sections, and overall health and recovery!

“Osteopathy can improve the symptoms and causes of vertigo by improving the drainage of fluids to and from the head..”

Vertigo is a feeling of rotational dizziness where one senses their head or surrounding environment is moving and/or spinning.  The body is able to sense position and motion through the vestibulocochlear nerve (cranial nerve eight) which sends messages from the inner ear to the brain.  

Causes of vertigo include, and are not limited too:

• specific changes in the position of one’s head.
• trauma to the head.
• inner ear problem affecting the vestibulocochlear nerve and/or the otolith organs (which contain crystals that provide sensitivity to gravity).
• vestibular neuronitis (affecting the nerve of the inner ear).
• meniere’s disease.
• benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) (vertigo triggered by specific positions of your head).

Osteopathy can improve the symptoms and causes of vertigo by improving the drainage of fluids to and from the head so there’s no back-log in pressure.  For example, imagine a kink in your garden hose, with continued fluid pressure would result in a pressure build up that continues to build until the area of blockage has been removed or alleviated.  Osteopathy looks at each layer of the body from the superficial fascia layer to the muscular tissue layer to the bony tissues. An osteopathic treatment consists of gentle hands doing manual therapy to encourage body alignment and movement where movement is lacking.  Increasing movement in the tissues encourages blood flow and drainage to and from the head. For example, an Osteopath may check that all fluid pumps in the body are working as best as they can, such as the respiratory diaphragm in the belly and the superior thoracic aperture/thoracic outlet (found at the front of the chest).  Subsequently, following the tissues to find the area of most dysfunction and/or least movement and using manual therapy enabling release in each layer of tissue. This will overall encourage movement and fluid exchange to the areas of dysfunction. Through the assessment and treatment by an Osteopath, there will overall be an improvement in body mechanics leading to improved health, reduced stimulus and stimulus reaction.  

Note: Always consult your medical doctor when there are new and/or sudden onset of symptoms.