WHAT IS CRANIAL OSTEOPATHY?
Cranial osteopathy is a refined and subtle type of osteopathic treatment that uses very gentle manipulative pressure to encourage the release of stresses throughout the body, including the head.
It is extremely effective in treating a wide range of conditions in people of all ages, from birth to old age.
WHY IS CRANIAL OSTEOPATHY DIFFERENT?
In their training, osteopaths are taught a variety of treatment methods and techniques, ranging from the well known high velocity thrust with its dramatic clicks, to the very gently applied methods used by cranial osteopaths.
Osteopaths vary their treatment methods depending on their own preference and individual patients' problems. Cranial osteopath is the name by which osteopaths who work at the more gentle, subtle end of the spectrum of different treatment approaches, have become known.
Osteopaths may have different specialities including sports injuries, paediatrics, visceral (treating the internal organs of the body). Cranial osteopathy embraces all of these.
INVOLUNTARY MOTION IN THE BODY
Cranial osteopaths are trained to feel a very subtle, rhythmical shape change that is present in all body tissues. This is called involuntary motion.
The skull is made up of 26 bones which are intricately joined in such a way that during the rhythmical cycle of involuntary motion, the skull can actually change shape very slightly to accommodate the normal involuntary motion of the brain inside.
Impacts to the head can block or disrupt this movement. This can cause a very wide variety of problems both in the head and elsewhere in the body.
Using involuntary motion in the tissues, osteopaths can feel whether a person is in an optimum state of health, or whether there is something preventing healthy movement of the tissues from occurring.
WHAT DOES TREATMENT INVOLVE?
An osteopath takes a detailed medical history from the patient followed by a careful examination. He/she will make a diagnosis of what is causing the symptoms, and try to put together the story of why they have developed.
Using very subtle and gentle techniques, the accumulated stresses and strains in the body are gradually released.
The aim is to relieve the current symptoms and also improve the underlying health of the tissues as far as possible in order that they do not recur.
This type of treatment is suitable for everyone from newborn babies to the very elderly, being extremely gentle.
WHAT DOES CRANIAL TREATMENT FEEL LIKE?
Patients may feel sensations of pressure or warmth, either under the osteopaths hands or elsewhere. Most patients feel that gradually the tension is being drawn out of their body and they become deeply relaxed.
THE BENEFITS OF TREATMENT
Osteopathic treatment is aimed not only at the relief of symptoms, but towards helping the body function better in all respects.
Patients often report an improvement in general well being, energy levels, sleep patterns and also in areas of symptoms other than those that brought them to the osteopath in the first place.