Living with MS: Craniosacral Therapy

I have been doing this therapy for 6 months and because it has been working really well for me, I decided to share my experience with you. I would like to let you learn more about it and I hope that this can be useful for you in some way.
My therapist was referred to me by another doctor that works for the International Center of Spinal Cord Injury at Kennedy Krieger IInstitute in Baltimore, Maryland and she is the person that helped me find the amazing cranial doctor that is currently taking care of me.

Craniosacral therapy is a holistic and alternative therapy that involves the manipulation of the skull bones and the sacrum to relieve pain and a variety of other ailments.
This therapy is used by many different types of doctors, massage therapists, chiropractors and physical therapists.
A craniosacral therapy session involves the therapist placing their hands on the patient, which allows them to tune into the craniosacral system. The practitioner gently works with the spine and the skull and its cranial sutures, diaphragms, and fascia. In this way, the restrictions of nerve passages are eased, the movement of cerebrospinal fluid through the spinal cord is optimized and misaligned bones are said to be restored to their proper position. Craniosacral therapists use the therapy to treat mental stress, neck and back pain, migraines and for chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia and many more!

Cranial Osteopathy was originated by physician William Sutherland, (1873-1954) in 1898-1900. While looking at a disarticulated 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 idea that the bones of the skull could move was contrary to North American contemporary anatomical belief.
Sutherland stated the dural membranes act as 'guy-wires' for the movement of the cranial bones, holding tension for the opposite motion. He used the term reciprocal tension membrane system (RTM) to describe the three Cartesian axes held in reciprocal tension, or tensegrity, creating the cyclic movement of inhalation and exhalation of the cranium. The RTM as described by Sutherland includes the spinal dura, with an attachment to the sacrum. After his observation of the cranial mechanism, Sutherland stated that the sacrum moves synchronously with the cranial bones. Sutherland began to teach this work to other osteopaths from about the 1930s, and continued to do so until his death. His work was at first largely rejected by the mainstream osteopathic profession as it challenged some of the closely held beliefs among practitioners of the time.

In the 1940s the American School of Osteopathy started a post-graduate course called 'Osteopathy in the Cranial Field' directed by Sutherland, and was followed by other schools. This new branch of practice became known as "cranial osteopathy".
The Cranial Academy was established in the US in 1947, and continues to teach DOs, MDs, and Dentists " an expansion of the general principles of osteopathy" including a special understanding of the central nervous system and primary respiration.

From 1975 to 1983, osteopathic physician John E. Upledger and neurophysiologist and histologist Ernest W. Retzlaff worked at Michigan State University as clinical researchers and professors. They set up a team of anatomists, physiologists, biophysicists, and bioengineers to investigate the pulse he had observed and study further Sutherland's theory of cranial bone movement. Upledger and Retzlaff went on to publish their results, which they interpreted as support for both the concept of cranial bone movement and the concept of a cranial rhythm.
Upledger developed his own treatment style, and when he started to teach his work to a group of students who were not osteopaths he generated the term 'CranioSacral therapy', based on the corresponding movement between cranium and sacrum.

For more information, please check:

http://www.cranialacademy.org/
http://www.upledger.com/

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Multiple
• Sclerosis
• MS
• Cranio
• sacral
• therapy

[Chanfb915]

I have my first Cranial Sacral Massage tomorrow. I will share my experience with you. I am currently on Tysabri and I have severe incontience issues and spaticity in my right leg and tremors on my right hand.

[angelusa73]

@Chanfb915 I am sorry for the delay in responding to your comment. I am having my first relapse sfter PML changed my life bforever. I have to take steroids once again and IU can't write you much because I don't see well any more and I am extremely tired. Cranial therapy helped me tremendously and it's much better than the aweful drugs almost lkilled me. Please, be careful with Tysabri. I wish you the very best,

lots of hugs,

Angela

[MrSassafrass22]

You are doing a wonderful service with your sharing! Thank You!

Diane Griffin NCTMB, MS (Natural Medicine)

[angelusa73]

Thank you so much!

Unfortunately, not everyone is open to believe in things that have nothing to do with drugs, but I do believe in them and I see the benefits of the craniosacral therapy every two weeks and I know that I couldn't live without it!

Thank you so much for coming and for writing! (and for believing in natural medicine!).

have a good day,

hugs

Angela

[somakr]

Dear Angela (and all you, fellow MS sufferers...),

I dont want to be impolite or crude and instead of just leaving a comment I prefer to open a dialogue, so I have a small question for you:

Do you believe in witchcraft, spells, voodoo etc?

[angelusa73]

Oh, no! I don't believe as much in that and I actually never thought about it much...and no one asked me this question before!!! :)

I am not sure if you are thinking that this therapy is related to those things or if you are just interested to know if I believe in withcraft!!!

Well, I can tell you that I never payed attention to things like these and that I don't believe that this therapy has something to do with magical things! :)

I appreciate your question and your honesty about this!

[angelusa73]

@artworkseabedosig Thank you for the information, but I don't want to take drugs. I take only one and that is more than enough for me! :)

I never took drugs before MS and I dream of a day when I will stop taking them. This is why I am using a natural therapy like this one. This works for me while the other ones don't really do anything. They only cover the problem and they don't fix it. But thanks for the help anyway! :)

Have a good day!

Angela

[angelusa73]

Grazie, caro Primoz. I appreciate all of your wishes and I wish the same to you!

Un abbraccio e tanti baci,

con affetto

Angela

[HubertV2]

Cara Angela E

Yes we talk about it and hope it will help you my dear friend to live as normal life as possible !

Primoz

[angelusa73]

Caro Primoz,

we talked about the cranio therapy, remember?

I like the fact that you already know everything I talk about in my videos because we write to each other every day and you know everything I go through, everything I try or everything I do with my project!

Thank you for following me this way too! :)

You are a great friend and a great supporter!

A prestissimo!

tanti baci

Angela