Cranial Osteopathy
Cranial osteopathy follows the same osteopathic principles of structural osteopathy. The name cranial osteopathy simply refers to the fact that it includes the structures inside the head. However, cranial osteopathy is used to treat the whole body.
To become a cranial osteopath, you need to do postgraduate training, which means you need to first qualify as a structural osteopath.
Cranial osteopaths use a highly developed sense of touch/ palpation that allow them to detect very subtle changes of tension and tissue quality in the whole body. The osteopath through these subtle changes in tissue quality is drawn to areas in the body that have been affected by current symptoms and also past events, such as old accidents and injuries. The body may have learned to compensate for a traumatic event or injury and the patient may be unaware that there is anything wrong, but the effects may still be present and relevant to current symptoms.
Diagnosis and treatment are intimately linked as the osteopath facilitate the ability of the body to heal itself. In order to do so, the cranial osteopath uses very gentle and subtle techniques where it is needed to bring the tissues into a state of balance and release, to restore it to health. The osteopath listen to the patient’s body so that osteopath understand and treat the cause of the symptoms, to reduce the chance of symptoms returning in the future.
Cranial osteopathy is a gentle, safe and effective approach to treatment of a wide range of problems in the whole body.
Cranial osteopathy is widely known for the treatment of babies but, is equally effective for children, adults and the elderly.
Contact Sabine to find out which treatment will be most suitable for you or to find out more about her expertise.
Cranial treatment appears so passive, how do I know that anything is happening?
As stated by the Sutherland Cranial College of Osteopathy: “Observing cranial treatment can be compared to watching someone reading a book. From the outside nothing appears to be happening but, if you are the one reading the book you are transported into a rich world of structure, colour, depth and emotion. As you continue to read, the story unfolds.”
In a cranial treatment, an osteopath is listening carefully to the body, which is somehow showing through tensions in the tissues, overall patterns and movements what has happened to it, what trauma (emotional or physical) it has suffered and, how it is trying to cope with it. In treatment the osteopath is guided by the tissues and support the re-balancing or release of areas of dysfunction.
What does cranial treatment feel like?
Cranial osteopathic treatment is gentle and relaxing. Patients’ experience range from feeling at first mild tension, some form of ache that gradually melt away to feelings of warmth, tingles, releases and deep relaxation. Some patients are unaware of anything happening during the treatment but they often report feeling very different in a positive way as they get up afterwards. They often report feeling lighter somehow and better and extremely relaxed. Most patients become deeply relaxed and it is not uncommon for some individuals to fall asleep.
Does cranial osteopathy have a scientific basis?
As stated by the Sutherland Cranial College of Osteopathy: “Cranial osteopathy is difficult to ‘prove’. But modern scientific understanding of physiology, in particular the physiology of fascia and electromagnetics in the body, are increasingly validating the theory and palpatory experiences of cranial osteopaths. There are also a number of clinical studies investigating the effects of cranial osteopathic treatment.”