Cranial Osteopathy is really only a natural part of ordinary or ‘structural’ osteopathy, but because it has become well known in its own right I have produced a separate leaflet on it. This separation is artificial because in practice I use cranial techniques alongside structural techniques in my clinic and because the fundamental principles of both are the same. Cranial osteopathy works with the involuntary movements in the body. Even when you are lying still there is movement in your body – your lungs are expanding and contracting, your gut is pushing food through, your heart is pumping and blood is flowing through the blood vessels. In addition to these movements there are other movements occurring which are less well known. For example there is a subtle involuntary movement of the bones of the skull and pelvis, the muscles of the body have a subtle movement, and other connecting tissues in the body such as the fascia have an inherent energetic movement. I, as the Osteopath am able to perceive these movements with my hands and in doing so allow any problems such as asymmetry or compression to be released.

Why is it called Cranial Osteopathy?
Mainly for historical reasons – the originator of cranial osteopathy was a man named William Garner Sutherland (1873 – 1954) he studied osteopathy as created by its founder AT Still (1828 – 1917). Sutherland noticed that the bones of the skull did have some subtle inherent motion to them and were not fused as had been previously thought. He studied this cranial motion for the next 31 years in which period the term cranial osteopathy was born. He spent the next 25 years of his life investigating the other involuntary movements in the whole body – however, by then the term ‘cranial osteopathy’ had stuck.

Is it like Healing?
The cranial osteopath does ‘lay her hands on’ the patient, who may perceive very little happening during the treatment. This leads many people to ask ‘is this like healing’? Cranial osteopathy is like healing in the sense that we use our hands, we have the intention of ‘healing’ or ‘doing good’ and we are perceiving subtle energetic movements in the body. It is not like healing in the sense that we are not directing any energy into the body from ourselves or any other outside source. It is also different in that we are still working with a deep knowledge of the anatomy of the body and on which structures appear to be tight or restricted.

What am I likely to feel?
This varies from person to person. Some people experience tingling, hot or cold sensations, muscles twitching, occasionally discomfort and sometimes nothing at all. After a few sessions your body often changes and you start to feel more. The more relaxed and open your body the more likely it is that you will feel sensations during the session. Remember however, that it is not really important that you feel things going on – it is only important that I do! And that of course your symptoms improve. Most people will experience changes in the 48 hours following a session sometimes the symptoms may initially worsen before they improve.

What can it treat?
Cranial Osteopathy is used to help aches and pains, and digestive problems.

What happens during a session?
First I take your full history, then you normally will undress to underwear so I can assess your body for imbalances. On follow up appointments it is not always necessary to undress, and if you prefer not to undress I can usually work around this. I will decide if cranial osteopathy is the most suitable approach - often a combination of structural osteopathy and cranial treatment will be used.

Case Histories

Daniel had been involved in a very bad road traffic accident, he had suffered injuries to his face, jaw, ribs and leg. He was susceptible to episodes of back pain and headaches as well as sinusitis. On feeling Daniels body it was apparent that there was much, torsion, compression and asymmetry throughout his whole body and in certain places in particular. Over the next few months we worked together to release these strains so that eventually he could breath more easily and could function normally without fear of his back going into spasm.

Rosemary was suffering from a feeling of tightness in her chest and some difficulty breathing. She had been going through a period of stress and felt that the tightness was to do with that. On feeling her chest area I could feel that it was indeed restricted and the whole of her body felt tense and unable to relax. Having regular cranial osteopathy sessions helped her to relax and sleep better and helped much of the tension to ease.