Cranial, or Cranio-Sacral Osteopathy is not actually a separate form of osteopathy – anyone who calls themselves a ‘Cranial Osteopath’ will have trained as an osteopath and then chosen to do further detailed postgraduate study using a particular form of gentle assessment and treatment that is based on feeling movements and tensions often at the base of the skull and base of the spine (hence Cranio-Sacral), but in fact anywhere in the body. For me, it is a case of feeling restriction to freedom of body movement at a deeper level than muscles and joints; about finding a way for the body to release the tension that creates the restriction and express movement more freely, which in turn improves the body’s physiology & vitality.
There is a great deal of controversy as to whether the anatomical principles of ‘Cranial’ Osteopathy are valid, whether ‘Cranial’ Osteopaths can feel what they think they can, & whether having felt it, treating it (what ever ‘it’ is!) can make a difference to health. The evidence base is weak, although this may be partly because osteopaths are generally better clinicians than they are researchers, & partly because the research is not funded in the same way as pharmacological research (where billions of dollars are at stake), although increasing amounts of research are being done, and as with any treatment (surgical, pharmacological, physical), it’s important to be able to quantify the potential risks & benefits so patients can make an informed choice.
What is interesting, is that in my personal experience of treatment before I ever knew anything about the theories or controversy (or indeed, about osteopathy), and in the experience of many of my patients, cranial osteopathic treatment can induce significant change in experience of one’s symptoms. This is particularly intriguing in the case of animals and babies, where behavioural change cannot simply be a consequence of placebo effect, since neither the animal nor the child has an expectation of ‘feeling better’ following having hands put on them. Either their behaviour changes (from which one may deduce that they feel different and one can infer that treatment may have instigated that change), or it doesn’t.
Many of my patients state that Cranial Osteopathy, as a hands-on treatment, is profoundly relaxing; that it has relieved their pain (or other symptoms); and it has helped them function better and feel better in themselves. If you want to know if it is the right thing for you, read the good & the bad about it on the internet; speak to trusted friends who have experienced it; and give me a call with your questions.
Village Osteopaths Surrey 