Craniosacral Therapy

What is Craniosacral Therapy (CST)?
CST is the practice of soft touch that release tension within the Central Nervous System (brain & spinal cord) of the body while allowing healing from the inside-out. CST was developed in 1970 by Osteopathic Physician, Dr. John Upledger, after years of clinical testing and research serving as Professor of Biomechanics at Michigan State University.

How Does CST work?
The brain and spinal cord make up the central nervous system and it has much influence over the body’s ability to function efficiently and with or without vitality. The Craniosacral System is a hydraulic pump that flows from head to toe and from center of chest to tips of fingers carrying nutrients to the nerves that support all the organs, tendons, ligaments and muscle tissues throughout.

A therapist versed in balancing the Craniosacral system is trained to feel for restrictions and help open up the flow allowing the body to heal itself. By doing so, this can be known to alleviate chronic pain associated with TMJ dysfunction, headaches, migraines, dizziness, vertigo; or even help improve nerve damage that has been affected by the aftermath of a stroke or Fibromyalgia, amongst many others.

Contraindications For Receiving CST:
A couple things to be aware of as far as high risk/ill advised to receive CST. Any condition that has resulted in an increase of intracranial pressure such as: acute aneurism, cerebral hemorrhage or any other pre-existing severe bleeding disorders.

How Many Sessions Are Recommended?
It is proven that the best results are obtained after receiving at least 3 CST sessions within a 90-120 day window.

No Hoof, No Horse

When it comes to appreciating or pampering our feet, we tend to do so AFTER a problem has already occurred, such as plantar fasciitis, sciatic and low back pain. Even hip and/or knee replacement.

Chronic hip and low back pain will most often be the secondary issue to the original problem. Which often times is poor arch support, pronation of the foot “duck toed” or supination of the foot “pigeoned toed”. As massage therapists (AKA bodyworkers), we are trained to follow pain and muscle tension trails throughout a whole session while puzzle-piecing the “Where, What, When, & How?’

If a massage therapist exhausts all their time during a session only inn the area of pain being vocalized by their client they would miss the, “Where is the pain coming from?” And the “What might be causing this pain?” for example. Often times the answer to these questions lies within the feet and how they are hitting the ground when standing, walking, or running.

If you are experiencing any chronic low back, hip, or knee issues please give us a call and schedule yourself a 30 minute troubleshooting massage session with one of our licensed massage therapists. These pains are most likely stemming from exhausted feet and will be glad to get you some relief.

We find this article very helpful in explaining proper foot placement as well as foot pronation/supination.
https://draxe.com/fitness/pronation/