Tera Warner

CranioSacral Therapy for Pain Relief, Improved Concentration and More!

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by Leora Salo, MOT/OTR, LMT, CLT. DBA/Papillion Health and Wellness

CranioSacral Therapy (CST) is a light-touched hands-on therapy that can create significant improvements in your life. It releases tensions deep in the body to relieve pain and dysfunction to improve whole-body health and performance.

Every day you endure stresses and strains. Your body absorbs them. But your body can only handle so much tension before the tissues begin to tighten and stress the  underlying structures of muscle, joints, brain, and spinal cord. CranioSacral Therapy facilitates the release of structural tensions to allow the entire body to relax, rebalance, and self-correct.

Typically, a CranioSacral Therapy session is performed while you are fullyclothed. You may recline on a padded massage table.  CranioSacral Therapy may also be performed while sitting in a chair or a wheelchair.

Your therapist begins by gently assessing your body by monitoring the rhythm of the fluid flowing around your central nervous system.  By carefully listening with the hands to locate areas of weak flow or restricted tissue motion, your practitioner can then trace the weakness and restriction through the body to the original source of dysfunction.

Delicate manual techniques are then used to release those problems areas. The touch is about 5 grams, or the weight of a nickel.

Many wonder that such a light touch can be so effective. Clients are often amazed that by working in one area of the body, they may notice a pull or a resolution of pain in another area.

Consider this: the body, in addition to organs, blood, muscle, lymph, and a host of other elements, contains strands of connective tissue which penetrate and cover all that it contains.  Much as with a spider web, you may touch one part of the web and it will effect a strand on the opposite side.  This is why you may notice this in your own body.  It is the skill of the craniosacral therapist to locate the core problem and work to resolve the issue.

Conditions that may be addressed using CranioSacral therapy may include:

  • Migraines and Headaches
  • Chronic Neck and Back Pain
  • Stress and Tension-Related Dis-orders
  • Chronic Fatigue
  • Fibromyalgia
  • TMJ Syndrome
  • Learning Disabilities
  • ADD/ADHD
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
  • Limb Stiffness
  • Restrictions in Movement

I personally use CranioSacral to address muscular issue I have from working in the healthcare profession for a number of years.  From wrist sprains to back injuries, I have found this form of bodywork to be especially effective in reducing pain and getting back to balance.  I have a neighbor that takes care of a woman with cerebral palsy.  She swears by this therapy as a way to calm and relax her client.

A great source of reference for craniosacral therapy and healing work in general is Dr.John Upledger’s book, “The Inner Physician”.  This is available online through Amazon.com.  Information in this article was provided by http://www.Upledger.com.  You may locate a CranioSacral Therapist in your area by searching under : “Locate a Therapist” and entering your zip code.