Monthly Archives: July 2013

CranioSacral Therapy and Scientific Research By John Upledger, DO, OMM

After Drs Roppell, Retzlaff and I successfully demonstrated live sutural contents and rhythmical cranial bone and sutural motion, I began working with biophysicist and bioengineer Zvi Karni, PhD, DSc. He was a visiting professor from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, where he chaired the biophysics department. He initially joined me to prove that I was crazy in my concept that “energy” was passed from one person to another during a hands-on treatment session (later named CST). After closely observing my treatment sessions, we theorized how we could best investigate. I became his student in biophysics, and he became my student in clinical manual medicine and biology. He gave me reading assignments in classical and quantum physics followed by pop quizzes; I gave him insight into the strange hands-on approach I was using.

 

Dr. Karni and I worked intensively for about three years, after which he was recalled to Israel. He arranged for me to go there the following summer as a visiting professor at Technion, where he introduced me to Professor Nachansohn, MD, the director of the Loewenstein Hospital, Ra’anana, the country’s principal neurological rehabilitation hospital. I studied in the hospital’s coma ward. After examining numerous comatose patients, I discovered that their craniosacral rhythms, as monitored in the paravertebral regions, were not present at the level of spinal cord injuries and below. With 100 percent accuracy, I was able to tell doctors the precise level of spinal cord injury in each patient, with no clue other than the loss of palpable craniosacral rhythm. This was truly a “blind” study, with eight to 10 very skeptical neurologists observing constantly.

During our years together at Michigan State University (MSU), Dr. Karni and I decided that we would look at the human body as an insulator bag made up of skin and mucous membranes full of electrical-conductor solution. We hypothesized that the conductor solution would undergo voltage changes in response to energy changes that occurred in the body as I did my treatments. In order to measure such millivoltage changes, Dr. Karni built what he called a modified Wheatstone bridge. The instrument algebraically added the millivoltage deflections in both the positive and negative directions at any given instant from a determined baseline. Thus, we could see millivoltage changes in patients as they occurred.

We began this series of experiments by applying electrodes on the midline of each patient’s anterior thigh, three inches above the superior border of the patella. The grounding electrodes were placed upon the dorsum of each foot on the anterior midline over the tarso-metatarsal junctions. We also monitored cardiac activity through a V-2-placed electrode, and we tracked pulmonary/respiratory activity by placing sensitive strain-gauge and band apparatuses around the thoracic cage at the level of the juncture of the manubrium sterni with the xiphoid bone. Circumferential variations in thoracic-cage volume reflected breathing activity. These four measuring devices were then plugged into a polygraph that recorded the heart rhythm, breathing activity, and total-body millivoltage changes.

Dr. Karni monitored the readings on polygraph paper. Initially I told him what was happening as I initiated treatment techniques or patient changes occurred, and he noted the comments on the polygraph paper at appropriate locations. After a while, he was making accurate patient observations by simply monitoring changes in the polygraph recordings. We treated more than 150 patients this way and collected what seemed like miles of data. By demonstrating correlations in total-body electrical potential, we again confirmed the activity of what we called the craniosacral system.

As all of these laboratory studies were taking place, my colleagues and I conducted two clinical inter-rater reliability studies on children. I developed a 19-parameter evaluation protocol used to rate the level of mobility for various bones of the skull and sacrum. The first study was carried out on 25 nursery-school children examined by myself, one of two other cranial osteopaths, and a student assistant. The four of us evaluated the children independently, and reported our findings on each parameter to an independent research assistant. No one had any knowledge of the other’s findings until after an independent statistician completed the statistical analysis. The percentage of agreement between the examiners varied from 72 percent to 92 percent, with the allowed variance of 0-0.5 percent. Once again, these findings supported the existence of a craniosacral system and sutural movement.

Still not satisfied, I went on to use the same examination protocol on 203 grade-school children. I personally evaluated the children with no knowledge of their histories. I then reported my findings to a research assistant who faithfully recorded them. An independent statistician then collected information from each child’s school file, along with historical data from parent interviews. He correlated my findings with the data he recovered, and reported a very high level of agreement between the craniosacral examination findings and learning behavior; seizure problems; head injuries; hearing problems; and even obstetrical problems.

The study, because of its scientific design, obviated the possibility of random agreement. The results showed that standardized, quantifiable craniosacral system examinations represent a practical approach to the study of relationships between craniosacral system dysfunctions and a variety of health, behavior and performance problems. Other researchers have performed similar studies related to psychiatric disorders and symptomatology in newborns. Again, most of this work has been published. This is but a small portion of the research that has been done to prove the efficacy of therapy upon the craniosacral system.

Today, there are close to 100,000 CranioSacral Therapists around the world – and even more reports of patients helped by its noninvasive techniques. I find it odd that this information counts for nothing in the eyes of some skeptics who continue to proclaim the craniosacral system a fantasy. In any case, the craniosacral system will continue to exist and be used therapeutically with essentially no risk.

Resources

  • Frymann, V.M., Relation Of Disturbances Of Craniosacral Mechanisms To Symptomatology Of The Newborn: A Study Of 1,250 Infants, Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, 65:1059, June, 1966.
  • Retzlaff E.W., et al, Nerve Fibers And Endings In Cranial Sutures Research Report, Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, 77:474-5, 1978.
  • Retzlaff E.W., et al, Possible Functional Significance Of Cranial Bone Sutures, report, 88th Session American Association of Anatomists, 1975.
  • Retzlaff E.W., et al, Structure Of Cranial Bone Sutures, research report, 75:607-8, February 1976.
  • Retzlaff E.W., et al, Sutural Collagenous And Their Innervation In Saimiri Sciurus, Anat. Rec., 187:692, April 1977.
  • Retzlaff E.W., Mitchell FL Jr., The Cranium and its Sutures, Germany: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 1987.
  • Sperino, Guiseppi, Anatomica Humana, 1:202-203, 1931.
  • Upledger, John E., The Reproducibility Of Craniosacral Examination Findings: A Statistical Analysis, Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, 76:890-9, 1977.
  • Upledger, John E., Relationship Of Craniosacral Examination Findings In Grade School Children With Developmental Problems, Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, 77:760-76, 1978.
  • Upledger, John E., Mechano-Electric Patterns During Craniosacral Osteopathic Diagnosis And Treatment, Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, 1979.
  • Upledger, John E. and Jon Vredevoogd, CranioSacral Therapy, Eastland Press, Seattle, Calif., 1983.
  • Upledger, John E., Craniosacral Therapy II: Beyond The Dura, Eastland Press, Seattle, Calif., 1987.
  • Upledger, John E., SomatoEmotional Release And Beyond, UI Publishing, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and North Atlantic Press, Berkeley, Calif., 1990.
  • Woods, J.M., and R.H. Woods, Physical Findings Related To Psychiatric Disorders, Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, 60:988-93, Aug. 1961.

Article taken from: http://www.massagetoday.com/archives/2003/11/11.html

Natural Therapy for Eczema and Dermatitis

Having seen a couple of cases of adult dermatitis and baby eczema I started revising the HPA axis again as during a session I could observe a sense of density and a lack of expression of fluids around the kidney/ supra renal area; in one of the cases I had an awareness of the Pituitary gland starting to have a re-connection to the supra renal area.

This is a very interesting article I’ve found online:

 

Eczema and Dermatitis

Eczema and other dermatitis are common conditions for the Highly Sensitive Body. The cause for this condition is high inflammation and immune responses in the body. The associated factors include toxin accumulation due to low liver and kidney detox function, Candida and Leaky Gut Syndrome, food and environmental allergies as well as malfunction of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal system. For those with chronic eczema all above factors can be involved. Addressing any one of them may not be enough to completely help the situation. A systematic and comprehensive approach such as IBMT is needed to help the body out of the chaotic stage and start the healing process.

Liver Blockage and Toxin Accumulation

Liver blockage is not a biochemical concept, because conventional medical tests usually don’t show abnormality, but a functional issue in the energy level. For most of the time, liver problem is not due to the liver itself but the over accumulation of toxins in the system. Thus helping liver alone may not be very helpful to treat eczema clinically. But liver therapy is necessary to detox the body and is one of the major parts of the program to treat this condition. Here is a list of factors involves the liver and toxin:

  • Alcohol
  • Virus and parasite
  • Medication
  • Toxins: heavy metal, pesticides, additives, chemicals etc
  • Stresses such as emotional stress, anger e.g.
  • Poor sleep

Candida and Leaky Gut Syndrome

Intestinal problem is the major issue for eczema and dermatitis. Most of the eczema patients have intestinal problem no matter if they have the intestinal complaints or not. Toxic colon is the major source of toxins in the body. Candida, bad bacteria and parasites produce toxins and the toxins are recycled back to the system through Leaky Gut and wear out the liver detox function. In the meantime the toxins lead to high inflammation and hypersensitive immune system and cause autoimmune response and skin damages. Fixing digestive system is the major focus in treating eczema and other dermatitis.

Food and Environmental Allergies

For many eczema cases, allergen is so obvious that the root issue can be easily missed and allergy becomes the only cause for eczema. As matter of fact, allergy is only a symptom on the surface of the condition. Many factors contribute and create a base involving toxins, autoimmune response and adrenal malfunction. Without helping the whole body balance, treating allergy alone may not have lasting result. However, allergy can be a clear trigger for the eczema. Identifying, treating and avoiding allergens help the eczema recover faster, while addressing the root issue makes the result lasting.

Common food allergens for eczema include dairy product, egg, wheat and seafood etc. Other foods make eczema worse through other pathways. For example, sugar leads to Candida outbreak; alcohol damages the liver function; spices increases inflammation level etc. Common environmental factors for eczema include household chemicals, fabrics, animal hairs and air pollutions etc. Treating allergies with Immune System Reprogramming helps calming immune system and reducing inflammation and in turn helps eczema outbreak.

Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal System

All of the chronic cases of eczema involve malfunction of the HPA system. Frequent occurring and lasting skin damage indicate the low adrenal function, which causes hypersensitive immune system and low regeneration ability of the skin, respectively. To completely help eczema, HPA system has to be addressed sooner or later. In the later stage of the IBMT, a supporting protocol specifically improving the HPA system, liver and intestinal lining is often used to make sure the eczema will not come back in the future.

Link to original source:

http://www.altmd.com/Specialists/Healing-Highly-Sensitive-Body-and-Mind/Blog/Natural-Therapy-for-Eczema-and-Dermatitis