Children's Cranial Network

Welcome

Brenda — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:51:21 +0000

Welcome to the Children’s Cranial Network. Here you will find information on many topics pertaining to CranioSacral Therapy with children and infants. If you have any questions regarding these posts feel free to contact any of the authors on the authors list. Thank you for your interest and we hope we were able to answer some of your questions or lead you to somewhere of help. Brenda

CranioSacral Therapy and Vision

Brenda — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 23:36:30 +0000

Vision changes in children can be helped by CranioSacral Therapy. Vision changes can occur after trauma whether the cause is physical such as a head injury or emotional such as witnessing a traumatic event.

“Disruptions in visual processing are characteristic of students who have been traumatized. For many who have witnessed or been involved in the horror of a violent attack or an accident, the wide eyed look of terror remains as if frozen in time. ….. Often traumatized students are labelled learning disabled or dyslexic because of the lack of ability to track smoothly with both eyes.” from Trauma Through a Child’s Eyes by Peter A. Levine and Maggie Kline.

Vision changes can also occur at times of anxiety in children’s lives. Meir Schneider notes in his book The Handbook of Self Healing that a common period for vision change occurs around the third grade when schoolwork becomes harder and frustrating for some but also boring for others. The next period of vision change occurs during adolescence which is a time of increased stress and lack of clarity surrounding their future.

Eyebody: The Art of Integrating Eye, Brain and Body by Peter Grunwald takes an indepth look at how vision and each part of the visual system relates to emotions as well as the physical body.

All three books offer ways to work with the visual system to improve eyesight. Bodywork such as CranioSacral Therapy combined with eye exercises as outlined in these books can produce significant improvement in eyesight. By reducing stress levels and relaxing muscle tone and tightness in the whole body as well as freeing restrictions of cranial bones promotes an improved, relaxed use of the visual system.

Check out this site for information on a book to help children’s vision :

http://www.janetgoodrichmethod.com/vision-improvement-products.html

Before increasing your child’s or your own eyeglass prescription consider the above resources.

Parents and CranioSacral Therapy

Brenda — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 16:14:58 +0000

In my post a few back I noted that it is not always possible for parents to explore CranioSacral Therapy for themselves before sending their children. This may occur when your child has an acute problem that needs to be helped fairly quickly such as an ear infection or a fall.

I would also like parents to consider that for more chronic problems it can be important for the parent to receive treatment as well as the child. Children do not live in isolation, they live in families and absorb the stresses and joys of family living. They absorb the parent’s fears for their well being without fully understanding what the issues are. Stress and fear are the last things you want to pass on to your children.

By receiving CranioSacral Therapy treatment for yourself as a parent you can:

reduce your own stress
pass on less stress to family members
learn more about your self and your body
reduce chronic pain and habits
develop more tolerance for dealing with life’s stress

How many appointments do I need ? Many people like to sample different types of treatments only to say “this isn’t working for me” after one or two sessions despite the fact that the problem has been years in the making. They may think “this treatment is not taking me to a deeper level” as they jump in their car after treatment to race back to their hectic life.

“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint”. Mark Twain

It is never too late to commit to some form of self development. Exploring different therapies, books, programs and researching them makes sense. But at some point you have to get over your fear of change, leave the comfortable behind and commit to doing instead of researching. I read a great story of a shop who put a sign and a bowl on the check out desk with the sign saying “if you fear change, leave it here” : the bowl was full.

There are costs and risks to a program of action, but they are far less than the long range risks and costs of comfortable inaction. — John F. Kennedy

Everything you do to make your life simpler and clearer and reduce your own pain and stress will affect your whole family in a positive way. Instead of increasing your multitasking abilities, take some time for yourself. This will help your child through example, through seeing their parents care for themselves in a positive way, seeing that change is possible.

Children with chronic health problems, social problems or school problems need their parents to be calm and clear to help them without emotions getting in the way.

Primitive Reflexes in Infancy

Brenda — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:04:35 +0000

Primitive reflexes are involuntary muscle reactions to certain types of stimulation found in the normal infant that appear and disappear in an expected order. These reflexes differ markedly from those present in children and adults and their absence in infancy or persistence beyond their time of expected disappearance normally implies some nervous system dysfunction. With the development of the baby’s brain and nervous system, these reflexes are no longer needed and become integrated by the higher centers of the brain. If they are retained beyond their normal age of integration, they may become a hindrance to the functioning of higher centres of the brain, which include balance, movement, behaviour, learning, integration of gross and fine movements and more.
Retained primitive reflexes may have a structural component, or physical cause, which may be effectively treated by CranioSacral therapy. Treatment of structural imbalances of the head, spine and pelvis may normalize healthy functioning of the central nervous system which is responsible for the sequential integration of the primitive reflexes. CranioSacral Therapy is effective at strengthening motor coordination, sensory perception, and neuromuscular function. A multi-disciplinary approach to correct retained primitive reflexes is also required such as neuro-developmental therapy, brain gym, etc.

Helping a Child Raise a Poor Self-Image: A CranioSacral Therapy Case Profile

Brenda — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 15:11:01 +0000

Danny* was 10 years old and in the 6th grade when he first came to my office in February of 2000. He was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was in the 3rd grade. Although he was schooled in a regular classroom, he spent 50% of his time with Resource Assistance.

Emotionally, Danny had a poor self-image. He was bullied and teased on the school playground, and he often got punished for outbursts of anger and retaliation. His attention span was short, he had poor fine-motor skills, his balance and coordination were off, and he had eczema covering his knees, elbows, scalp and eyebrows.

Danny’s mother had been in a motor-vehicle accident toward the end of her ninth month of pregnancy, which promoted false labour. Danny was stuck in the birth canal for two weeks. Later, when he was 4 years old, Danny had his adenoids removed due to continuous sinus and allergy problems. Neck pain was a common complaint.

Danny ‘s dural tube had a strong pull superiorly with L5-S1 compression. The sacrum torsioned toward the right, with the right ASIS anterior and superior. It was sometimes difficult for Danny to be in one position for long, but we were able to balance the maxilla with the sphenoid, which were in the opposite CSR range of motion. The maxilla also revealed a flexion lesion with right torsion and compression. I addressed the imbalance of the hyoid and the abnormal tension of the hyoidal musculature.

Therapy Produces Measurable Results

In January of 2001, Danny’s mom happily informed me that he had gotten his best report card ever. His attention span had improved and his marks had risen dramatically. Upon arcing to the solar plexus and through therapeutic imagery and dialogue, Danny changed the rough waves that he “saw” and felt to the stillness of a calm lake.

His resulting behavioral changes were noticeable. He no longer let the teasing on the playground affect him, and he was better able to avoid confrontational situations.

During one visit Danny and I began to visualize while working on the cranial bones. It was here that we dialogued with “Thaffle” who said that he wasn’t in the right place. Thaffle said that he had to move over to let “Prickly” reroute. After we finished rerouting Prickly, there was tissue softening and a feeling of reorganization.

I didn’t attempt to analyze what had occurred, but when talking to Danny’s mother at the next visit, she mentioned how much Danny’s small motor control movement had improved, and that his handwriting was more legible.

His mom saved money on antibiotics as Danny no longer needed them for continuous colds and sinus congestion. The Claritin that he generally took for six months every year was also no longer needed.

June of 2003 was Danny’s last visit for CranioSacral Therapy. He has since begun playing the guitar and he reads music. He also belongs to a rock-and-roll band with some friends.

*Name changed in order to protect confidentiality.

“ShareCare” workshops have been specifically designed to provide parents and caregivers with a few simple CranioSacral Therapy techniques. These skills will help develop an appreciation for your own ability to heal, and will help your children/family members in between appointments.

What Does a CranioSacral Therapy Treatment Feel Like?

Brenda — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:09:50 +0000

As a parent or caregiver you may wonder what a CranioSacral Therapy session feels like before sending your child to a therapist. Obviously, experiencing a few sessions yourself is ideal but his is not always possible.

When you are in pain, have muscle spasms, or are not feeling or functioning well your body automatically tries to protect the area that is in discomfort. And we over think the whole issue, spending hours repeating thought of the past, present and future of our condition. Over time this becomes habit and we can lose sight of how we moved and functioned originally.

Imagine being out for a walk on a dark night. Suddenly, the lights go out and with no moonlight it is pitch black. Your first thought is “I don’t know where I am.” You feel disconnected from your body and are not sure how to proceed. When unwell it is as if the lights have gone out in our bodies. We move automatically, repeating movements and holding postures that are restricting, compressing, strained and inefficient. Sounds like hard work!

To me a CranioSacral Therapy session is like shining a light onto and into yourself. The therapist’s hands gently point out the obstacles in your path through the dark. You can then slowly navigate your tight and painful areas to slowly freeing up a pathway so that you can once again move and function easily. Noticing and acknowledging where you are restricted is the first step. Trusting your body and the hands that support you allows options to emerge. You can shine a light on this area to acknowledge, soften, allow movement and relax tension in order to orient yourself to your feelings.

Once you shine your light on yourself, creating space and a clear path, then you can shine your light ahead of you to navigate through life’s obstacles with ease.

Where Do Restrictions to the CranioSacral System Come From

Brenda — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:34:14 +0000

Where do problems that respond well to CranioSacral Therapy treament originate? How can infants and children have physical restrictions?

A few entries in our blog have spoken of birth injuries. Being born is not always easy. Everyone has heard a horror story or two about the birth process. The infant can be affected by maternal medications, a long slow birth, a fast, explosive birth, cesarean section surgery, difficult presentations. Being born has been referred to your first CranioSacral Therapy treatment and I have also heard it referred to your first chiropractic treatment. The movement through the birth canal with its squeezing, moving, twisting, pressing, and final emerging puts the whole infant’s body through a rigorous treatment from head to toe. If that process is interrupted or intruded upon in any way the infant can be left with physical trauma that cannot be seen but can affect the development of the infant and young child.

CranioSacral Therapy can help both the well baby with minor complaints around feeding, movement, or development as well as those infants with more troublesome difficulties around development of motor skills, feeding and sleep.

As the child grows physical injuries can be encountered as they make their way up and into sitting, cruising and walking. All children experience their share of bumps and falls, some more serious than others. Preverbal children may cry and move on with problems arising at a later time, apparently unrelated to the origininal fall.

As the child becomes more aware of their surroundings they begin to immitate the adults in their lives. This can include imitating postures, habits, ways of moving and walking and being in the world. Have you ever seen a father and son who look alike, speak alike, stand alike and move alike?

On and into school. Long hours at a desk, carrying heavy backpacks, sports, extracurricular activities, computer use, slouching in front of the TV……… habits develop and carry forward. Add in mild traumas we all experience: invasive dentistry, braces, surgeries, illnesses, stress and emotional trials. Children have lots of reasons to have restrictions in their bodies.

Physical restricitions respond particularly well to CranioSacral Therapy as it gently releases and balances soft tissues, cranial bones and spinal column restrictions releasing strain on nerves, blood vessels and the lymph system.

CranioSacral Therapy and Teens

Brenda — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:12:50 +0000

CranioSacral Therapy can help your teen become more balanced. We all know that today’s teens are under pressure at home, school, work and socially. When your teen is out of balance they experience pain, suffering, overwhelm and turmoil that persists. Habits can turn into obsessions. They struggle with being scattered, tuned out, unaware or over sensitive, angry and perhaps hurtful and sarcastic.

Teens spend a lot of time with external stimulation. Their senses are constantly searching through music, telephones, and computers. Some teens appear to thrive on being constantly busy and multitasking but what is going on inside? The time spent with searching externally needs to be balanced with time going within where sensory stimulation is minimized. This centering process brings to you a sense of feeling grounded, feeling comfortable in your surroundings and in your body.

CranioSacral Therapy is one way to help your teen learn how to slow down and quiet the mind. Turning their focus inwards on body tensions and discomforts helps them to recognize the difference between tension and being relaxed. They become more aware of how tension affects them and their emotions. The therapist objectively supports this by reflecting back to them the difference between holding on and letting go. This helps them learn to listen to what their bodies are communicating to them. As one of my instructors noted you can find the soft marshmallow center under even the hardest teenage armour.

What a wonderful resource-to learn how the world affects us when we are out of balance and be able to let go of our tensions. This brings us home to a more natural calm state. CranioSacral Therapy brings one back to that wonderful place of being that we thrived in before the world told us differently.

Treatment with CranioSacral Therapy for Infant Neck Stiffness

Brenda — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:03:28 +0000

I treated a small child of 6 months who would not turn his head to the left side. This was picked up by a nurse when the parents attended a well-baby clinic. In spite of the mother following the recommendation of rearranging stimuli to the baby’s left side and moving the crib so the parents approached the baby from the left, the child still would not turn it’s head to the left.

Someone recommended Cranio-Sacral Therapy to the mother and the baby was brought to see me. The mother was on the right side of the baby and I was on the left, with one hand under the baby’s head and the other under his sacrum. The baby almost immediately started to stretch his body and wave his arms to and fro, and then turned his head completely to the left to look at me. It seemed effortless. This continued for a few minutes, the baby turning to right and left with no difficulty! Follow- up showed that the problem remained solved.

The benefit of Cranio-Sacral Therapy is often immediate like in this example. What a great feeling for the therapist as well as the worried mother!

How can CranioSacral Therapy benefit babies and children?

Brenda — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:30:30 +0000

Babies

It is commonly believed that babies and children should be free of structural imbalances in their bodies due to their youth. In reality, signs of physical and neurological stress and strain may be evident from birth onwards. Birth itself is a highly stimulating journey with many twists and turns and compressions as the baby comes through the bony pelvis. The baby’s head is designed to withstand these forces in a normal delivery. The infant’s skull bones overlap and bend to reduce the size of the head as it descends. At birth the infant skull commonly looks misshapen which gradually self-corrects in the first days after life assisted by yawning, suckling and crying. The cranial unmoulding process may not resolve completely in more difficult births, resulting in the baby living with head and body stresses and strains. Some babies appear to cope happily with these strains in their system, but others present a variety of problems including:

Feeding Difficulties.

Breastfeeding latch problems may be evident due to mechanical stresses throughout the head, face and throat. Difficult or uncoordinated sucking can occur due to the nerves to the tongue and face being irritated.

Colic & Reflux.

Bouts of prolonged crying from colic and gas and regurgitation of milk may be signs of irritated nerves to the stomach and digestive system. If the vagus nerve to the stomach, which exits from the base of the skull, is irritated, it can impair digestion. The diaphragm, upper chest and throat may be distorted or under strain from the birthing process which can impede digestion and retaining contents of stomach.

Sleep Disturbances.

Tension in a baby’s nervous system and strain on the membranes of the head may lead to over-stimulation, or being overly alert. This may result in restless sleep, or very brief patterns of sleep, with baby appearing “jumpy”.

Children

A growing child may have unresolved physical strain problems from birth or have developed new patterns of strain from childhood injuries or trauma.

Ear Infections.

Fluid drainage from the ear with blockage in the Eustachian tube can lead to recurrent ear infections. This may be caused from unresolved cranial molding leading to compression of the bones and membranes of the ear impeding fluid drainage. Infections may never fully resolve leading to persistent, chronic ear infections with a compromised immune system.

Learning Difficulties.

Poor concentration, fidgeting and hyper-activity may all be the result of a nervous system under stress. Cranial compression can feel uncomfortable leading to a child wanting to move to find more comfortable positions; over time, restlessness becomes a habit. Severe compression can affect normal patterns of learning.

Dental and Sinus Problems.

Blocked or running nose can result from impaired drainage of the sinuses and bones of the face from mechanically imbalanced cranial bones. Dental crowding and mouth breathing can also be addressed by getting at the underlying patterns of bony distortion from infancy or childhood injuries.

Headaches.

Areas of focused pressure in the skull may begin around age 7 as the joints of the skull fully form. Patterns of retained tension in areas of the body may manifest as head pain or headaches and fatigue.

Other childhood problems which may benefit from CranioSacral therapy:

Asthma

Poor immune functioning/ chronic infections

Special needs (Cerebral Palsy, Down’s Syndrome, etc)

Growing pains

Autism and Autism spectrum disorders

CranioSacral treatment is gentle, safe and effective for babies and children. The natural ability of the body to release held patterns of stress is assisted by light pressure applied specifically where necessary.

Often after a treatment the baby or child is very relaxed and may sleep well. Reactions to treatment are variable; some children display a temporary burst of energy or unsettled behaviour for the first 24-48 hours.