Struggling With Headaches? This Will Help.
CranioSacral Therapy is amazing! In case you’ve not heard of it before now, CranioSacral Therapy (CST) is a style of bodywork that employs gentle adjustments and manipulations, intending to mobilize the bones of the cranium and spine, releasing restrictions in soft connective tissue throughout the body. CST can decrease pain, improve range of motion, deactivate the adrenal stress response, decrease anxiety, and generate a profound sense of internal peace, typically in a single session. It’s appropriate for people of all ages, from newborns to elders.
Our bodies have a few different rhythms that can be used to assess and evaluate a client’s health. The most well-known rhythms are our heartbeat and breath (respectively the cardiovascular and respiratory rhythms). In CST, practitioners use a client’s craniosacral rhythm to inform us what physical structures require release and mobilization, where areas of increased pain and dysfunction usually have a diminished craniosacral rhythm. The craniosacral rhythm is generated by the brain as it produces and reabsorbs cerebrospinal fluid. Because it involves the brain and spinal cord, this rhythm reflects through the entire body from head to toe.
One area where CST excels is in addressing heaaches and migraines. According to the World Health Organization, up to 1 in 20 people worldwide suffer a daily headache, and up to 1 in 7 people struggle with migraines. Additionally, women are statistically 3 times more likely than men to struggle with headaches and migraines. That means an astonishing number of people, mostly women, grapple with this debilitating condition regularly.
Headaches and migraines typically do not have one single cause. It may be that there is a single trigger that initiates a headache, but the underlying factors and patterns that drive the headache are there even when one’s head doesn’t hurt. Underlying factors can include poor (jammed) alignment of cranial bones, accidents/ traumas, longstanding dehydration, dental trauma, sleep habits, emotional anxiety, stress level, chronic inflammation, sinus issues, allergies, neck pain, repetitive motion, etc. Other influences that come from sharing medical history may include old accidents, orthodontic braces, medications and more. By looking at a client’s individual picture of health and tailoring a treatment plan that addresses the contributing triggers and factors, CST can offer a high degree of success in reducing and releasing headaches and migraines.
