David Arikian

Questions about Cranio-Sacral Therapy

PREGNANCY  AND  OBSTRETRICS

Q:       Is it safe for me to have Cranio-Sacral Therapy,

now that I am pregnant?

A:           Yes it is safe and it is even more desirable, because Cranio-Sacral Therapy mobilizes and enhances many of the normal adaptional processes of your body.   It is necessary for these processes to be operative during pregnancy.  Cranio-Sacral Therapy can very definitely assist them.

MORNING SICKNESS

In the case of Morning sickness is a common nuisance for expecting mothers, and is something that has baffled doctors for years. However, there is a safe, natural, and effective treatment for nausea and vomiting associated with morning sickness. 

In 1952, believe it or not, it was first reported in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology –
A study of 70 women with mild to severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy took ;

• 5 milligrams of vitamin K3 and
• 25 milligrams of ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

Within three days 64 of the 70 women had completely lost all of their symptoms.

IT  IS  IMPORTANT  that the two vitamins must be taken at the very same time. If they’re taken at different times of day, the treatment doesn’t work at all.

Talk with your doctor about trying this combo to see if it works for you.

NEWBORN AND INFANTS

Q:        How soon can a newborn child be treated with Cranial-Sacral Therapy?

A:           Depending upon the skill of the Cranial-Sacral therapist, the first treatment could be performed within minutes of the obstetrical delivery. The younger the newborn, the more skilled the therapist must be.

The Cranio-Sacral System’s activity is extremely subtle at the time of delivery, but becomes more apparent as the hours of life outside the womb go by. In order to be sure of what they are doing, the Cranio-Sacral Therapist should be able to perceive the Cranial Sacral rhythm of the newborn. Therefore, for one therapist one hour after delivery may be the right time to treat the child. Another therapist with less experience and perceptual development may need to wait a day, a week, a month or even a year.

Q:         Why would I want my newborn child treated?

A: Cranio-Sacral therapy can correct problems in the cranio-sacral system immediately and permanently.   These problems when corrected may avoid the development of

• colic,
• respiratory problems,
• hyperactivity,
• dyslexia,
• seizure disorders,
• floppy baby syndrome,
• allergies

and although not proven yet, I believe it can also thwart many cases of cerebral palsy, scoliosis and dental problems that require orthodontia later in life.    Furthermore, it has been shown that the child’s general health has improved.

Q:         What about cot death?

A:      An evaluation and treatment program was started at Waterville Osteopathic Hospital Maine, U.S.A. in 1976 by Dr. Richard MacDonald D.O. Of the thousands of babies treated to date,  THERE HAVE BEEN NO COT DEATH SITUATIONS.

POST-PARTUM MOTHERS

Q:         How can Cranio-Sacral Therapy help new mothers?

A:            In several ways:-

• It helps to restore hormone balance;
• It helps alleviate post-partum depression;
• It restores normal pelvic function, thus eliminating many post delivery back problems and the like.

CHILDREN

Q:         What kind of problems that children have, does Cranio-Sacral Therapy help?

A:           This is a tremendously broad question, I’ll try to answer based on my own experiences:

1. Allergies
   Respiratory – Cranio-Sacral therapy is very definitely helpful.
   Food – Cranio-Sacral therapy is also helpful when structural problems of the skull are found and released. however there are other reasons for food allergies that are not necessarily affected by Cranio-Sacral therapy.
2. Colic, digestive and elimination problems
   Are corrected by Cranial-Sacral therapy in about 75% of the time, unless they are due to other significant pathological problems.
3. Psychological problems
   Cranio-Sacral therapy enables the therapist to develop trust and rapport with the child very quickly. In this way the emotional problems can be discovered. On the other hand, I have seen several “psychological” problems disappear when a Cranio-Sacral problem was corrected. These problems had no emotional basis. Although appeared to be psychological, they were due to psychological Cranio-Sacral system dysfunction.
4. Hyperactive children
   Are very effectively treated by Cranio-Sacral therapy, when the problem is not emotional in origin. In my experience about 50/60% of hyperactive child problems have a basis in the Cranio-Sacral System.
5. Learning disabilities and dyslexia
   As in the case of hyperactive children, when the problem originated within the Cranio_Sacral System the treatment is very effective. Again about 50/60% of the time.
   
6. Teeth                                                                                                                                  Problems relating to teeth growing out of alignment is usually because the mouth needs adjusting to accommodate the teeth.   This can be easily corrected by adjusting the palate as well as the TMJ very gently.
7. Speech Problems                                                 Speech problems can be corrected by adjusting the TMJ and the bite as well as the palate

Q:       Does Cranio-Sacral Therapy provide benefit for the normal child?

A:          I feel very strongly that Cranial-Sacral Therapy is one of the more powerful and effective health-enhancement treatment program available today.

Q:        I have heard that Cranial-Sacral Therapy can be used in childhood diseases like measles, mumps, chickenpox, etc

A:          My experience has been that Cranio-Sacral therapy can be used to effectively break the fever and ease the child through the crisis in most of those conditions. I believe it bolsters the immune system and mobilizes the automatic nervous system do that the body’s defenses are better used.

Q:        Can it help cross-eyed children?

A:          When the problem is due to a durra mater membrane tension affecting the nerves to the eyes, the results are excellent and dramatic. I have helped several children avoid eye surgery using Cranio-Sacral Therapy techniques.

ADULTS

Q: I do not really have a complaint but I am curious:          could I have Cranio-Sacral therapy?

A:         By all means, I whole-heartedly believe that Cranio-Sacral Therapy on a regular basis no matter how good you feel is some of the best health enhancement activity you can do. You may discover that you feel better than you thought you could. I am sure you would have fewer sick days.

Q:       What can Cranio-Sacral Therapy do for headaches?

A:         Headaches are one of the most common complaints that we treat using Cranial-Sacral Therapy, and it’s offshoots. I would say that we are 80/90% successful no matter what type of headache is presented to us.

Q:       How about chronic back pain?

A:         Once again the success is outstanding when Cranio-Sacral Therapy is used for back pain, (or pain anywhere), including ruptured discs.

We work from the inside (core) out. When the “core” is corrected, the outside (peripheral problem) either corrects itself, or becomes ameniable to conventional treatment.