Cranial Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine Specialists of Maine

Opening Hours : Monday to Thursday - 8am to 5pm
  Contact : (207) 782-2223

Cranial Osteopathy

Osteopathic Medicine was founded on the principle that a person is one whole functional unit - body, mind, and spirit. Structure (anatomy) and function (physiology) are seen as united and inseparable, and the power and the wisdom for healing come from within the patient. Dysfunction, as defined in osteopathic medicine as restricted movement within the normal range of motion, in any one part of the body will produce a pattern of compensation in all other parts. In other words if one part isn’t moving properly most other parts will have to alter their normal movement to accommodate for this change. In order to address a primary dysfunction anywhere in the body, the physician must address all the compensatory mechanisms of the dysfunction in order to restore normal function to the whole. For example, a cranial strain pattern is influenced by fascial connections through the longitudinal spinal ligaments and related fascias including the thoracic and pelvic diaphragms. To ensure freedom of movement of the longitudinal ligaments and related structures, osteopathic treatment of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar regions, as well as the sacrum and pelvis is required. Somatic dysfunction is often the result of visceral dysfunction through viscerosomatic reflexes. Therefore, it is important to address the cranial base, cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacral regions in order to address the autonomic influence of organ dysfunctions on somatic dysfunction. With a primary complaint of the musculoskeletal system or a systemic condition, the physician is to consider the region of the complaint, as well as compensatory mechanisms in any other region in order to restore normal function to the whole. For instance, to ensure a normal range of motion in the thoracic spine, or shoulder, addressing restrictions of ribs is also necessary. Restoring normal motion to the ribs may require restoring normal motion to the thoracic and pelvic diaphragms as well as the temporal bones in the cranium. With a primary complaint in the upper extremity, the cranial, cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral and pelvic regions must be addressed, due to anatomical connections and compensatory patterns that set up in these regions. For example, the cervical and upper thoracic nerves passing through fascial layers of the thoracic inlet and neck extend through the shoulder into the upper extremity. Treatment of the interosseous membrane between the Radius and Ulna of the upper extremity and the various fascial compartments, as well as the ligamentous articular mechanism of the hand, wrist, elbow and shoulder, help improve range of motion of the cervical spine. In other words fascias as well as ligamentous articular structures of the hand, wrist, forearm, elbow, arm, shoulder and neck work as a functional unit in relation to the whole. With a primary complaint in the lower extremity, we must consider the direct relationship between the pelvic diaphragm, the fascias of the leg, interosseous membrane between the Tibia and Fibula and the plantar fascias, through the ligamentous articular mechanisms of the hip, knee, ankle and foot. In this way, the plantar fascias of the feet are connected through the lower extremity to the pelvis, pelvic diaphragm, thoracic diaphragms and the cranial membranes.

Osteopathic medicine is to some extent an oral tradition. It has been handed down from teacher to student since Dr. A.T. Still founded the first school of osteopathy in 1890. This continues to be done in one-on-one training sessions. The student has their hands on a fellow student, while the teacher who has an understanding of Dr. Still’s philosophy tries to impart an experience that integrates the philosophy with anatomy and physiology. This is of course done in the setting where the student is immersed in studying embryology, anatomy, physiology. Students of osteopathic medicine are given a wide range of manipulative techniques along with Dr. Stills philosophy. Each osteopathic physician gravitates to whichever approach is most suited to their understanding of Dr. Still’s philosophy. The manipulative techniques that have developed over the years are active or direct and some very passive or indirect. They are all designed to try to bring the body to a point of balance where the inherent forces within the body can begin to express Health.
My interest has primarily been in Dr. William Garner Sutherlands Cranial Concept. Dr. Sutherland was a student of Dr. Still. While he was a student, he was observing a disarticulated, mounted skull, like the one pictured here. While observing the beveling where the bones come together (sutures). He became impressed that these beveled sutures display a design for motion. As he himself put it, he was struck by the thought “beveled like the gills of the fish indicating a primary respiratory mechanism”
Dr. Sutherland, after 30 years of studying this mechanism, was able to demonstrate to his students that there is within the body a mechanism endowed with an inherent motion and driven by the Breath of Life. Dr. Sutherland referred to this as the Primary Respiratory Mechanism, or Primary Respiration. He did not take credit for discovering this. He said, in one of his lectures; “Study the life principal and come closer to understanding what I mean by the ‘Breath of Life.’ Dr. Still did his very best to introduce us to this phenomenon, but we were not ready for it.” “If you read the writings of Dr. Andrew Taylor still carefully, even between the lines, you will find that his thinking was along the same lines. You will find that the cranial concept in the science of osteopathy was his, not mine.” Dr. Sutherland said, “the goal of treatment is to assist the innate forces of the body to find Health and normalize function by allowing the anatomico-physiologic forces within the patient to manifest their own unerring potency.”
As the body moves through different stages of healing and restrictions to the normal expression of movement have been removed, we come to a stage where “All the fluid/tissues become one single entity, one fluid/tissue wave, all responding simultaneously to this unerring potency.”  Once we achieve this point of balanced tension within the body, it is then free to begin a therapeutic process that can continue for days or even weeks.

 
 

“A thought strikes him that the cerebro-spinal fluid
is one of the highest known elements that are contained in the body,
and unless the brain furnishes this fluid in abundance,
a disabled condition of the body will remain.”

A. T. Still

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