Osteopathic Cranial Manipulative medicine

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Mruss
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Osteopathic Cranial Manipulative medicine

Post by Mruss »

Both of my parents are living with dementia, my dad confirmed Alzheimer's (he likely accelerated his decline by refusing to go to the hospital, as well as seek treatment of any kind following a head injury he sustained 5 years ago). He is well into stage 6 by what I saw on a recent visit. My mom is undiagnosed but genetically speaking and based on what I observe in person and in phone chats, she too is most likely in the Alzheimer's category of dementia.

What is most upsetting is that about 5 years ago I had a 30-minute phone conversation with a Traditional Osteopath (all manual medicine) who specialized in Cranial Mobilization for brain injury (including ALZ patients), and he lived IN DAYTON OH about a 15 min drive from my parents. I excitedly told them about the conversation I had with the Doctor, and that the doctor would see my dad. For whatever their reasons, they chose not to follow up and consult him... and the rest is history. Frustrating doesn't begin to touch on how I feel about them making the wide variety of health degrading choices they each have made for many years, and then also choosing to not fight back with everything at their disposal with they had the chance.

I am a retired Occupational Therapist and traditional Osteopathic Manual Therapist (Canadian trained). Part of my Osteopathic practice included providing Osteopathic Cranial Mobilization (not to be confused with "craniosacral therapy" aka Barnes & Upledger style, similar, but also completely different). I'm 58, APOE 4/4, and will not go quietly, if I go at all, into the cloud of active Alzheimer's. And because there are people on this site, I know that you all feel the same. With that in mind, I thought I'd share this from a study I recently found:

Osteopathic cranial manipulative medicine and the blood-brain barrier: A mechanistic approach to Alzheimer prevention
M McAree, A Dunn, J Furtado… - Journal of Osteopathic …, 2019 - degruyter.com

Two things in this source that I find exciting and very interesting:
1. (Braskie et al.) "...after cranial technique (specifically the CV-4) MRI scans showed increased functional activity in the middle temporal lobe".
(btw, the temporal lobe is highly involved in memory functions).

2. "...Based on the literature reviewed and the epidemiologic severity of AD, we strongly believe that the CV-4 technique should be explored as a means of prevention in persons with a family history of or predisposition to the disease."
(CV-4 is an Osteopathic Cranial technique I know well, performed more times than I can count, and received it just as many. Among other effects people experience after treatment... it leaves the mind feeling more clear, centered, calm, and focused, and overall leaves the body feeling calmer and at ease.

I find this very exciting and hopeful research and look forward to more being researched in the impact of OCMM on Alzheimer's.

Take care and thank you for listening if you made it down to this line!😉🙂
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TheresaB
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Re: Osteopathic Cranial Manipulative medicine

Post by TheresaB »

Thank you for sharing this info on the osteopathic cranial therapy.

But regarding your parents;
Mruss wrote: Mon Jan 10, 2022 2:45 pm For whatever their reasons, they chose not to follow up and consult him... and the rest is history. Frustrating doesn't begin to touch on how I feel about them making the wide variety of health degrading choices they each have made for many years, and then also choosing to not fight back with everything at their disposal with they had the chance.
I was sad to read this, but can relate. I've heard story after story like this and I have one of my own. Almost 8 years ago I learned my 4/4 status and the risks associated. I shared this info with my older siblings (parents had already passed). After all, if I was a 4/4, chances were very good that my siblings had at least one ε4. I also shared my association with this group, ApoE4.info, and the dietary/lifestyle changes I had made. I knew I couldn't force them to change but I would often bring the subject up hoping they'd bite. Well, now two of my three older siblings have cognitive issues and need help with everyday things.

We (not you and me, but globally) need a better message to be sent that prevention (or at least delay) is possible! Maybe if there had been more voices besides just mine and yours, our loved ones might have listened. I just wanted to write thanks and express my sympathy.
-Theresa
ApoE 4/4
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floramaria
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Re: Osteopathic Cranial Manipulative medicine

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Mruss wrote: Mon Jan 10, 2022 2:45 pm Part of my Osteopathic practice included providing Osteopathic Cranial Mobilization (not to be confused with "craniosacral therapy" aka Barnes & Upledger style, similar, but also completely different).
Osteopathic cranial manipulative medicine and the blood-brain barrier: A mechanistic approach to Alzheimer prevention
M McAree, A Dunn, J Furtado… - Journal of Osteopathic …, 2019 - degruyter.com
I find this very exciting and hopeful research and look forward to more being researched in the impact of OCMM on Alzheimer's.

Take care and thank you for listening if you made it down to this line!😉🙂
Hello, Mruss, thank you for your post sharing this exciting approach and for making the distinction between Osteopathic Cranial Mobilization and craniosacral therapy; I'd only heard of the second.
If you wouldn't mind elaborating, in what way are the two techniques different?

I also understand your frustration at not being able to help your dad. One of my dearest friends requires 24 hour care in an Alzheimer's facility. It was and is heartbreaking to me that when she began to experience cognitive issues, neither she nor her husband were at all interested in taking steps to halt or reverse her decline.
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Re: Osteopathic Cranial Manipulative medicine

Post by Mruss »

Hi Floramarie, I apologize for the delay in answering. First, I'm so sorry to hear about your dear friend, I don't have sufficient words😔 so I'm sending a warm virtual hug of support.

In case others who read this post are unfamiliar, I'll give a super short history of OCM (Osteopathic Cranial Mobilization).
In the very late 1800s, Cranial Osteopathy was founded by a D.O (William Garner Sutherland) who experimented with his own head mobilizing his cranial bones with a contraption he created using tension straps, a bowl, and catchers mitt. He wanted to learn the effects of various compression forces on the sutures (in retrospect,🤔😳maybe not a good idea!? LoL). As a student, Sutherland discovered that the sutures of the skull were not immobile or "fused". Rather they were beveled together "like the gills of a fish", this implied there was mobility in the sutures between all of the skull bones (this mobility is still not recognized by the majority of medical fields). This is not mobility as we know it when bending, say, an elbow, it's far more subtle. In OCM we often call that motion, motility. Every structure of the body and skull has its own unique motion/motility.

OCM was not discovered by Upledger, his Craniosacral Therapy (CST) approach was created very recently in comparison, to the best of my knowledge coming on board sometime in the '70s. While CST addresses the same (cranial) structures, the way those structures are addressed is different. And the way the bones move is seen differently, especially the motion of paired bones such as the temporal bones.

There are a number of differences between OCM and CST but I'll just hit on 3 from CST that really stand out for me:
1. CST approach does not recognize the separate motilities/motions of each individual cranial bone. This means the totality of individual(unique) motions of each bone, and the relationships of those motions with neighboring structures, couldn't be addressed in treatment. This is especially concerning to me when it comes to the Temporal bones. Due to their critical role in housing structures related to balance, these bones need to move normally as individuals as well as in relationship with each other as the pair they are. Treating 1 temporal and not integrating its motion back with its paired partner (the other temporal) can leave a patient with significant problems (ie. dizziness & nausea). This is very concerning to me & others trained in OCM.

2. Regarding the "touch"/palpation style... An Osteopathic classmate & colleague of mine, who was also an Upledger course TA, described the touch used in performing CST techniques as "extremely light". This extremely light touch is very calming but can make it very difficult to resolve cranial suture dysfunctions such as compaction (where the suture is truly stuck with or even overlapping its neighboring cranial bone). Suture compactions happen for many reasons, some originate from the birthing process, others from traumas throughout life. These traumatic dysfunctions need more than a feather-light touch in order to return to their normal position and motion.

3. Fulcrums of motion are not recognized therefore not taught.
Fulcrums of motion are the axes around which each cranial bone has its normal/natural movement. Fulcrums are the reference point for the Therapist to evaluate the quality & amount of motion present, and whether that motion is normal or not normal (aka physiological or non-physiological). We also use fulcrums to assess whether the motion is synchronized with the neighboring bones. This is an especially important component of treatment when it comes to paired bones like the Temporal bones. Knowing the physiological motion of the Temporal bones is critical in treating a patient with a history of head injury or whiplash.

I'm in no way dishonoring the benefits many have experienced via Upledger CST! It's wonderful, I have PT friends who do beautiful work using CST. It is important though to note there are differences in the training between traditional OCM and Upledger CST, the 3 listed are just most notable for me.

Everything in the body comes around to the fact that "structure governs function". The healthy function of the brain and the free flow of all of the fluids therein is directly influenced by the position and free movement of all of those skull bones, sutures, and the motion relationships with the paired bones.

Your question is a good one and tough to summarize, I sincerely hope this answers your question and was not overly confusing!!
For me, the 3 things listed up there stand out as the biggest differences.
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floramaria
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Re: Osteopathic Cranial Manipulative medicine

Post by floramaria »

Mruss wrote: Thu Jan 13, 2022 2:10 pm First, I'm so sorry to hear about your dear friend, I don't have sufficient words😔 so I'm sending a warm virtual hug of support.
In case others who read this post are unfamiliar, I'll give a super short history of OCM (Osteopathic Cranial Mobilization).
Hello, Mruss. what an excellent summary of the differences between OCM and CST. Who knew? Well, YOU, obviously! Fascinating, and not confusing at all. I am grateful that you took the time to explain the most notable differences between the two and loved your including historic detail on how Sutherland experimented on his own head!
Thanks also for you expression of support regarding my dear friend.
best wishes~ floramaria
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Re: Osteopathic Cranial Manipulative medicine

Post by Mruss »

Floramaria, I'm so glad you found it helpful!

And I realize I didn't communicate 1 thing properly, I apologize... Cranial Mobilization is SO cool to me & my brain got ahead of itself! 😆
Regarding the 'mobility' at the sutures of all of the cranial bones... I termed it "motility" but that is not what it is, motility is different. Motility is the living vitality within the structure of the bones matter itself. Whereas the motion of at the sutures, is the pliability, a give, a yielding between the 2 bones.

Best wishes back to you🙂, Mruss
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