Archive for Neuromuscular Therapy

Cranial Base Compression in a First Time Client

February 13, 2021 No comments

Cranial Base Compression — a functional approach to leg pain

Compare cranial base compression with functional resting head position.
Cranial Base Compression affects
whole body posture!

A first-time neuromuscular therapy client came in for an initial visit this past week. Part of her issue stemmed from cranial base compression. It was an interesting presentation, and I thought it might be cool to share. I won’t share identifying information; none of the pictures you see here is my client.

Her current main concern is discomfort in her legs. She has had past neck and head issues, but they aren’t bothering her right now. She is quite aware of what’s going on in her body, has some training in a health-related field, and wants to get better.

We started with a postural assessment. “Oh good!” she said. “Nobody has done that yet.”

There were two clear patterns impacting her situation, and she could feel them when I brought them to her attention. Right now, I’m just going to talk about one. Her knee joints were hyperextended — the knee joints were behind her center of gravity line. That’s a problem. It’s an indicator of something “off,” a risk factor for future joint dysfunction, and part of her symptom picture.

A functional approach to resolving pain

Looking down at our devices can contribute to a head forward position.
How much time do you spend
with your head in this position?

Our bodies are very smart. If one major body part is *behind* the center of gravity, you can be pretty sure there is a compensating part somewhere up the chain, most likely *in front of* the center of gravity.

In my client’s case, her head and neck were forward. This is pretty common, especially for people who spend time on phones, computers, and such. Which is nearly all of us these days. Maybe even you?

Compression in the lowest part of the back of the head can be part of the puzzle in this type of situation. It was for my new client. Where our head meets our neck. We refer to that as cranial base compression. It can also contribute to other issues, by the way: headaches, neck pain, back pain, dizziness, and so on. Depends on what else is going on for that person.

Let’s look at some pictures. See how this person’s chin is oriented “up” toward the ceiling and there’s lots of space between her neck and the floor?

Compressed cranial base position
Compressed cranial base position

And in the second picture, the person’s chin / head is more level. Her neck is much closer to the floor without a big gap. This orientation is our goal.

Functional cranial base position
Functional Cranial Base Position

Cranial base compression and neck range of motion

When we first started the session, my client was unable to perform the motion of moving her neck back towards the flat surface she was lying on. She understood what I was asking her to do, she just couldn’t create the motion. I was confident she’d be able to get it back. As we worked and the compression began to decrease, she regained the ability to move her neck in that dimension. She was pretty excited!

So we continued to some other areas and ultimately finished up the session. How did this impact her main goal of more comfortable legs? Well, when she stood up after we were finished, I asked her to sense any differences in how she felt in terms of stability and balance.

She smiled & said, “My knees feel like they don’t extend back so much!” This was our goal! 🙂

The main thing we did in her session to impact that was address cranial base compression. Her head was less forward, and therefore her knees didn’t need to offset that balance as much. That will take stress off her leg muscles and knee / hip / ankle joints.

Assess. Find the reason. Help the body maintain balance.

See where I’m going with this? If we had not addressed that cranial base compression, any progress we made by working on her lower body / legs would have been short-lived, because we would have ignored the reason behind the muscle imbalance. This is an example of functional health care. One of our main goals is to restore proper function to the body, in as many domains as possible, so that its own wisdom will kick in and help the person maintain any changes we make.

There’s a bit more to to the story here, and so we will continue addressing some other factors in the coming weeks.

As a certified neuromuscular therapist since 1994, this is how I think. It applies to way more body variations than just compression of the cranial base. It’s the same type of thinking that goes into my functional health consulting work. Assess, and then address the reasons why the body is out of sorts — don’t just chase symptoms.

This particular situation is fairly easy to illustrate so you can see it. I hope you found the example helpful!

I am currently accepting new Neuromuscular Therapy clients. If you’re able to come for in-person appointments in my area (north central North Dakota) and would like to explore how this type of work might help you in your personal situation, feel free to email me: wellnessimages@gmail.com .

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Migraine Headaches — Structural Factors, Functional Health

May 15, 2018 No comments

Migraine headaches — functional health

In the functional health world, we have many approaches to addressing chronic, debilitating headaches. Even migraine headaches. There are so many factors that can contribute!

  • Hormone imbalance
  • Nutrient imbalance
  • Build-up of chemical toxins, biotoxins, heavy metals
  • Sludgy liver function
  • Gut dysbiosis
  • Food sensitivities
  • Mood issues
  • Insomnia
  • And so on…

Most of us, headaches or no, will feel better after clearing those factors. But what if you’ve done it all? You’re eating clean, your liver function is seamless, and your gut microbiome is the envy of all you meet.

And yet you still have headaches. Bad headaches. Lots of them.

Let’s not forget mechanics.

It’s true. Mechanical factors can play heavily into a serious headache pattern. No amount of clean eating is likely to unseat them. You need a different approach.

Migraine Headaches, Functional Health

Could cranial misalignment be a factor in your headaches?

 

Check out this graphic for just a few possible ways that cranial / cervical alignment may be impacting your migraine headaches.

  • Look at the royal blue arrow, #43. That’s the internal jugular vein, depicted on the left only as it is not visible on the right. For this person, venous return of blood from the head must have been compromised.
  • Now look at the red arrows, the mandible or lower jaw.
  • And then the light green arrows, the transverse processes of the atlas (C1 vertebra).
  • Notice how the relationship of these structures is very different on the right and left sides of the body. Oops!
  • Look at the yellow arrows, the medial pterygoid muscle, which contributes to closing the jaw.
  • Look closely at the muscle position on the right side of the picture. See how it’s compressed between the two bones? Did this person have a TMJ issue? Yes.
  • Look at #24. It’s the spine of the C1 vertebra. Notice it’s off center.
  • Finally, check out the difference in the tissue health of the two obliquus capitis inferior muscles (light blue arrows). See how the one on the left is more fibrous than the one on the right, due to chronic tension pattern. Neck pain? Sure. Trigger points (to the head)? Likely.

Cranial Alignment is Key

Connective tissue influenced position of bones

Tension patterns in the cranial fascia and membranes (connective tissue) may influence position of the bones.

The photo above illustrates a cranial alignment issue. It can be addressed. It’s soft tissue work — working with the cranial fascia and membranes, along with mobilization of the cranial sutures (joints). This is the original work of Paul St John. Once the cranial alignment has stabilized, the cervical spine can come into balance.

The magic is not in the license a person works under, but in how they see the body.

How does cranial misalignment arise?

Skull model showing presence of cranial sutures

Cranial sutures, the joining places of the different cranial bones, can be visualized in this model.

A common question people ask upon recognizing that their body alignment is imbalanced is, “How did I get this way?” In the head, this confusion is compounded by the outdated belief that the cranial joints (sutures) don’t move.¹⋅² In clinical practice, it’s possible to both feel and see the malleability of the cranium, and to feel effects of the changes.

So how does the cranium become misaligned? We can’t always say for sure, but a careful history may include experiences like these:

  • Any kind of slip / fall where the head hits a hard object
  • Sports injury involving the head
  • Person was delivered with assistance of foreceps or vacuum extraction (or, practically speaking, by any other means)
  • Neck injury, especially involving sudden deceleration
  • Shoulder injury
  • Abdominal tension pattern
  • Pelvic misalignment for any reason, including injury or anatomical leg length difference
  • Any other significant stress or trauma

After reading the above list, you may suspect that cranial misalignment is common. It is. Sometimes it results in headaches, including migraine headaches. Not always, though, which is fortunate. There are other ways in which cranial alignment can impact health. We may explore some of them in a future post.

For further information

For more information on balancing body structure or functional nutrition consultation, please visit the linked section of this website. Thanks!

 

¹ The Controversy of Cranial Bone Motion Joseph S. Rogers, MS, PT, Philip L. Witt, PhD, PT. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy 1997 26:2, 95-103 

² An investigation of cranial motion through a review of biomechanically based skull deformation literature. Seimetz, Christina N. et al. International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine 2012  15:4 , 152 – 165

 

 

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