Research Brief
New research just published in the journal Clinical Rebabilitation suggests that craniosacral therapy may provide pain relief to people with fibromyalgia.
Researchers treated 92 patients either with craniosacral therapy or sham treatments for 20 weeks. At the end of treatment, those in the treatment group showed significantly less pain in most tender points. A year later, those people still showed less tender-point sensitivity, researchers said.
What is Craniosacral Therapy
Craniosacral therapy is a massage/bodywork technique that involves light touch at several points on the body. Because it doesn't involve deep tissue work, some people consider it ideal for fibromyalgia.
However, it's a somewhat controversial treatment. Here are some resources both for and against craniosacral therapy:
- Craniosacral Therapy, from About.com Alternative Medicine Guide Cathy Wong
- Introduction to Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy
- Craiosacral Therapy from The Skeptic's Dictionary
Personally, I've been torn about this treatment for some time. When I first read about it, I didn't think it sounded likely to work. However, my massage therapist has used some of the techniques on me, and they did seem to help a little (it's hard to tell for certain, because that wasn't the only technique she used.) Also, my rheumatologist has expressed belief in it.
Have you had craniosacral therapy? How did it work for you? Leave your comments below!
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Sorry to be a little off topic, but I have felt that massage of my lymph nodes made me feel a lot better (and that got me interested in sinus therapies due to lingering sinus problems)–however, I have since read that there is concern that that could cause poisons to be sent out more widely since the lymph is so connected to the rest of the body.
Nevertheless, I am very curious about the relative advantages/disadvantages here, and hope this may be studied more than just “Don’t do that, it could be harmful”, because it feels very, very good to me, especially when I have been around a lot of pollution/smoke, and as my lymph nodes typically feel like a barometer of such things.
I somehow got mono a while back, and then Hodgkins lymphoma, though the lymphoma is now gone/in remission, so I have some prior issues with it.
When I did the massage, even on myself, I feel dramatically better, and I am not the type of person who is very enthusiastic about alternative therapies. It was obvious for me to try this even before I heard of it as a therapy because it feels kind of like it is a little clogged or something and needs help to unblock and has been this way since after the lymphoma was eliminated (I was indeed confirmed not to have it any more), even though my CFS started 6 years earlier right after the mono.
I found this kind of therapy to be very, very helpful. It helped reduce pain and helped settle down my whole nervous system whenever I was in flareup, which can be frequently.
I have had craniosacral therapy in combination with osteopathic manipulation, and I believe both have been a huge help with my cfs symptoms. When I first started, I could feel a sense of warm tingling in the back of my head and neck, which the therapist said was the cranial fluid moving around that had not been circulating. At further sessions, this sensation lessened, but after I had missed several weeks and went back, the warm tingling was back. So I think that the regular treatments did /something/ at least, though I’m not qualified to say exactly what it was doing internally. And it feels so good as well, and relieves tension.
Brett-
My physical therapist has a doctorate in lymphedema. She does not want me to do lymphatic massage when I have a cold or other obvious infection in case of possible spread through the body. However she is well aware of my CFISDS or whatever we are calling the illness this week and she wants me to do massage 2 to 6 times a day.
Don’t know if this helps.
Tried it several times at the suggestion of a medical doctor who does acupuncture.
In the end neither did anything for me, chiropractic treatment made it worse.
Have found, however, that knowledgeable massage helps a lot and that Tai Chi has been a minor miracle. A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that Tai Chi helps those of us with fibromyalgia (a breakthrough even admitting fibro exists) and after practicing it for two years, I can’t endorse it enough.
I’m afraid this is baloney. Current research demonstrates that fibromyalgia is a neurological condition, not a ‘musculo-skeletal’ disease. Therefore, while massage may provide some temporary pain relief, it is not a ‘treatment’ nor does it address the brain/spinal cord cell dysfunction.
It does make money for massage therapists, however. So that’s good. For them.
CranioSacral Therapy is not “massage”, and it does indeed address the brain and spinal cord since these components make up the craniosacral system.
I was referred to a PT who also did Cranial Sacral work,by my doctor.I was sent for lower back pain. While it didn’t help with that, I haven’t had a Sinus problem since.
You need to understand that I was diagnosed with CFS in 1993 and from that time I had one Sinus infection/ear infection after another.Litterly, I was at the ENT’s office every three months. Really.
After the CST, in 2003, I have NOT had an Sinus infection. I didn’t have an ear problem for a year. After 3 surgeries and CST, NO more ear problems. I did the CST after my third surgery to help with the healing process.
You need to make sure the person doing this is certified .
It worked for me, when all else failed.
I liked what Rolfing did for me after a car accident. Again, know the person who is working on you.
I had cranio and it has worked wonders for me. I sleep better. A few weeks ago I had a bad Fibro flare-up and the physiotherapist recommended cranio. I sleep much better these days and constant neck and back pain has improved tremendously. Many thanks for informative articles.
I tried Cranio-Sacral Therapy for a while but found it useless for me. I have been having weekly Massage by a Chinese Therapist – 5 year University trained in China and worked in a Hospital there. At first I thought she would kill me, but as she wais I need Therapy, not relaxation massage. She has moved on after 18 months and I have another Australian Therapist, but nowhere as good a result as the Chinese trained woman. She kept me from being bedbound and it seemed to help my exhaution, which has now returned badly. However, some treatment is better than none so I persevere. All Physiotherapists nearly killed me and made me worse, so I gave Physio up for the Massage. I am a retired nurse so usually stick to Medical Therapy like a Physiotherapist. I have tried Tai Chi but it exaserbates my neck and shoulder pain terribly. I try gentle Hydrotherapy which I think helps stretch the spine and is good for flexibility. The water needs to be warm though, about 32degrees.
I really enjoyed the cranio-sacral therapy. The light touch used is so much better than massage that would make me sore. After a session I felt great. It’s hard to believe that a technique like this would even work, but it does.
I have found out though that what I thought would be a $25 office visit is really $75. So I have to stop since I can’t afford that. Hopefully I can start up again in the fiture
Hi Richard,
It should be pointed out that all health professionals make a living including yourself. Glad you are making money also. Like you, massage therapists have to have full knowledge of body systems, kinesiology etc. They also have to have hundreds of hours of accredited training to be come licensed as well as continuing education credits each year.
No ethical professional massage therapist would ever tell a client that massage, sacrocranial therapy or any other similar therapy is a permanent solution. But, even adjunctive therapy has its place and it does relieve symptoms for many patients for a period of time. So does Lyrica, but it’s not a cure.
Most diseases are multi-dimensional and only a non-patient would deny that the muscles are not involved in some way in fibromyalgia and possibly even CFS – check the scientific literature. Dyregulation in the brain can cause problems throughout the body.
I’ve just begun treatment with a craniosacral specialist who was referred by someone who has successfully managed chronic pain for several years using this method. I am optimistic that I can increase my activity level and get off of morphine, which i have been on, along with other pain killers for over three years.
I find it amusing that physicians and ‘traditional’ medicine providers who provide no cure whatsoever are so quick to dismiss alternative treatments. When was the last time a doctor told you he/she could ‘cure’ anything? Yet, the average medicare patient is on 8 medications that essentially poison the system and create dependency.