Cranial Osteopathy

What is Cranial Osteopathy?

Cranial osteopathy works with the primal respiratory mechanism (PRM). This movement is present throughout the body during our lifetime and we have no control over it.

A student of Osteopathy, William Garner Sutherland, discovered it in the late 1890’s. While observing a disarticulated skull (where the bones have been taken apart) he noticed thet the sutures or “seams” between the bones were designed to allow some movement. The movement resembled the movement of rhythmic “breathing”, and this subtle rhythm could be felt throughout the body and in every tissue. Following thirty years of his theory, Sutherland began to teach students about this rhythmic self-regulating movement, which he called the primary respiratory mechanism.

The primal respiratory mechanism (PRM) is characterised by the light movement of the bones of the skull and the sacrum, the membrane system and the central nervous system, with the flow of the cerebrospinal fluid.

Cranial osteopathy involves detecting restrictions to the PRM and restoring the rhythm with a gentle technique where the osteopath holds the head of the patient in the hands and helps the body’s natural tendency towards self-correction with gentle rhythmic movements.

How is Cranial Osteopathy different from Functional Osteopathy?

Functional osteopathy works on the joints with the soft tissue techniques such as neuromuscular massage, passive mobilization and where necessary manipulation. Cranial osteopathy focuses mainly on the subtle rebalancing of the PRM using rhythmic movements on the cranium and the sacrum.

In my clinic in Denia, I often combine both functional and cranial osteopathy in a single session where necessary.

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