Headache Relief
And Brain Therapy
© 2005 Dr. Barry R. Gillespie
From a newborn who is constantly crying to an adult with debilitating
migraines people with headaches are commonplace
in our culture today.
The primary avenue of treatment through the
medical model is with drugs; surgery is used only in the most
desperate of situations. Unfortunately, drugs can only manage
the condition and not get at the root cause.
Four Main Avenues Of Care
Through Brain Therapy
This article explores the four main avenues
of care that are readily available to us through Brain Therapy
to effectively treat the vast majority of people with headaches.
We are primarily concerned with eliminating
the cause of the condition in attempting to allow the body
to return to its normal physiology.
The four different aspects for headache care are craniosacral,
fascial, muscle, and TMJ therapies:
Craniosacral Therapy
When I explain craniosacral to the lay public, the image
that I present is that the brain needs to breathe.
The brain has a very slow, smooth expansion and contraction
cycle that must occur for one to be healthy. Because of all
of the traumas that are experienced over the course of a lifetime
from in utero to birth to the present day, this normal brain
motion can gradually become restricted.
The meninges and other tissues hold the trauma of all of
these accidents and create an abnormal cranial pressure, which
appears to be the primary cause of the head pain. The middle
meningeal arteries, tightly sandwiched between strained dura
and hard cranial bones, are a primary source for headaches.
In craniosacral therapy the goal is to relieve
the strain in the dura, release the cranial pressure, restore
normal physiology, and allow the head pain to go away on
its own.
Since the medical model believes that the cranial bones
are fused, the brain must be immobile. When they become trapped
in this model, it then becomes impossible to address the real
structural problem. Their only option is to dispense drugs,
which only manage the symptoms. Medication can never
correct the problem and can only create long-term,
toxic side effects.
Once we all agree that the brain needs to move in a beautiful
cycle, which is very important physiologically, society can
move forward with more effective headache care.
Fascial Therapy
The second modality in the treatment of headaches is fascial
therapy.
Fascial tissue connects all of our structures from head to
toe as one unit. The craniosacral mechanism sits in this fascial
web; they both function together as the craniosacral fascial
system.
If the fascia is nice and loose, the body can work freely
and be healthy. When physical trauma over the course of a
lifetime imprints the fascial web, it can over time exert
a pressure of up to 2,000 pounds per square inch on the craniosacral
structures. This fascial pressure can severely restrict
the motion of the brain and be the primary cause of head and
systemic body pain.
The primary goal of fascial therapy is to relieve
the strain in the web over a series of visits, allow the
craniosacral mechanism to free up and work better, and return
the body physiology to a more relaxed, healthy state. The
headaches now have a chance to abate.
Corrective fascial therapy can be the missing link
for many headache sufferers.
Muscle Therapy
The third modality in the treatment of people with headaches
is muscle therapy.
Most of us have had the experience of doing muscle therapy
in the shoulder, neck, and head area of a client with headaches,
and her pain greatly diminished or went away. The neck has
a large number of muscles layered on top of each other that
are attached to the cranium. If these muscles start to become
knotted and forcibly contract similar to the fascial strain
above, the motion of the brain can restrict, and headaches
can result.
Muscle therapy is a large piece of the headache picture.
TMJ Therapies
The fourth aspect in headache care concerns the function
of the temporomandibular joints (TMJ).
If you have done extensive craniosacral, fascial, and muscle
therapy on a headache client who is not improving, he is almost
certainly clenching and/or grinding his teeth at night while
he sleeps. Some clients do it during the day, unaware that
they are in a clenched position while driving in traffic.
Clenching the teeth puts a tremendous amount of pressure on
the cranium and almost invariably can restrict the brain motion.
Over my career I have found that the lateral pterygoid muscles
are the key indicators for a TMJ problem. These two muscles
open the jaw, and can be extremely sore for a person with
a TMJ problem. The masseters, the primary jaw closing muscles,
can also be knotted and sore for people who clench their teeth.
(If you are unfamiliar with these muscles, please review them
in your anatomy books.)
To find out how the TMJ may affect the craniosacral motion
and cause headaches, try this exercise with your client. Palpate
their normal brain motion. While monitoring the brain, ask
them to clench their teeth. The vast majority of people will
exhibit restricted, if not immediate, brain motion.
Does this mean that everyone needs a TMJ appliance?
No, assuming you can let your jaw rest day and night.
But if someone becomes stressed for any reason, starts to
clench his teeth, and headaches develop, look at the TMJ area.
This exercise shows the power of the TMJ complex where it
can turn the craniosacral mechanism on and off. I can do all
of the craniosacral, fascial, and muscle work for a headache
client, and if he clinches his teeth, it can be all for naught.
When a headache client presents, you must look
at the TMJ area.
We as healthcare professionals hold the four important keys
to help people who have chronic headaches.
The important concept is for us to integrate these four modalities
(craniosacral, fascial, muscle, and TMJ therapies) into effective
treatment that can consistently help them. This was a rewarding
part of my practice for 30 years; now you can have the same
experience in your practice.
For
more articles about the role of Brain Therapy in correcting
chronic conditions in children and adults .
. .
For
more information about the "Brain Therapy for Children
and Adults" seminar for health professionals
. . .
