Cranial Massage Brian J Piccolo BA MA LMT

Cranial Massage Brian J. Piccolo, BA. , MA. , LMT

William Garner SUTHERLAND, D. O. (1873 -1954) Dr. Sutherland was a student of Andrew Still, “Father of Osteopathy”, and took Dr. Still's admonition to "dig deeper" very seriously. As a student Dr. Sutherland had an inspiration that the bony cranium was capable of respiratory motion. He initially did not understand its implications, but could not let the idea go. Dr. Sutherland always felt that the cerebrospinal fluid was the key element in this mechanism because "within the cerebrospinal fluid there is an invisible element that I refer to as the Breath of Life. It is here, within the fluctuation of the cerebrospinal fluid that a potency with an Intelligence is found. This potency is an invisible 'fluid' within the cerebrospinal fluid. " The ‘primary respiratory mechanism’ is essential for life. Its function is continuous. The beating of your heart or breathing through the lungs may stop for a period of time, but the primary respiratory mechanism never stops until life ends.

Anatomy and Physiology

Meninges: Triple Layer

The cerebral spinal fluid serves four vital functions. Protection, Buoyancy, Waste reduction and the Transport of hormones. ØCerebral spinal fluid protects the brain, as it provides a cushioned safe environment ØReduces the weight on the base of the brain and allows it to float, to some extent, within the skull. ØRids waste or harmful chemicals away from the brain ØTransports hormones throughout the brain

The choroid plexus, located in the ventricles, is the structure that produces cerebral spinal fluid. The interconnecting structures of the ventricles (the interventricular foramen and the cerebral aqueduct) allow the cerebral spinal fluid to flow between the ventricles. From the cerebral aqueduct, the cerebral spinal fluid flows into the subarachnoid space.

Cerebral Spinal Fluid Cerebral spinal fluid is a liquid that surrounds the central nervous system It consist of sodium chloride, water, protein, glucose and potassium.

Subarachnoid space

John Upledger, D. O. All-important membranes The term fascia is the collective name for the membrane material that would remain were our hair, blood vessels, viscera, bones, nerves, muscle fibers and fluids to be removed. It includes our ligaments and all the membranous sheaths that surround and connect all our organs, bones and muscles. The tendency of restriction in one part of the body to transmit dysfunction to other parts is accounted for by the characteristics of fascial material and the construction of the whole fascial system.

This is a photo of the superficial fascia of the back. The tissue in the foreground is the latissimus dorsi muscle. You can see how the fascia is a webbing that surrounds and supports other structures of the body.

• Weird connections Now we can begin to understand the extraordinary effects of Dr Sutherland's work, how, for instance, the freeing up of the membranes inside the head by applying gentle pressure and/or traction to the cranial bones could lead to improved pituitary (and therefore endocrine) function, resolving many problems including hormone-related and metabolic illnesses. However, Dr Upledger found that many restrictions in the cranium often have causes outside the head. Cranio. Sacral Therapy practitioners are used to the emergence of bizarre cause-and-effect connections: the appendicectomy scar that leads to chronic migraines, the compressed lumbo-sacral joint to endogenous depression, the restricted upper neck to digestive disorders or to hyperactivity, the unbalanced pelvis that may lead to eyesight problems.

Polarity Application For Fingers P N N 0 LEFT HAND P N 0 RIGHT HAND • THUMB = 0 or neutral • MIDDLE & LITTLE FINGER = P or Positive • INDEX & RING FINGER = N or Negative P

Polarity Application For Fingers N LEFT HAND P RIGHT HAND

Brain Structure

Handout