Cranio-Sacral therapy for dogs

Dog Osteopathy: Cranio-Sacral therapy for dogs - an alternative support for the treatment of epilepsy and seizure in dogs

The cranio-sacral or craniosacral osteopathy was significantly developed by US-American osteopath William Garner Sutherland (1873-1954). He was a direct disciple of the founder of osteopathy, the American physician Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917). Sutherland found that the skull is not a rigid bony envelope but a complex membrane system with residual elasticity. In this way, rhythmic pulsations of the cerebrospinal fluid, the so-called cerebrospinal fluid, should continue on all external tissues and the cranial bones and be diagnosed and used therapeutically. Sutherland carried out self-experiments: Among other things, he built himself a helmet, with which he could set individual skull bones under tension. His wife then documented the different changes, including in the personality that her husband went through the change in voltage of individual skull areas. As part of these self-experiments and patient observations, Sutherland developed craniosacral therapy into an almost independent concept of examination and treatment.

The Cranio-Sacral Therapy refers to the skull and movements in the skull, the meninges, the connection between the head (cranium) and sacrum (sacrum) and the flow of the spinal cord-brain fluid. Between the poles head and sacrum exists according to the craniosacral concept a movement in or with its own rhythm. This differs from the blood and breathing rhythm in the organism and is called Cranio-Sacral Rhythm or Primary Respiratory Rhythm (PRM).

Craniosacral therapy and epilepsy in dogs
The primary respiratory rhythm naturally has a close relationship to the central nervous system. Among other things, it is believed that an imbalance of excitement and inhibition of nerve structures causes seizures in the brain. It can be observed an over-excitability of nerve cells and a simultaneously abnormally high electrical activity and discharge of larger nerve cell associations with modern medical devices.

This is where craniosacral treatment for epilepsy dogs comes in: In a healthy dog, 5 to 10 rhythmically flowing PRM cycles per minute are used in the craniosacral therapy. In a dog prone to seizures or epileptic seizures, the craniosacral model refers to this rhythm as no longer synchronous and even, but completely confused and unrhythmic.

Another important aspect of cranio-sacral therapy in dogs is the relaxation of the intercranial membrane system. Among other things, the part of the meninges which, as a firm connective tissue, separates the two halves of the brain (right / left) and separates the cerebrum from the cerebellum and thus acts as a mediator between the individual bones of the skull is considered a membrane.

In human medicine, the epileptic convulsions are differentiated according to the place of probable emergence: The areas of the frontal lobe (forehead), the parietal lobe (upper head), the temporal lobe (temple) and the back lobe (back of the head) are differentiated - these are the most important ones , big skull plates. The intercranial (in the head) membrane system has connection to all these bones and also to the same internal brain parts. With these conditions, craniosacral therapy explains how dysfunctions in the intercranial membrane system can possibly have far-reaching consequences.

Cranio-Sacral Therapy aims to relieve dysfunction and false tension in the cranial bones by balancing the craniosacral rhythm and relaxing the intercranial membrane system. In addition, craniosacral therapy aims to harmonize the excitability of nerve cells and help them to be less prone to the explosive discharges that make up a seizure epileptic seizure in a dog.

According to reports of dog osteoporosis craniosacral treatment should have a very positive influence on the frequency of convulsions. In functional dog osteopathy, it is considered useful to support epilepsy treatment in dogs with cranio-sacral therapy. (Friederike Franze, human physiotherapist, dog physiotherapist and dog osteopath, 04.02.2011)

Also read:
Dog osteopathy - Osteopathy for dogs
What is osteopathy
Dog Osteopathy: The appropriate dog nutrition

Image: Martina Goslar