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Birth is not an easy process, says Rebecca Flowers,
OTR, SCP, CST-D, a CranioSacralSM practitioner with the
Upledger Institute in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Whether its an easy delivery or not. Often the types
of problems that manifest later might have been
minimized or possibly avoided if we could have worked on
that child as an infant.
These issues may include learning disabilities,
attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity and some of
the autism spectrum type of disorders, including sensory
integration dysfunction.
CranioSacral work is suited for infants, says Flowers,
in part because the gentle, light touch is so
noninvasive. All of [a babys] senses are very acute,
she says.
The work gives the body gentle help in correcting
itself. When we do cranio work were facilitating the
body to make corrections that it inherently tries to do
all the time, she says.
The key, though, is early intervention. The baby brain
is thousands of nerve tracks waiting to get plugged in
since the body, in what it does very best, is trying to
correct itself all the time, she says. The younger the
child, the more rapid the change.
Flowers says cranio work helps with everything from
motor skills to social skills to sensory processing
issues. And nearly every baby can benefit, says Flowers,
simply because birth and pregnancycan be so difficult.
Often problems might have started with the position in
utero, or through genetics, or the mothers exposure to
toxins in environment, or in her biochemistry, such as
toxemia or diabetes.
Flowers says that CranioSacral also works with tissue
memory. The body retains memory, not only in the cortex
of the brain, but in every cell of the body which can
manifest as contracting itself around life experiences,
she says. Ordinary traumas such as pricks for blood
samples to IVs to shunts to intubations can cause the
body to contract.
There is thought and feeling that gets contracted in
the tissue, as well as the literal contractions, says
Flowers. When an infant has a problem that has been
unaddressedwhether from birth or interventions afterit
utilizes a lot of the bodys energy.
As
the child gets older, the symptoms begin, which can show
up in the common cold or ear infections. In fact, says
Flowers, CranioSacral work is especially effective for
ear infections. When we see a child with an ear
infection, you can usually trace it back to the birth,
she says.
Flowers says that John Upledger, who founded the form of
CranioSacral work that she practices, maintains that
immediate CranioSacral work on newborns would prevent or
minimize 80 percent of common childhood ailments,
including ear infections, allergies, reflux, colic and
hyperactivity.
Although many massage therapists practice CranioSacral
work, its actually a gentle, osteopathic manipulation
of the head, spine and body that deals directly with the
central nervous system. It works well, however, with
massage therapy.
CranioSacral Therapy can be a stand-alone modality, or
it can be woven into almost any other alternative
practice, Flowers says.
Youll get best results as a trained CranioSacral
practitioner, especially when working on children, where
the palpation is much more subtle than with adults.
Babies also tend to wiggle a lot more.
CranioSacral work is a foundational way of facilitating
change in the central nervous system, which controls all
the other systems, including respiratory, cardiac, and
digestive, Flowers says.
10
Trials that highlight How massage benefits children
1.
Infants who received massage therapy compared to those
who were rocked experienced greater daily weight gain;
more organized sleep/wake behaviors; less fussiness;
improved sociability and soothability; improved
interaction behaviors; and lower cortisol and
norepinephrine and increased serotonin levels.
(Field T, Grizzle N, Scafidi F, et al. Massage therapy
for infants of depressed mothers. Infant Behavior and
Development. 1996: 19, 109-114.)
2.
Cocaine-exposed newborns had fewer postnatal
complications, increased weight gain, better performance
on the Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale
(particularly on the motor scale), and less stress
behaviors following 10 days of massage.
(Scafidi F, Field T, Wheeden A, et al. Cocaine exposed
preterm neonates show behavioral and hormonal
differences.
Pediatrics. 1996: 97, 851-855.)
3.
Cocaine-exposed preterm neonates who were massaged
averaged 28 percent greater weight gain per day, showed
significantly fewer postnatal complications and stress
behaviors, and demonstrated more mature motor behaviors
on the Brazelton examination.
(Wheeden A, Scafidi FA, Field T, et al. Massage effects
on cocaine-exposed preterm neonates. Journal of
Developmental
and Behavioral Pediatrics. 1993:14, 318-322.)
4.
Depressed mothers increased their infants positive
affect and attentiveness by providing touch stimulation.
(Pelaez-Nogueras M, Field T, Hossain Z, Pickens J.
Depressed mothers touching increases infants positive
affect and attention in still-face interactions. Child
Development. 1996:67, 1780-1792.)
5.
Teenage mothers who received massage therapy compared to
those who received relaxation therapy were less
depressed and less anxious both by their own report and
based on behavior observations. In addition, their
urinary cortisol levels were lower and their serotonin
levels were higher, indicating they were less stressed
and less depressed.
(Field T, Grizzle N, Scafidi F, Schanberg S. Massage
and relaxation therapies effects on depressed
adolescent mothers.
Adolescence. 1996: 31, 903-911.)
6.
Infants with Down Syndrome improved in muscle tone and
in performance on motor tasks following massage therapy.
(Hernandez-Reif M, Ironson G, Field T, et al. Children
with Down Syndrome improved in motor function and muscle
tone following massage therapy. Journal of Early
Intervention. 2006: 176, 395-410.)
7.
Fathers who gave their infants daily massage 15 minutes
prior to bedtime for one month showed more optimal
interaction behavior with their infant.
(Cullen C, Field T, Escalona A, Hartshorn K.
Father-infants interactions are enhanced by massage
therapy. Early Child Development and Care. 2000: 164,
41-47.)
8.
HIV-exposed newborns who were given massage showed
increased weight gain and improved performance on the
Brazelton Newborn Scale (motor and state scales).
(Scafidi F, Field T. Massage therapy improves behavior
in neonates born to HIV positive mothers. Journal of
Pediatric Psychology. 1997: 21, 889-897.)
9.
Children with mild to moderate juvenile rheumatoid
arthritis who were massaged by their parents 15 minutes
a day for 30 days saw their anxiety and cortisol levels
immediately decrease. Over the 30-day period their pain
also decreased, based on self-reports, parent reports
and physicians reports.
(Field T, Hernandez-Reif M, Seligman S, et al. Juvenile
rheumatoid arthritis: Benefits from massage therapy.
Journal of Pediatric Psychology. 1997: 22, 607-617.)
10. Massage reduced spasticity, and increased muscle
flexibility, motor function and positive social
interaction in children with cerebral palsy.
(Hernandez-Reif M, Field T, Largie S, et al. Cerebral
Palsy Symptoms in children decreased following massage
therapy. Early Child Development and Care. 2005: 175,
445-456.)
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