Dr. Craig Reese, DC, PC
DR.
CRAIG REESE, D.C.
June/July 2004 Newsletter
Click here for printer friendly/easy read version
I know it is still mid-May but I had so much to tell you that I couldn't wait!
Bio Cranial Therapy
I have just returned from my four day training program in Miami and I am a changed man. Not only from the information and skills I learned but physically changed, too. I received numerous Bio Cranial Therapy (BCT) corrections while at the seminar and I have noticed some incredible changes. My shoulder that I had injured 3 weeks earlier doing bench presses was 80% better and this was after 3 minutes on the table and only having my head touched. After the 3rd treatment the arches in my feet changed and the pain in my little toe from rubbing on my shoe was gone. My vision, digestion and sleep all improved and they were pretty good to start with. My spine felt more flexible and elongated and yet nothing but my head was touched during the treatments. These are just some of the amazing changes that happened to all of the attendees who experienced BCT.
The Beginning
In 1899, Dr. William Garner Sutherland, an Osteopath, was sitting in an office looking at a human skull lying in pieces. He noticed that the edges were beveled which meant that they were designed to move. This was a startling discovery since everyone knew that the skull was solid by the time you were an adult. He studied this phenomenon for 30 years before revealing his findings to the world. At first ridiculed, as all new medical findings are, soon the Osteopaths and the Chiropractors found he was correct. There appears to be an involuntary respiratory motion to the cranium that cycles 8-12 times a minute that is not related to heart beats or breathing. This motion affects the 22 moveable bones in the head and the dura (covering of the spinal cord) that connects to them. This same dura leaves the cranium and attaches to the first 2 or 3 cervical vertebrae and covers the spinal cord. It attaches again at the second sacral segment. Whatever affects the cranium is transferred all the way down the spine to the sacrum via the dura. So the sacrum moves in the same respiratory rhythm as the cranium. Any cranial fixation or distortion is transferred to the spine via the dura and results in a compensatory misalignment in the spinal vertebrae. If the spine is misaligned, it is just compensation for the dural tension caused by the cranial misalignment.
Wacky in the Head
So how does one's head get out of whack? At birth, the baby's head is compressed in the birth canal and then is supposed to open up as it emerges from the canal. This starts the cranial rhythm that will continue until death. During prenatal development, as the mother's pelvis and spine are rotated to compensate for her own cranial fixations, the baby is formed in that altered space. At birth the baby is pushed through the crooked birth canal and uneven forces are placed on the cranium. The normal symmetrical cranial expansion at birth doesn't occur and you start life with undiagnosed cranial problems that will affect the whole body. C-section babies don't get the compression-expansion mechanism triggered so they too have abnormal cranial rhythm. Falls, accidents, sports injuries, postural stress, etc. add to the problem and create additional distortions.
The Dura Mater
Dr. Boyd's manual states, "The dura is one of 3 meninges or membranes which cover the brain and spinal cord. The inner membrane, immediately next to the brain and (spinal) cord, is called the pia mater, and the middle layer, the arachnoid. It is the outer layer, which also covers the inner surface of the cranial bones as well, which is called the dura mater. Which means that the dura is attached to the cranial bones... Think of the dura as a thin, but very strong, nylon strip, pulled tight and wrapped around the brain and spinal cord. It then stretches from the cranium at the top, to one of the sacral bones at the bottom." It is the dura that translates the misalignments of the cranium to the rest of the spine. The dura is also part of the fascial system that covers your muscles and organs in your body from head to toe. Thus, the distortions of the dura can affect the fascia even in our hands and feet.
Basic Cause
Chiropractic has always preached that we look for the true cause of a problem and treat it. We claim DC really stands for Doctor of Cause. We don't prescribe aspirin for a headache we look to the spine to see what nerve is being pinched by the spinal misalignment (subluxation) and we correct it via manipulation. My training was geared toward finding the level of lesion and then correcting it. The cranial adjusting I used to do was the same way. Treat the bone that appears to be fixated. That is a segmental view of the body. With BCT we know that 80% of the nervous system is above the first cervical vertebra and that the spine hangs from the skull. As the skull goes, so goes the spine and extremities.
Global Vs Segmental
So instead of treating that headache by adjusting your neck, we look to restore the proper movement of all the cranial bones, which then allows the neck to unwind itself and remove the pain. The only real disease or ailment is Contracted Dural Syndrome (CDS) caused by the cranial fixations. After the first BCT treatment I received from Dr. Boyd, I was able to take the heel lift out of my shoe after needing it for 30 years. My low back became more flexible and stayed pain free without doing my usual exercises to protect it. If you think this concept is a bit hard to believe you are in good company. This BCT training has made me reevaluate over 20 years of clinical experience and thousands of hours of training and study. Virtually everything I do as a doctor is really geared toward a segmental solution rather than a global (whole body) treatment. When you take a multivitamin, drink plenty of water or eat live organic food, that is a global treatment because it makes the whole body healthier by giving it the essential nutrition that is needed to rebuild itself. Compare that to taking an herbal laxative for constipation. The segmental view is; take this herb to get your bowels moving. The global view is; let's find out what is stopping the bowels from moving and correct that instead. Maybe it is chronic dehydration, bad diet or improper nerve flow to the colon. Since the brain and nervous system control nearly every function in the body, any interruption in that system can affect every part of the body. Dr. Boyd talks about intrinsic nutrition being affected when the cranium is not moving properly. This means that you can't utilize properly what good nutrition you consume in the form of food or supplements. My personal supplement needs were cut in half after being treated numerous times during the BCT training. So the global view is to get the nervous system operating as close to 100% as possible and many of the ailments both physical and emotional will clear up without being addressed directly. Just like my shoulder returning to full range of motion without it ever being touched, just my cranium.
Now What?
The prudent Obstetricians of yesteryear, who were told that washing their hands between patients would keep their pregnant patients from getting sick, quickly complied while the rest of their profession took over 100 years to make that simple change. After what I have experienced it would be impossible for me to not want all of my patients to experience the benefits of BCT. I believe it is the missing part of the equation that keeps an old problem coming back and why I need to keep adjusting the same areas over and over on you. I want everyone to experience BCT so I have put together a package of treatments that will allow you to have a proper test of it. BCT corrections will cost $50 per session and you must agree to 6 sessions done over a 2-4 week period. If you pay for 5 treatments you will get the 6th one free. This puts the cost per treatment nearly back to the normal price for a regular spinal adjustment. If you are not satisfied with your results after the 6 corrections I will credit your account for 6 regular adjustments. This offer ends June 30, 2004. Don't feel like you are being forced to change your treatment, I will continue to adjust my patients who aren't interested in BCT like I always have, it's your choice.
Just so you have a point of reference, I am one of only 200 certified BCT practitioners in the world. There are 3 of us in Colorado but the other two are in Colorado Springs and since I am the first practitioner in the Boulder-Denver area, I have a lot of craniums to repair! This work was taught in the 1980's and 90's in Europe but it has only been in this country a few years. I am excited to bring this work to Boulder!
For more information, visit: http://biocranial.com
