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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

cranial osteopath specialising in babies and children - recommendation needed

Would love to hear from anyone with first hand experience of a good osteopath with experience in this field.

Tags for Forum Posts: osteopath

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As I said, I know very little about it but I thought it was manipulation to relieve the pressures and stresses caused by stuffing the baby's head down the relatively narrow birth canal. By teething time the cranial bones should have pretty much knitted together.

But I'm only a man

http://whatstheharm.net/osteopathy.html

Please use actual treatments that have been shown to actually work, especially with your children.

Haelan Centre in Crouch End  020 8340 4258

If there is something wrong with your child or you need advice go see your GP. I wouldn't allow someone to lay hands on a child when what they are offering has no validity. It can mean that genuine problems are overlooked or that relevant treatment is delayed.

Anecdotal 'evidence' is no evidence.

Websites advertising cranial osteopathy say that "Cranial osteopaths are trained to feel a very subtle, rhythmical shape change that is present in all body tissues. This is called Involuntary Motion or the Cranial Rhythm. The movement is of very small amplitude, therefore it takes practitioners with a very finely developed sense of touch to feel it. This rhythm was first described in the early 1900's by Dr. William G. Sutherland and its existence was confirmed in a series of laboratory tests in the 1960's and '70's." (no citations given)

They say that the rhythms are caused by:-

(a) inherent rhythmic motility of the brain and spinal cord.

(b) rhythmic fluctuation of cerebrospinal fluid and mobility of cranial bones

(c) mobility of intracranial and intraspinal dural membranes

(d) mobility of the sacrum between the ilia.

Think about it for one second:- they are saying that they can feel the brain, dura, cranial bones and CSF moving by laying their hands on the patients scalp! It is physiologically impossible for the brain, CSF etc to 'move', "the brain and spinal cord cannot be capable of intrinsically derived movement as organs because neurons and glial cells lack the requisite microstructure". (1)

They are also saying that they can (at any age) move and manipulate either solid bone or bone that is fused.

See instead http:/faculty.une.edu/com/shartman/sram.pdf (1)

They found that "the series of laboratory tests in the 1960's and '70's" mentioned in 'cranial osteopaths' literature contained dubious statistics that made the literature invalid.

They carried out trials on the reliability of the examiners (i.e. qualified cranial osteopaths) and found that examiner inter reliability was zero. The examiners/ cranial osteopaths were unable to measure the rhythms or reliably count their rate, and these so called rhythms differed from examiner to examiner on the same patient. The rhythm that each osteopath described was totally different to that experienced by any other osteopath for the same patient and the rhythms could not be assessed or measured by any independent means. The rhythms the osteopaths experienced were not related to their own breathing, pulse etc but seemed to be suggestible and therefore probably imagined.

They could find no physiological evidence for the "Involuntary Motion" or "Cranial Rhythms".

Now would you trust your child to this mumbo jumbo? Why not rub your childs' head yourself, its relaxing for you and your child, it will save you money but it will not cure teething problems or mis-shaped craniums etc.

This is a very good post, thank you! Now to hope that the people with recommendations in here actually take note and stop giving snake oil pedlars their hard-earned money!

I thought your posts were quite authoritative

Bad Science should be compulsory reading for all humans, I feel.

I have see Richard Kramer on numerous occasions and used to see him regularly at Hornsey Vale Community Centre where he runs drop in sessions on Wednesdays from 10am til 12pm. He is very good and trains other craniosacral practitioners - he treats babies, children and adults.

Cranio-Sacral Therapy - Hornsey Vale Community Centre
(Term time only) Free drop-in clinic, donations welcomed 10.00am-12.00pm Richard:
0208 342 8393

40 quid is probably the right amount to reinforce the placebo effect. 

Homeopathic vaccines... The greatest oxymoron, perhaps?

This sort of thing is utterly abhorrent.

Idiot tax?

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