Can CranioSacral Therapy Help Multiple Sclerosis?

Last fall I set out to do a case study on a friend who has advanced Multiple Sclerosis (MS). His health took a more steep dip in 2020 to the point where he found day-to-day activities like walking and showering more challenging. CranioSacral Therapy (CST) has helped me immensely in healing from severe head trauma as a child, and I’ve seen it do wonders for my clients with histories of physical as well as emotional trauma. I wanted to see if it would help my friend and his symptoms related to MS.

Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune condition without a known cure where the immune system attacks the myelin sheath of the body’s nerves. Common symptoms include chronic pain, difficulty moving, vision and speech issues as well as anxiety/depression. CranioSacral Therapy (CST) is a gentle, hands-on technique that seeks to improve the function of the Central Nervous System and other body systems that relate to it, including the Immune System. If the Sympathetic Nervous System remains activated for long periods of time (as it would with chronic stress and/or trauma), it also affects the ability of the Immune System to do its job properly. Side note that this is why so many folks with autoimmune conditions also have trauma/PTSD backgrounds, or that a stressful event(s) triggers a condition. So, can and did CST help my friend and his pain?

A little background on my study subject: 63 year-old-male, diagnosed with MS in 2010 in tandem with optical neuritis and vertigo. We did the basic, 10 Step CST protocol, administered 8 weeks in a row, with steps in the same order over the course of a 60-minute session. I used the McGill Pain Questionnaire, a self-reported survey, which delineates different types of pain and ascribes a number for an individual’s pain level—that way we could quantify whether or not the work helped him. Maximum possible score is 78; the higher the number, the more pain the individual is experiencing.

When we began the study, he reported a pain level of 62 out of 78 and most acutely felt pain in the lower back and hip regions with spasticity. He also felt a concentration of pain in how his mental health was impacted, experiencing fear as well as intense to unbearable pain (these were boxes on the questionnaire).

After 8 weeks, he reported a 60% improvement in pain (37 of 78) with less tension and numbness. How the pain affected his mental health was the most significant area of improvement. Initially, he selected adjectives such as agonizing and dreadful (higher on the pain scale) whereas in the second evaluation he only selected nagging (the lowest). In general, he felt more calm, less anxious and was experiencing better quality of rest. Another note here, we did this study in the 8 weeks preceding the election. So, the fact that he had a greater sense of ease is even more telling of the work and how it can help you or someone you know.

A lot of massage therapists and chiropractors are trained in this technique. If you have a history of anything I mentioned: PTSD, trauma, concussion and/or autoimmune issues, try a few sessions of CranioSacral to see if it helps your mental and physical health. It’s super relaxing—promise you’ll have a good sleep that night.

The Body Keeps Score

Did you know that if you (or someone you know) have suffered through abuse, a traumatic event or upbringing that the brain actually shifted as you (they) attempted to process the pain? This book has rocked my world the past couple of weeks in learning how amazing the body is and how healing from trauma is a layered process.

What is trauma?

In short, something that was stressful in which you felt alone. Obvious examples here include abuse, natural disaster, loss, terrorism and war. In looking at the behavioral patterns that can arise from trauma, I can't help but think most of us could cite some form of traumatic event(s)/relationship(s) in our lives.

How does the brain shift?

Trauma can actually change the brain's alert system and responding hormones in addition to leaving a mark on the brain similar to a stroke. The author, Bessel Van der Kolk, conducted a study where he showed participants images to trigger their trauma while monitoring their brain hemispheres. When participants were exposed to traumatic images, the right side of the brain that impacts how we perceive the world around us was activated, while the left, organizational side deactivated. The brain itself is in response mode to the trigger without real context of time or place. Moreover, the brain's response to trauma is pre-verbal so this explains why recounting what happened in a logical or coherent manner may be difficult or garbled.

While one may consciously choose not to respond to a trauma trigger, the body systems are still reacting, including hormones, which don't return back to normal levels after being in fight or flight or freeze mode. Because of this there is an internal disconnect so one may suffer from addiction or self-mutilation as well as illness, adrenal fatigue, fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue, poor sleep, memory issues, autoimmune disorders and irritability. (If you're super geeky about this stuff, as I am, he spends a good 10 pages going into brain chemistry specifics...but does so in a very approachable way for the brain science novice.)

What are some symptoms of trauma?

Hyper-vigilance-Because of the brain shift, one can be in a perpetual state of hyper-vigilance. This goes back to the perception lens--the brain is constantly surveying for a potential threat. This also means that one may project past traumas onto current life events.

Social isolation-Not wanting to engage with others because this could set off a trigger, so it's better to avoid interaction. On the flip side, fraternizing with those who have suffered the same trauma may feel safe (e.g. other veterans) yet this can also be limiting over time as one's identity shifts.

Loss of identity-You may more commonly know this as survivor's guilt as well as confusion if the person who abused you was supposed to be your caretaker/loved one.

Emotionally numb-A way to deal with the trauma is to disassociate from one's body and feelings, leaving one devoid of feeling.

Loss of imagination-If raised in an unsafe environment, all of the body's systems are in self-preservation (hyper-vigilance) mode so there's no room for imagination or exploration.

Risk-taking-The body releases endorphins which are like morphine, so one can become addicted to risks or even find pleasure in pain. The body seeks this out to overcome anxiety.

How does one heal?

The author suggests 3 approaches to be used in tandem as needed.

1. Top down with talk therapy, specifically EMDR, Internal Family Systems and Neurofeedback. If you're in Austin, there's a great clinic that uses these approaches. Find out more about them here.
2. Medications that will turn off the body's alarm systems.
3. Bottom up through the physical so that the body can experience something other than helplessness and rage which gets held in the viscera (i.e. having a broken heart, stomach in knots). He suggests this in particular for those who suffer from musculo-skeletal pains that may have an emotional root. Since that is my bag and this is my blog, I'm going to spend a bit more time on this and his suggestions.

Heal trauma with mindfulness.

Ki Hara Active Stretching for mindfulness and flexibility.

The first step in releasing the past is reconnecting with and establishing ownership of the body to feel, find peace and focus so that when things trigger the past, one can maintain internal calm. When we can connect with how we feel, we can begin to change perspective. If we can't feel, we are incapable of figuring out what our body needs and how we can best take care of it. By being present in our bodies, it is safe to revisit the past without being overwhelmed by it. We can start to have words for things we may have hidden from ourselves and reintegrate the pieces of ourselves that we've lost along the way. A way of coping with trauma is disassociating from our bodies, so mindfulness and breath work reaffirm who we are as a whole being.

The author recommends yoga as an avenue to mindfully connect with the body. A former client of his specifically cited that Pilates helped her heal from a traumatic event to her pelvis. I love both of these modalities, yet I don't think I learned to be deeply connected to my own body until I encountered Ki Hara Resistance Stretching (aka yoga on steroids). It has been amazing for helping myself and my clients reconnect with areas of the body that have been forgotten and then integrating them to the whole. It's particularly effective because when I'm working with a client, it becomes a partner effort to rediscovery. In other words, it's not someone alone in their own stretching practice (though this is another component for establishing ownership of one's body). I can be an objective pair of eyes for how your body is moving when there could be a more efficient way. If you haven't connected to a part of your body in a long time, how are you even supposed to know it's there?

I found this book to be incredibly insightful both for my own understanding of some areas I need to work on and to have more compassion for others who have are trying their best to heal. If you're one who is better with video over books, here's an interview with the author with some similar themes.