Larry’s Log

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9 Responses to “NeuroCranial Restructuring”

1. on 11 Apr 2005 at 3:35 pm   Chad Hagans

   When you characterize the treatment as “shoving a balloon up your nose and inflating it, you’re bound to attract detractors of the treatment. By contrast, if you characterize it as “optimizing the function of the craniosacral system,” you might attract some interest. The reason all of these symptoms and syndromes can be addressed through the treatment is because the functioning of the craniosacral system is the keystone of human health, and many symptoms and syndromes are at least obliquely (if not directly) related to this function. Optimize the keystone of human health, and you’ve changed the body significantly.

2. on 11 Apr 2005 at 3:37 pm   Larry

   Chad, I’ve not seen the first scientific study give any credibility to these claims outside of William Sutherland in the 1930s and John Upledger here lately. I’m not even sure those can be deemed scientific studies. In fact Steve Hartman and James Norton have recommended that craniosacral therapy be “removed from the curricula of colleges f osteopathic medicine and from osteopathic licensing examinations.” In fact JC Ferre, C Chevalier, JP Lumineau and JY Barbin of Centre Nantais d’Etude et de Recherches Biophysiques have concluded that:
   

   After having outlined the theories of cranial osteopathy (SUTHERLAND, KARNI, UPLEDGER, and, more recently, CLAUZADE and DARRAILLANS), the authors refute the latter point by point. “Primary respiration” is in fact a way of thinking, and the various bones making up the calvaria and base of the skull, which are solidly synostosed in the adult, are clearly incapable of the pretended rhythmic displacements “described” by the osteopaths.

   Now, I’m a layman and this post was originally written by me because I’m very skeptical, as everyone should be, of claims like the one I wrote about. Since that time I’ve received a number of emails from people telling me how neurocranial restructuring has helped them so I’ve looked into the matter some more. Perhaps it did help these people and perhaps they were getting better in the first place, I don’t know. What I do know is that from the research I’ve read those claims made by the chiropractors and osteopaths practicing this procedure have no scientific basis for their claims.

3. on 11 Apr 2005 at 3:42 pm   Yvonne Wright

   Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I have had hundreds of NCR treatments and overcome chronic pain that I’ve had for 30 years. I know of over 100 people who will agree with me that NCR can be credited with the lessening and finally total alleviation of their symptoms. When being treated by a practitioner trained by Dr. Howell and who follows the procedure taught by Dr. Howell, there has never been an incidence of harm. A person must be willing to heal, however, or any treatment is a waste of time. I am very grateful for the gift of health that I have received from NCR. My life has improved dramatically in countles ways.

4. on 11 Apr 2005 at 3:45 pm   Larry

   Pardon my skepticisim but if you have had hundreds of these treatments that infers that you have had at least 200 treatments. That means that you would have been having to have been receiving at least two treatments a month for the past eight years, or a treatment a week for the past four years. I don’t know that I would call that “overcoming” the chronic pain. Also, I don’t know that I could find 100 people that even know what NCR is, much less have had the treatment. I’m not saying that you are pulling my leg or anything, just that I find claims like these to be incredible.

5. on 07 Feb 2006 at 2:47 pm   Pat

   Larry, You’ra ll wet on NCR. NCR eliminated a liflong problem being badly hunched over and this fixed it and my back is now fine AFTER 39 YEARS OF SUFFERING! Could you do this? Don’t make me laugh. Good thing I didn’t listen to you!

   Dr. Dean Howell in Wasington State deserves Nobel Prize consideration.

6. on 28 May 2006 at 2:56 pm   Patricia

   Larry,
   When we were teenagers, my sisters were in a car accident that left one of them with a lot of headaches and a large bump on her forehead. For three years my mother took her to physicians and naturopaths without any successful resolution of her problems. She heard of Dr. Howell from a friend and got my sister one four-day session of NCR. After the treatment the bump on her forehead was gone, she didn’t have a headache for three years and has not had a sinus infection since (10 years have passed). These are obviously just the results that my sister had, but I think that any therapy that provides those type results is one that deserves a bit less sarcasm and a bit more research on the part of those who are searching for something to help them with a health problem.

7. on 28 May 2006 at 6:56 pm   Larry D. Burton

   Patricia, I posted that right at three years ago. Since then the website has changed an no longer lists the entire list of syptoms I list above as being curable by NCR. Had the site stated that sinus problems could be cured by NCR I wouldn’t have had any reason at all to doubt it. I would have even gone as far as accepting that it could have a positive effect on ear infections and muscle spasms. What I have a problem with is the length and breadth of the list. It just sounds too incredible to me. After I started getting the comments I’ve gotten on this post I looked into some studies concerning NCR. They don’t give it very high marks.

8. on 08 Sep 2006 at 2:09 pm   Cranial Osteopathic Reseach

   There is actually a lot of science backing Cranial Osteopathy. For instance:

   Osteopathy Means Fewer Ear Infections
   A study published in Arch Pediatrics in 2003 showed that children with recurrent middle ear infections, who received Osteopathic manipulation, had fewer ear infections, needed less surgery (to place tubes), and had more normal hearing studies (tympanograms) than children who did not. “No adverse reactions were reported” in the study.

   The article concluded that: “The results of this study suggest a potential benefit of osteopathic manipulative treatment as adjuvant [in addition to routine pediatric care] therapy in children with recurrent AOM [acute otitis media]; it may prevent or decrease surgical intervention or antibiotic overuse.”

   Osteopathy Means Fewer Drugs and Fewer Expenses to Back Pain Sufferers
   A study in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1999 compared Osteopathic spinal manipulation with standard care for patients with low back pain. The “osteopathic-treatment group required significantly less medication (analgesics, antiinflammatory agents, and muscle relaxants) and used less physical therapy.” The “differences in cost were significant.”

   This article concludes that: “Given the known and potentially serious adverse effects and costs or nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug therapy, the achievement of equal outcomes in regard to pain relief, function, and satisfaction, with less use of medication and physical therapy, suggests an important benefit of osteopathic manipulative treatment; this type of treatment deserves careful examination through a formal cost-benefit analysis.”

   Osteopathic Treatment Results in Positive Gains in Children With Spastic Cerebral Palsy
   A study published in the journal of Clinical Pediatrics in 2004 compared parental perceptions of 23 children, diagnosed with cerebral palsy, who were treated by osteopathic manipulation as compared to 19 children who were not (the control group). Over a twenty-four week course of therapy, “twenty-one of the 23 parents of the children in the osteopathic group reported improvement in their child during the course of the therapies.”

9. on 09 Sep 2006 at 12:33 pm   Larry D. Burton

   Today is September 9, 2006. It has been three years and almost four months since I wrote the above posts. Since then the website I was referring to has been updated and no longer lists the long list of afflictions that NCR will cure.

   I never stated that NCR was a useless procedure. I don’t know enough about it to say what it will or what it won’t cure or treat. My post only meant to imply that I’m skeptical of anything being a cure all for a list as long as the above list. I’m still skeptical.

   Still, I receive hits daily referred from one search engine or another on searches for NCR. I would much rather these people refer to Dr. Stephen Barrett than me when looking for people who are wary of this procedure. But he doesn’t allow comments. I don’t think I want to any more, either.

   Thanks for all the replies but this subject is closed.