Craniosacral Therapy
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Craniosacral Therapy
June 2004
I have seen the recent postings recommending
craniosacral therapists. Had anyone had any luck with this
therapy for treating fibromyalgia in an adult? If so, is there
anyone specific that you could recommend? Perhaps a
physical therapist with craniosacral
training? Thank you.
an
Cranialosacral bodywork has helped my mother with her
fibromyalgia tremendously. Most chronic illnesses respond
to more than one type of treatment at the same time. If you
can find an osteopath in your hmo, that might be worth
looking into.
Osteopath's are Md's that also include alternative
medicine/practices in their work. You get the best of both
worlds. Unfortunately, even in the East Bay, finding an
osteopath that is covered by health insurance isn't easy.
There is a good osteopath on Telegraph and Prince (I think).
Her office is parallel to the Blue Oak Therapy center. You
could call or stop by and ask them what health insurance
they take.
One more thing, a friend of mine that has fibromyalgia has
been taking tai-chi for a year now. It's helped her body, mind
and soul, without causing her any pain.
beth
I don't have fibromyalgia myself but I asked my cranial-sacral practioner, Michelle Reddel, D.C., about it. In her opinion,
fibromyalgia is best treated by an integrated treatment protocol including bodywork, nutrition, and physical activity, and
CS technique is ideally suited to the fibromyalgia client b/c of its systems approach of balancing muscular and neurologic
dysfunction. In addition, because of its slow and relaxing components (which I can attest to!), it tends not to be as
overwhelming and arousing as other techniques (which is a critical aspect for the fibromyalgia client who is in a constant
state of sensitivity.) If you want to talk further about it, you can call her office at 649-9169.
Janet
June 2004
While there are some cranial-sacral previous recommendations
they are pretty dated and I was hoping for some current
suggestions.
I am very interested in some cranial-sacral work for my infant
and myself. She was a vacuum assist birth and I want to address
anything that may have been injured. For myself, I have had a
few head injuries and I am curious if it will address headaches,
sinus pain and depression. I would appreciated any feedback and
recommendations.
Thank you.
I highly recommend Michele Reddel, D.C., for cranial-sacral work. She's a very gifted practioner, knowledgeable and
intuitive, and a great listener. I know she treats infants and children as well, so I think she would be a good fit for you.
Her office is the Parker Plaza building at 2560 Ninth Street (btn. Parker and Dwight), in Berkeley. Her number is 649-
9169.
Janet
I would highly recommend Michelle Reddell in Berkeley.
She helped me through some very intense pain. I know she has worked
with many children. She is very open, kind and generous. The office
number is 649-9169.
Good Luck.
Elyse
One resource for cranial work is our office,the ChiroCranial
Center, in San Rafael. Dr. Strasser has twenty years of
experience treating adults and children and cranial therapy is
one of his primary approaches. Dr. Strasser uses a gentle
approach that combines osteopathic ''cranio-sacral'' with
chiropractic craniopathy and Cranial Release Technique. Please
see our website at www.chirocranial.com. Dr. Strasser is always
available for questions.
Susan at Dr. Strasser's office
I highly recommend Nancy Burke, who works with adults as
well as children. She helped my infant born with vacuum
extraction, and I believe she really benefitted from the work.
Nancy is highly trained in cranial-sacral work and has
excellent rapport with children. Her office is in Richmond
and her phone number is 236-1007.
Yvonne
You can't beat Catherine Henderson --she's an osteopath, but I understand that it's
similar to Craeo-sacral work--for infants. She helped our (then 2 month old) son
out immesurably after a fall. I understand she has a huge waiting list,
but I also know she will see infants fairly quickly if there has been a birth (or other)
trauma. Good luck!
Abby
When my son was first born, he had a lot of problems with
breastfeeding and the lactation consultant referred us to a
cranio sacral therapist who we liked a lot. I think that the
work she did on our baby really helped. She also did some work
on me a few times when I was there, and it felt great. Her name
is Nancy Burke, and her office is in Richmond (a haul from our
home in Oakland, but well worth the commute). I thought her fees
were reasonable- she has a sliding scale. Her # is 236-1007.
Feel free to email me if you have any questions.
milli
My daughter also had a vacuum assisted birth and was an
extremely intense infant. She received cranial sacral therapy
when she was 1-3 months old from Elon Barnett (11/02-1/03 he
was working at Back in Action in Berkeley, although I'm not
sure if he's still there). It's very difficult to tell if it
helped or not. The therapy itself is so mild and it's difficult
to ''read'' a 2 month-old. Her response was random, some visits
she'd be smiling and others fussy. She has grown up to be a
very happy (although still prone to intenseness) 20 month old,
so maybe it helped. Elon was very patient and kind, even
through yelling and poopy diapers. He had a nice manner and
appeared to know what he was doing. I always trust
practitioners who tell you when they've done *enough* and Elon
was one of those. We went until he felt as though the therapy
had done what it could. I'd probably do it again, since it
definitely didn't hurt and maybe it helped, but it was one more
thing that made me feel like I was helping my daughter get
through some tough times.
Kim
Kim Lyons has done some very effective cranio-sacral work on me, and she's also a
specialist in infants and children. She's great. Contact her at:
Kim Lyons-Stuart, M.Ed., CMT (birthmate@yahoo.com)
Letitia
We took our son to a wonderful cranio-sacral chiropractor in
Santa Rosa named Dennis Hertenstein. I can't speak to his work
with adults, though I would expect that it would be excellent,
but we felt that he did help our son with his asthma. Dr. H.
feels very strongly that the birth experience can be directly
related to health problems, such as asthma, and he actually
aims to re-create aspects of the birth experience during
treatments. Our son did have a difficult birth (long, stalled
labor, pitocin, back labor, vacuum extraction, and cord around
neck), and he felt this was all very directly related to his
asthma. Of course we were seeing traditional western doctors
as well, and using lots of medications, so it is very hard to
say what exactly is responsible for the vast improvement we've
seen, but we do feel that Dr. H was at least partly responsible
for the improvement. The treatments were for the most part
very subtle and gentle, but it was sometimes a little weird and
disturbing (especially for me as the mom) when he would talk
about and re-create the birth experience. It's a little out
there, and the doctor himself was very upfront about the fact
that any number of factors could have contributed to the
overall improvement (meds, age, etc.), but we felt it was well
worth the drive up there once every 8 weeks or so. I'm really
giving you a very nutshell description here, so if you are
interested please email me and I'd be happy to call you. I'm
pretty certain he would be of help to you as well as your
child, but I can only speak to his work with children (our son
was probably about 2 when we started going). I also can't find
his phone # at the moment, but I'm sure he's listed, and I
could dig it up if you want to contact me.
Best of luck to you!
Tracy
October 2001
Can someone recommend where I can get a
craniosacral massage?
Tamara
Julia Boudakian is hard to get a hold of (she's semi-retired), but it
is worth pursuing an appointment with her. I went elsewhere for
craniosacral therapy treatments (to Back-in-Action on MLK) when I
couldn't get an appointment with her and was really disappointed.
Craniosacral therapy is very subtle work. When it's done well, it's
amazing; when it's not, it feels like nothing. Dr. Boudakian is
located on the Alameda near Solano Ave in Berkeley. Her number is:
510-525-4422
Ilana
Betty Segal in N. Berkeley does craniosacral (in addition to Swedish
massage and lymph drainage treatments). Her number is 526-8685.
J
I highly recommend Chris Iosbaker, a massage therapist in Oakland.
I've been seeing Chris since the birth of my daughter 2 years ago and she is
a miracle worker. I suffer from occasional TMJ and seeing Chris regularly
has kept it in check. She works with each patient to determine "hot spots"
and tailors her time with you to reflect your needs.
Chris has her own studio, attached to her home off of Oakland Avenue;
lovely, light filled and warm. Her number is 510 444 7997.
Alexandra
There are 2 people in this area who are masters of Cranio/sacral Therapy
Susan Feldman at Back in Action Chiropractic Center in Berkeley works wonders
with her hands. She's sensitive, intuitive and really good at what she does
(and a wonderful person too). The number at Back in Action is 843-2584. I've
never seen Susan myself for Craneo/Sacral but I work with her at Back in
Action (I'm a massage therapist) and she and I have worked together on
patients there.
The other person is Nancy Burke, in Richmond. Nancy is master of masters in
my opinion. She can work miracles. If something can be helped with
craneo/sacral therapy, Nancy can do it. Her number is 236-1007. I highly
recommend both people.
I've seen Nancy myself and have taken my 6 year old son to her.She works with
all kinds of problems. She works with kids and animals too. I'd call them
both to get a feel for what they each do. Good luck.
June
May 2004
Re: Acupuncture for Sciatica (May 2004)
I know this isn't exactly what you've asked for, but I would recommend Michelle Reddel for treatment of sciatica
issues. She's a chiropractor who specializes in cranial-sacral manipulation, and I think she is just terrific for this sort of
thing. Her office is located at 2560 Ninth St (between Parker and Dwight) and her number is 649-9169.
Janet
Aug. 2002
Re: Chiropractors for Babies/Newborns (Aug. 2002)
I highly recommend Nancy Burke, who is not a chiropractor,
but does cranial-sacral adjustments. She works a lot with
infants and small children. She has a very full practice, but
you should be able to get in soon, especially if you mention
this is for after a difficult birth. Her office is in Richmond,
phone 236-1007
yvonne
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