Cranial Osteopathy

[Reubensmommy]

My Baby is 21 weeks old, and he is still waking at least 5 times a night. My labour progressed very quickly and as I had an epidural I didnt feel the need to push so by the time the mw checked me my baby was more than ready to come. He was born with a very large lump on the side of his head, which went after two weeks. He is very unsettled and I fear that i caused his birth to be traumatic by having the epidural. I have read up on Cranial Osteopathy and was thinking maybe this would be helpful for my lo. I don't no anyone else who has done it though. Could I get referred by my GP to one? I live in west lancahire If any one in the area knows of any. Your views on its effectiveness would be very much appreciated.

You will probably get a mixed review about cranial osteopathy.

I personally found it worked for my DS2.

I had a very quick labour 2nd time around - 45min from start to finish. He to was very unsettled, very colickly etc. I used to walk the floor with him most nights til midnight then he would sleep until about 4am then I used to co-sleep while bf to get him to settle for the rest of the night.

I took him to cranial osteopathy and it really seemed to help. After 2 or 3 treatments he started to sleep from about 11pm til 5 am. Which after 4 months was bliss!!!!

At the end of the day dispite it costing me #30 a go it was well worth it.

Cranial osteopathy has worked brilliantly for my DS2 who couldn't settle back to sleep for hours if he woke up in the night. We have been going back weekly for 2 to 4 weeks about every 6 months, for 18 months.

No idea how it works, but it does, and in the last course of treatment the osteopath has worked wonders with DS2's diaphragm, and he's less prone to waking up for a burp (he had bad reflux and stomach problems from birth - 12 weeks prem).

DS2 is just over 2 now, and although it's £40/session it does the trick for him, and for me. Can't put a price on sleep. I was sceptical about it, but it works for us, and I almost worship the cranial osteo now. Was especially impressed when at the first visit, having given him a summary of DS2's extensive medical history, he said that we might want to get his ears looked at as he thought he may have issues. I'd forgotten to mention his glue ear and ongoing hearing monitoring...

Thank you both very much for sharing your experiences with me. It definately looks like its worth a try. like you said. You can't put a price on sleep. Thankyou very much. Hope all your little ones are well :)

I have a 2 yr old. He had a quick but bumpy birth. And like your son came up with a huge lump on his head a few hours after birth.

He was an utterly miserable baby. He didn't do sleep. He had severe reflux. He didn't want to be held - he'd lay rigid in my arms. He didn't connect with his. He was one cross child.

Out of desparation When he was 1yr 6 months I took him to a cranial osteopath. He chatted and checked him and said his skull/neck/ spine were out of place and causing him alot of pain.

After 2 treatments my boy began to sleep. After 4 treatments we had a different kid - the cross child was disappearing and this lively impish little monkey took his place. We go every 3 months now just to check there's no stress on is spine.

Oddly enough I was talking to someone when out last night who had a prem baby and she was talking about the same cranial osteopath who 'unlocked' her angry baby. And she is the biggest cynic I know.

The treatment is so very gentle that you cannot see them doing a thing and you feel like asking for your money back.

Thankyou. My baby is very fretful and is very easily upset. We call him the 'Angry' baby! I'm just trying to look for an Osteopath in my area. Thankyou again. I'm glad it helped your lo.

Definately go......they are amazing and won't do any harm even if they can't help.
A lot easier to treat a newborn too rather than wait further down the line ;)

I would really suggest taking a closer look at the evidence for cranial osteopathy before trying it as a treatment for colic.

You will often see anecdotes from parents who genuinely believe they have seen an improvement after using this treatment, but every time this has been properly examined .... no conclusive evidence has been found to show it is of any benefit.

To get a good impression of how effective it really is you need to look at what colic is.
The first signs of colic are usually seen within the first few weeks after birth and even if left untreated, colic will usually have cleared up by around 3 to 4 months (12-16 weeks)!

Before claiming osteopathy (or ANY other treatment) was the 'cure' it is worth looking at how old the child was when first seen by the osteopath & how old when there are signs things are improving.

Many of the stories repeated are of children 5 or 6 weeks old, who show signs of improvement after a few treatments ... spead over 2 or 3 weeks. So what is often seen is a child around 8 or 9 weeks old who even if untreated could well be showing signs of improvement. Parents often, understandably associate this with the treatment.

You can of course say that the lack of evidence is just my opinion, but many UK osteopaths look upon Cranial Osteopathy as eing bnonesense - If you really want an answer I would genuinely encourage you to email the General Osteopathic Council ( www.osteopathy.org.uk/ ) and very simply ask them if they have any good evidence that cranial osteopathy works for the treatment of colic - Dont hold your breath!

Perhaps the best, impartial advice can be found here
www.cks.nhs.uk/patient_information_leaflet/colic#

Particularly the sections called 'Comforting your baby' and 'Looking after yourself'.

Finally, and very importantly, get your child checked by a GP. He may not be able to provide much in the way of a cure (very little actually works) ..... but colic needs to be correctly diagnosed to ensure that what you are seeing are not the symptoms of something more serious.

Osteopaths are NOT medically qualified Doctors.

Thanks or your input. I'm not suggesting my baby has colic i'm suggesting that as with the case with many births where the baby has been stuck in the birth canal for too long that my baby has recieved some kind of trauma from this. whether physical or emotional I'm not sure. But as he still is very tempremental and he often trys to burry himsel in the matress or he really grabs and holds the side of his face i'm guessing that maybe he has alot of pressure in that area. To be honest I'm unsure of what to do, But fear that my baby is in unneccesary pain or discomfort through no fault of his own, i feel i should try something.
Thank you for the links I will have a good read of them.
Again, thanks for your input :)

i have cranial oestopathy done every couple of months on myself for migraines i cant recommend it highly enough, as others have said it is a very gentle but effective treatment,

Hi All,

I mentioned colic mainly because it was mentioned earlier in this thread and is one of the most common conditions claimed by cranial osteopaths.
However it is certainly not the only condition, similar claims are regularly made that cranial osteopathy can help allergies, asthma, learning difficulties, ADHD, ear infections, excema and even claims for conditions such as cerebral palsy, other forms of brain damage and even threatened miscarriage!

There is no evidence that cranial osteopathy performs any better than a placebo for ANY of these conditions. Only 2 days ago the results of a study into cranial osteopathy and cereral palsy was published in the British Medical Journal. The conclusion of the study was:

" Conclusions This trial found no statistically significant evidence that cranial osteopathy leads to sustained improvement in motor function, pain, sleep or quality of life in children aged 5?12 years with cerebral palsy nor in quality of life of their carers."

Yet these claims are quite common on UK osteopathic websites. The treatment for some of these conditions requireS medical supervision - osteopaths are not medically qualified.

It is very common to see claims that cranial osteopathy is 'gentle, safe and effective'. I agree that it is gentle, in itself it may be safe, as long as the osteopathy convincing a parent to accept treatement doesn't delay or impact on proper medical treatment (some of those conditions are quite serious) - however I disagree with the claims that it is effective. There is no evidence to support that claim, other than some anecdotes and teh assurances of an osteopath (who charges for the treatment.

I really have no problem with people using cranial osteopathy, but do with they would at least look at it objectively.

skepticbarista.wordpress.com/2011/02/01/osteopathya-question-of-evidence-part-1/

skepticbarista.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/osteopathya-question-of-evidence-part-2/

I openly admit that I am not medically qualified, but I have looked closely at the evidence and have spoken to the UK osteopathic statutory regulator, the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) ..... who are unable to provide evidence and have now started to review their members websites to have many of these claims removed, because (in their words) they may constitute a breach of the ostoepaths code of practice and the Advertsing Standards Authority guidance.

No matter what treatment option people choose, I think it is important to make that decisions based on reliable information/evidence rather than assume it must be ok simply becuase somebody on an internet message board said so.

B.

I'd love to visit a good cranial osteopath (for myself and my son). Any recommendations in Hertfordshire?