Cranial Osteopathy - advice please

[Needsleeeeepsendheeeelp]

My ten week old has been impossible to settle since day 1. She's on neocate formula for cmpa and gaviscon for reflux. It feels like we've exhausted so many avenues to try and settle her, and a couple of people have mentioned cranial osteopathy to me. I asked the HV about it but all she said was they couldn't officially recommend anything like that. Does anyone have any experience of this type of therapy on unsettled babies - can you please explain in layman's terms what it is, how it benefits, any unwanted side effects etc? And would you recommend?! Thanks!

Yes many moons ago.

My 3 all had colic, nothing helped and I tried cranial osteopathy. It was amazing, my babies were like different babies after a session. I would recommend it as it helped mine so much and saved me a lot of stress too.

I had it for my daughter when she was a few months old as she was like yours. We went to a really nice osteopath who basically rubbed my daughter's head while I held her on my lap. We had two sessions and she slept for about an hour after each which was the only time she slept so easily and for so long in her whole babyhood!

It didn't make a difference and she ended up being a nightmare until about 18 months. By the time she was a more easily settled child (and I stress that she was still nowhere near as settled as any child I've ever met!) we went into lockdown so I've not actually driven her in a car for longer than 45 minutes and she's coming up to 2.5. I hope you have more luck with yours!

Following. My baby has had some feeding difficulties and this has been recommended but not sure if it’s just a load of rubbish.

There's no scientific evidence for it. I did 3 sessions for feeding issues because I was desperate. Didn't make any difference and cost £££.

Had it for my 2 yo when he was about 3 months old. He used to scream every time he was put on his back for a nappy change /to sleep and would only sleep on his side which was obv not the recommended way. Went because it was suggested by a friend who had also delivered by c section. Apparently during a vaginal delivery the head bones are squashed and moulded unlike during a c section and sometimes this can affect the baby. Similar to more c section babies needing breathing assistance initially as the fluid isn’t squeezed from the lungs during the journey down the birth canal. She did what looked to me like baby massage round his head and down either side of his spine. I’m not into non-scientifically proven alternative’medicine’ at all but all I can say is he stopped screaming at nappy changes and could be put down to sleep on his back.

Same as @Clangerschick. Section baby, greatly improved. Was told exactly same thing.

Both mine went, I'd say if you can afford it (and wouldn't be devastated if it does nothing) it's worth a shot. It helped us but is an alternative therapy so I'd go in without huge expectations.

Cranial osteopathy is modern quackery, I'm afraid. It's looked down on even among osteopaths. One osteopath wrote:

"This treatment regime lacks a biologically plausible mechanism, shows no diagnostic reliability, and offers little hope that any direct clinical effect will ever be shown. In spite of almost uniformly negative research findings, "cranial" methods remain popular with many practitioners and patients."

I think you will find most serious scientific reviews of it come to the same conclusion: "at present, there is insufficient evidence to support cranial osteopathy as being relevant for the diagnosis or treatment of patients."

So:

What it is, how it benefits, any unwanted side effects etc

What it is: a belief that spinal fluid pulsates and that this affects the body. Cranial osteopaths are meant to be able to detect the pulsation through skilled touch of the skull and alter this through massage. Basically it is a gentle massage of the head.

How it benefits: supposedly through altering pulsating fluid and the human skull. Really it is a mix of the placebo effect and quite a nice relaxing massage.

Unwanted side effects: it's a gentle baby massage, there shouldn't be any. But a practitioner who makes mistake and pushes too hard can of course hurt a baby's soft skull.

Would you recommend? No, it is expensive. It has no scientifically proven benefits. It is modern snake oil. It certainly doesn't work by changing electrical pulsations in your baby's brain and spine.

HOWEVER gently massaging any baby may calm them down - so instead of paying an "alternative practitioner" to alter your baby's "skull pulsations" you can try some baby massage at home yourself for free.

I'd recommend seeing a chiropractor who specialises in paediatrics.

Chiropractors are also quacks, by the way, and should never practise on infants. This came to public attention recently when a chiropractor broke a baby's neck in Australia.

I saw an osteopath for my baby and it cured her fussiness, about 80% after the first session and she was a different child after the third. I was desperate and willing to try anything before more significant meds for reflux.

Whether it was a coincidence or cure, I would do It again 100%.

The guy I saw was an osteopath, not a cranial osteopath. Is there a difference I wonder? Feel free to pm me and I can send you his details if you want to read his very detailed website.

That's interesting @finally as the peer reviewed research I found which is a systematic review and meta analysis (basically a gold standard review of all available literature) showed some favourable effects with a very low risk of adverse effects (lower than that group who didn't have the therapy!). Just because we don't know the mechanism of action of a treatment, doesn't mean it doesn't work.

bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/1/e019040

I took my very unsettled 12 week old. The practitioner said this will either totally work or not at all, and if it works she will be worse tomorrow and better the next day. The next day was horrendous and the following one - a changed child! She slept, she went in her buggy and was just generally settled and content.

Hi @oohmamama thanks for the link I had a quick look over it.

Only three studies in the review used osteopathic intervention. The review rated one study high quality, one moderate quality and one low quality (severe flaws).

The reviewers could not do meta analyses of most reported positive outcomes because many studies did not have control groups or did not collect enough data or follow data protocols.

The one outcome they could do a meta analysis for was crying, which showed a slight reduction - note that only one of these was an osteopathy study. The reviews observed some other limitations, such as parents weren't blinded to what their children received in all studies - this is important because in effect the parents can experience a placebo effect.

Overall they did find moderate evidence of a slight reduction in crying but reading that review it basically says "more and better evidence needed" in flashing neon signs.

Just because we don't know the mechanism of action of a treatment, doesn't mean it doesn't work.

This is 100% true. Clearly you felt it worked for your child.

Obviously an osteopath adjusting your spinal fluid pushes is complete rubbish or, in the language of my supervisor, "lacks any plausible biological mechanism". But they are basically doing a head massage which is very relaxing. Manual massage may be causing the improvement. Or another aspect of care - in the review you linked they discuss one study which found that when parents in the control group received counselling support and were listened to there was no difference between control and treatment groups, suggesting it was other factors causing improvement not the treatment at all.

In any case I think it's important that the OP knows that their claims about how cranial osteopathy work are total nonsense and not worth shelling out for.

Research into non western medical interventions will almost always be 'low quality' because you almost always cannot blind them.

Even if you did osteopathic treatment on the other end of the body, that could have some effect.

I guess OP my suggestion would be to give it a try. Research has shown improvement in the amount of crying a baby does and at worst, nothing happens and you've perhaps wasted some money.

Hope it all goes well and things improve.

@Needsleeeeepsendheeeelp I used this for both my babies, whilst it didn't cure them it helped a lot.
My first had really bad reflux and also undiagnosed tongue tie, then eczema and allergies.
My second was stuck in the birth canal with the cord around his neck, ankles and hands so was never going to be birthed alive vaginally (birth notes and debrief). His neck was squished sideways and osteopathy helped.

I did baby massage on both babies and it made no difference but both were much calmer after osteopath sessions and slept better. My first is still not a heat sleeper aged 7 and my second is a much better sleeper aged 5.
I am currently pregnant and suffering from SPD so seeing an osteopath and i find it helps more than physio. If you go try to get someone recommended.

Took my ds when he was little. All the osteopath seemed to do was hold his head in different points. When I was asking questions about what it actually did and what he was doing, he couldn't really explain it. I didn't go back.

It was miracle cure for DS.

First treatment he kept down a whole bottle of milk without projectile vomiting, second treatment it was solids. After a month of treatments he was off the horrendous combination of prescription stay down non cows milk plus gaviscon which had been necessary previously to keep his body weight stable despite the projectile vomiting. The crying went to normal as he was no longer in pain constantly

Yes it wasn't cheap. (Although it was a hell of a lot cheaper then either the NHS or Private healthcare tests/"treatments" that had all failed miserably) No I'm not sure the best practitioner can tell you what they are doing. (Although mine could tell me I had taken antibiotics in the pregnancy despite having absolutely no means of knowing.).

But If you have the money it is definitely worth a try.

Thanks everyone! Really interesting to read all of the different experiences.

On a couple of specific points others have mentioned... DD was born by c section after going into spontaneous labour but I had very frequent, extreme contractions but no dilating so it all happened very quickly. Whether that has a part to play in how she is generally, I don't know?

My DH really wants to take her to a private tongue tie specialist, but I'm not keen. DD had a blood test this week and I asked the registrar at hospital to check and she said she had the most minor tie but not something anyone would cut. This was the fourth doctor/hcp to say the same. She has free movement of her tongue and now she's settled on her formula, she is starting to feed very well again. So it doesn't feel like this is an issue.

She can go to sleep on her back. Sometimes takes a fair few tries to get her down. But she jerks around a lot and can't get herself back off between sleep cycles. So daytime naps tend to be taken in the sling now, and the nights are really really tough. She has also had a regular tenancy to scream and thrash after feeding, but this is something that has started to lessen, again I think as she's settled on her milk. She is happy playing on her back and tolerates tummy time. It could be that she'll simply grow out of it, or that the issue is more that the gaviscon isn't doing enough for her silent reflux. It's hard to know whether to sit tight for a while longer or try something else - and then what to try! In any case, I'm going to look into some local practitioners and just see where/how much they are etc.

@Needsleeeeepsendheeeelp with my first I was consistently told no tongue tie from hv and doctors. He had very bad reflux actually silent reflux hence osteopath. Fast forward 4 years at a new dentist I was asked how I fed him and I said breastfed for 2.5 years. Dentist was shocked how I managed because of his tongue tie was so obvious.

My first tt became obvious around over a year mark but breastfeeding was ok and he had excellent speech so no need. He can move his tongue freely but has to do with feeding at the breast.

With my second the minute I noticed his behavior similar to my first, fussing at the breast, pulling away. I got a lactation consultant as although gp agreed there is a slight tt but nothing to worry about. Lactation consultant confirmed tongue tie and referred us to a dentist that got it snipped at 4 weeks old. The difference was amazing and this baby fed differently to my first. Bottom line I wouldn't listen to drs or midwives about tt, I will be seeing a lactation consultant or a dentist. Apologies for the long post.

It helped all 3 of mine and it certainly won't do any harm.

We took our little boy to the osteopath and it did help a little. The idea behind it is to make sure the spine and neck are properly aligned as quick births and c section can cause it not to. It wasn't a miracle cure though.
Have you tried a different medication to help the silent reflux? We got on really well with lansoprazole. We tried omeprazole too but it gave him lots of wind. There are other milks to try too.
He was never settled on his back sleeping and when he started rolling he just slept on his front and still does now. He also had an posterior tongue tie which is quite hard to spot, so the tongue tie specialist may be worth it to just be certain?

Don’t you just love the way people are so negative!? People come on who have had great results from something but someone will come on who had no experience saying it’s “quackery” etc 🙄

I went once with my baby. Like the lady above he was a screamer at nappy changes and wouldn’t go down on his back at all. Osteopath said there was nothing wrong except “tiny bit tight” However from when I came home he was a different baby. Some people are so closed minded! What do you have to lose?

@Mishmased my DD is bottle fed, from everything I have read and understood about tt they won't do anything about it unless breastfeeding and its pronounced. It's so hard to get any in person appts at the moment, hence DH wanting to go private, but she is feeding well and I don't see how doing this would make any difference?

@PollyRoe16 we are giving infacol but have so far only used gaviscon for the silent reflux. The gp has said they will prescribe omeprazole if we were still having difficulty once she had settled on the milk. She's had so many changes in the last month, I want to give her a few more days to settle before we change something else... Although I say that, but this evening she is already fussing as soon as we try and put her down, so I'm already steeling myself for another night of no sleep, so any resolve I currently have to give it a few more days may have totally disappeared by the morning! We're desperate to figure her out, having such little sleep with everything the pandemic brings (no outside help or support plus homeschooling) is painful, but I also have to accept we may just have to keep riding this phase out and just cope as well as we can.

I think she's on the right milk, this is the fourth formula she'd had and she's definitely improved since she's been on it.