Amanda Phillips

Osteopaths at Amanda Phillips are happy to treat patients with any condition listed above.

Birth Trauma and accidents whilst a child

Psychiatrists and psychologists are well-known for stressing the importance in understanding what happens before a child is born, during the birth process and what happens in the early years. Cranial osteopaths have long recognised that the birthing process imposes enormous strain on babies, particularly if the birth is difficult or elongated. The baby's skull stretches to accomodate the narrow birth canal, but only gradually recovers its shape. After a difficult birth the process of "unmoulding" may be incomplete, leaving residual stress within the head and impacting on the nervous system. These stresses can give rise to conditions such as colic, trapped wind, regurgitation, feeding difficulties and sleep problems. In addition childhood is a time of slips, trips, falls and scrapes, each of which can potentially impose a similar burden of stress.

Delayed Development

Delayed development is troubling for parents because it is often noticed over a long period of time as the failure by a child to keep up with the development path of peer children. The symptoms include a lack of coordination, difficulty walking or running or failing to talk, either at all or clearly. Yet noticing an absence is difficult and, of course, the speed at which individuals develop on multiple dimensions will always vary substantially. Nevertheless, once parents or carers become aware of this issue, it is important to look to potential physical causes rather than to assume the child is less bright than others. It is apparent all too often that such kids are suffering from vital nerves at the base of the skull being trapped or pinched. Once the nerves are released the speed of development can be amazing with some children very rapidly catching up to their friends.