Osteopaths at Gilmour Piper are happy to help patients with any treatment 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 various 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.

Migraine

The most common kind of debilitating headache is the migraine which inflict a very intense pain for a period varying from minutes to many hours. In the UK it is understood that almost eight million people have suffered from migraine attacks. Some only rarely but for a minority it can be a regular cause of disabling pain substantially impacting work and family life. Whilst the cause is not well understood doctors note the correlation between attacks and an imbalance of the hormone serotonin. As serotonin can constrict veins and arteries the imbalance can cause the vessels to be become engorged which is the source of the pain. Triggers can again vary but include stress, bright lights, hormonal imbalances (often caused by the menstrual cycle) and even various food types. Cranial osteopaths frequently treat migraine sufferers by working gently to promote improved level of drainage from the veins of the head and neck as well as working to reduce muscle tension at the base of the skull.