All osteopaths train for 4 or 5 years to attain their degree in Osteopathy. A cranial osteopath is an osteopath that has continued training after attaining their degree, to gain understanding and expertise in treating ‘cranially’ using these specialised osteopathic techniques. These cranial techniques can be used to benefit patients that have more complex and long-term health issues, and problems where regular manual techniques alone are insufficient to help resolve them. 

Osteopathy in the cranial field is best known for treating babies and children, but it is important to recognise that all ages can benefit from this approach. Patients who have specific requirements for a gentler approach to their healthcare, for example the elderly or those with osteoporosis, can benefit immensely from cranial treatments. Patients who have chronic, long term health issues may also benefit from the ‘cranial’ approach.

The aim of a cranial osteopath is to help the body to restore its natural state so that the body can repair itself. This approach can be applied not only to the head and spine, but to any part of the body. One of the aims of an osteopathic treatment is to remove any hindrance to the body’s own healing capability, i.e. we aim to improve the body’s capacity to help itself get better.

In babies and children, an osteopath aims to reduce or remove any compensatory patterns that are generated by old injuries. As a child grows, they may have to adapt to the effects of past injuries causing further problems for them later in life. These effects could be resolved with a little help from a cranial osteopath. 

With newborn babies and young children, it is readily acknowledged that the forces placed on the newborn skull both in the womb and during the birth process, may cause problems for the growing infant and child. Infant skulls are soft and not fully ossified (bony changes that make bone solid) at birth. Strain patterns that have occurred in the cranium through the late stages of pregnancy or during a traumatic birth, may led to unresolved traumas for the infant. If these are left untreated it is these patterns that are believed to cause a range of problems as the child grows and develops. It is these strain patterns that the cranial osteopath detects and sets about changing, with a gentle but significant intervention aimed to set the baby up for optimum health in the future. As a result of this osteopathic treatment, it is expected that babies who are restless, unsettled, poor feeders, have digestion issues, suffer colic or other discomfort, will settle and subsequently thrive.

An osteopath working in this area will be particularly interested in the development of the face and cranium. They will consider in detail the areas of asymmetry in the cranium and the impact this has on breathing mechanics and dental occlusion (mal-alignment of the teeth), both of which have a dramatic effect on long term health of an individual. Treatment in these areas may have some influence on preventing chronic problems from presenting later in life in areas such as the ear, nose and throat, headaches and sinusitis.

Adults can also benefit from having osteopathic treatment using cranial techniques. Chronic or long-term problems that have been difficult to resolve, using more traditional healthcare treatments or other manual therapy techniques, are often helped by using cranial osteopathic techniques. Cranial osteopathy can help an enormous variety of complaints, not just head symptoms. Spinal and joint pain, the effects of mechanical injuries of the body, respiratory and gut function issues, can also see significant improvement using this approach to treatment.
However, it is good to know that undergraduate training provides all osteopaths with a thorough understanding of yellow and red flag symptoms and signs. These flags serve as a warning that certain patients are unsuitable for treatment using any osteopathic technique and need to be referred on to the patient’s general medical practitioner.

In the UK, as yet, there is no validation criteria for training standards in cranial osteopathy beyond an initial undergraduate training. This lends itself as a practice to being copied by those who lack extensive medical training.

Here at the Stamford Osteopathic Clinic, we have several osteopaths who are trained to treat cranially. If you would like to be treated by a cranial osteopath, please ask for one of them when you speak to a member of the reception team.