The Brain-Injured Child
And Brain Therapy
© 2005 Dr. Barry R. Gillespie
A brain injury to a child can have a devastating
effect on the entire family.
Usually the medical model puts a label on the
child’s disease such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism,
and other conditions. This article will describe the important
role the healthcare professional has in using craniosacral,
fascial, and muscle modalities. These touch therapies are
an important piece of the well-being puzzle for the brain-injured
child.
How Brain Therapy Helps
Brain Injured Children
The most important concept of the craniosacral
philosophy is that the brain needs to breathe.
The cerebrospinal fluid has to flow through the body, the
spinal cord has to move freely, and the brain needs to move
in sync with the sacrum. I am not happy until I can palpate
at least a 60-second brain cycle in children. For the child
who may have asthma, earaches, or any of the chronic diseases
in my book, Healing Your Child, this cycle can be
quite restricted down to the four to six second range.
When you palpate the cranium of a brain-injured child, you
may not feel any motion. These children can be extremely restricted;
it is no wonder they have physical difficulties in life.
Usually the history denotes an unusually difficult, traumatic
birth. The biggest problem can be a lack of oxygen directly
at the birth.
I have seen children who did not take their first breath
until seven or eight minutes and others who were pronounced
“dead” at the birth and then revived later. Fortunately,
the brain is a fairly resilient organ that can respond from
this trauma with therapy.
In craniosacral work the brain can usually open to a 50 or
60-second brain cycle in a day or two. But unlike the headache
child who can totally recover from his condition with just
this therapy, this is usually only one piece of the puzzle
for the brain-injured child.
The Family Hope Center Incorporates
Brain Therapy Into Its Programs
I have had the honor and privilege of being on the staff
at the Family Hope Center in suburban Philadelphia (www.familyhopecenter.org).
Carol and Matthew Newell have incorporated Brain Therapy (craniosacral,
fascial, and TMJ/dental therapies) into their neurological
programs for all of their child clients. A day at this center
is very interesting because you might be working with children
from Hong Kong, Mexico, Denmark, and Italy.
What we found uniformly when we evaluated a significant
number of children from around the world was that when the
cranial pressure was released and the brain opened in therapy,
their neurological systems could respond much more positively.
The better the brain moved, the better it worked.
Many of the children also had incredible strain in their
fascial web. Children have some fascial strain as a rule,
but these children were way over the top.
I had an opportunity to travel to Denmark to work with fifteen
children in the summer of 2004. I remember that Matthew, the
parents, and myself did a group fascial unwinding with a particular
child. After 42 minutes, the exhausted parents could not go
further, but the child was still unwinding.
Many of these children have severe fascial web issues that
need to be addressed. Since the craniosacral mechanism sits
in the full-body fascial web, the fascial strain is ultimately
restricting the motion of the brain.
The TMJ-Dental Modality
For Brain Injured Children
Frequently, the oral condition of these children is neglected.
The parents are seriously looking for providers and want
care, but the world view seems, “Well, orthodontics
really does not matter for your child.”
Many of the children also have a throat issue. The child
may have had a lack of oxygen as mentioned previously. The
cord may have been wrapped around his throat many times causing
a swallowing problem. When the child swallows, the tongue,
instead of hitting the roof of the palate, thrusts forward
and pushes his upper and lower front teeth apart, creating
an open bite.
To check for an open bite, pull the cheeks open with your
gloved hands and have the child bite on his back teeth. A
space between the front teeth indicates an open bite.
When the child swallows, the tongue will probably protrude
into this space as a tongue thrust. Our teeth in health hold
their position in the jaws because the facial muscles from
the cheeks and lips on the outside and the tongue (a strong
set of muscles) from the inside are in equal balance. When
this muscular balance is upset and the tongue becomes a more
dominant force, an open bite can result.
These children need to see a myofunctional (not myofascial)
therapist. This professional is usually a speech teacher who
helps to teach the child how to swallow correctly. If orthodontics
is done for this child and the teeth are moved to a beautiful
position, the continual tongue thrusting can move all of the
teeth back to their original position. So the throat/tongue
issue must be addressed and corrected first.
If you are doing therapy for a brain-injured child,
I would strongly recommend that you evaluate the craniosacral,
fascial, and TMJ/dental aspects of care.
In working at the Family Hope Center with these children,
I had the great opportunity to learn a tremendous amount about
myself.
Whatever physical problems I was having at the time, it was
all really nothing in comparison. They also taught me to get
out of my ego in treatment and meet them on a soul level.
As I have said to many parents, your child is a beautiful
soul; she just happens to be trapped in her physical body.
It is our job as healthcare professionals to help these children
get unstuck with Brain Therapy.
For
more articles about the role of Brain Therapy in correcting
chronic conditions in children and adults .
. .
For
more information about the "Brain Therapy for Children
and Adults" seminar for health professionals
. . .
