Ultrasound

Sound waves at a pitch higher that most human ears can register have the property of passing through fluid in a way that allows the reflected signals to be imaged. An example of how effective this can be is the ability Bats have evolved to resolve these signals  to the degree of precision that allows them to pick Mosquito's out of the air. Lacking the ability to project or sense these sounds ourselves, we have developed appliances indicate the imagery for us. One of these appliances that has garnered a lot of press in the last few years is the US Navy's use of High Frequency Sonar Using these frequencies allows sub mariners to image their surroundings as if they were looking at a landscape spread out before them. This level of detail requires a lot of energy in the form of sound projected into the water. There is ample evidence that marine mammals exposed to these energy levels experience so much pain that they will actually swim out of the ocean. Autopsies show that many of their eardrums have imploded and they are often bleeding from the ears. 

Another of these appliances is ultrasound imaging which is a non-invasive method of imaging internal body structure.  This is an inexpensive way to get coarse grained images which are adequate for many medical applications. One such application is getting a look at a developing fetus, which is done thousands of times every month in hospitals and clinics. The are no obvious negative effects on the developing fetus. Improvement of this technology allows for dynamic imaging which shows neuromotor activity - movement - and shows that there is often a reflexive response to the ultrasound stimuli as early as 6 weeks.

It would seem prudent to assume that injecting a lot of acoustic energy into the womb could have negative results and potential risk negation opportunities should be considered. One of these would be to match the density of the table on which the patient is prone with the density of the body as closely as possible. Doing so allows much of the unused acoustic energy to dissipate, rather than be reflected back into the womb. The reflected sound creates resonant standing waves where the energy can accumulate to many times it initial value in a small area. Given the complexity and delicacy of the task being undertaken and how artificial ultrasound frequencies and energy densities  to natural development, it would seem prudent to use the technology sparingly and with any precautions available when imaging a developing fetus.  

Emotions and the Body

Chronically painful muscles often have some form of emotional conflict as part of the root cause. Our bodies often will on one hand want to express an emotion or feeling, and on the other hand quickly jump in and inhibit that impulse. The muscles which are active in that expression have to deal with conflicting signals from the neuromuscular system, creating stress. Over time this stress builds up creating chronic pain and stiffness. An example that many of us experience to some degree is when we want to say something, but stop ourselves from doing so. This may be the smart, practical thing to do, but over time the inhibited impulses can jam the muscles of the throat and diaphragm, which can develop into chronic neck pain and breathing restrictions. This can also express as a clenched jaw, biting the tongue so to speak, which then develops into chronic and painful Temporal Mandibular joint problems. Another common example results from when we feel, but can't easily express our anger. We may not even know that our shoulders are dealing with an impulse to strike out or push away, while dealing with a strong inhibition of that impulse. We then feel the jammed muscles as pain and tension in the shoulders, between the shoulder blades and perhaps up to the base of the skull. This pain might persist and never fully release no matter what we do to try to relax it.

During bodywork a memory of an incident or relationship can float up from our subconscious which we might talk about or just take notice of. Just the act of remembering usually results in a spontaneous opening up of tightly held muscles, which up until then had resisted any change. Quite often when looking back on these conflicts they seem logical and simple, sometimes even humorous, rarely too intense or uncomfortable to deal with. Other times these stresses can resolve without anything at all floating into awareness, just a sense of releasing and reorganizing. Bodywork by itself or complementing other therapies can make chronic pain heal faster, or provide the added energy needed to get a healing process moving again. With trauma and abuse a multi-therapy approach including bodywork can make working through painful issues go much quicker. For some personality types bodywork is the most suitable primary modality for personal growth and physical healing.

In my practice I find that even muscle pain caused by injuries can have emotional aspects, especially if healing is progressing slowly. Emotional vulnerabilities create weak areas in the body where accidents are more prone to happen. For example, someone who feels unsupported in some significant area of their life may have chronic foot problems. When they get injured, it always seems like the feet play a part. It is as if the feet express the instability or lack of support that they feel in other areas of their lives. Just working on the soft tissue of the feet without helping release the experience of lack of support probably will not produce permanent change. These cyclical patterns where the physical experience reinforces the emotional experience which again validates the physical experience can be difficult to break out of without help.  In my personal and clinical experience, releasing the emotions carried in soft tissue not only provides greater physical freedom and flexibility, but also emotional freedom to experience life in new ways. Often pain is the motivation that drives us into actively seeking out solutions to heal chronic problems. The benefits and discoveries we make along the journey can go beyond specific health goals to encompass our overall sense of well being, release from old patterns and access to joy.

If I could figure this out I could retire rich

If I could design a shoe with a 3" heel that looked great and made women look great that didn't trash their feet and wreck their postural dynamics - I would be rich. Here are some design considerations:

1) The feet slide down into the toe, wedging them together which leads to hammertoe / bunions etc. You can add material (eg: suede)to the inside of the shoe that helps keep the foot from sliding, but it is an inherently unstable platform and the foot does move.

2) The angle the foot is maintained at pulls the connective tissue on the front of the body downward, rotating the pelvis forward which makes the butt stick out, but also encouraging the ribcage to slump and pulling the shoulders forward. This moves the head forward, creating neck pain, headaches etc. 

3) The muscles of the calves have to shorten to adapt the posture to the hyperextended foot. These muscles are associated with Triple Heater Meridian and the fight or flight response, and having them chronically activated can lead to Adrenal exhaustion and feelings of insecurity and excessive caution.

4) The nearly complete absence of medial / lateral stability in high heels is not only tiring on the knees, but activates the adductors and abductors of the thigh. These muscles are associated with Pericardium meridian which has the function of protecting the heart. If they are hyperactive, the heart is going to have trouble remaining calm.

5) The evolving arch support for the body on flat surfaces does not get to function when the foot is positioned at an angle  and shock loads are transmitted through the ankle into the knee and hip without the attenuation that the spring action of the arch provides.

On the plus side, these shoes look great on womens legs!

CranioSacral Therapy and Birth Issues

If you have ever watched a horse or other animal give birth, it can be suprising how graceful and quick birth can be when compared with our experience comming into the world. The difficulty we experience is a result of the size of our skull. The evolution of our brains has resulted in a tripling in size of the Cranium since our path diverged from our Chimpanzee relatives 6 million years ago. Human birth is literally pushing against the limits of what is physically possible, as any of our mothers will attest to. As the neonate's head is pushed against the pelvis, the skull bones momentarily fold inward to squeeze through the pelvic opening. Once through, the newborn's skull bones should flex back to their proper positions. This compression obviously has no lasting ill effects and may very well initiate reflexes that assist with surviving being born - the experience is part of what makes us human.

Difficulties arise when the cranial bones do not fully return to their prior relationship. It is common to find one bone overlapping another, or two bones jammed tightly together, inhibiting any movement between them. Forceps or suction deliveries often create or compound these types of lesions. Lesions can create problems with vision or auditory processing, headaches, hormone imbalances, spinal alignment, learning difficulties, cholic,  emotional disturbances and a host of other issues.   Children will sometimes try to self correct lesions by head banging or very rough behaviour like running into walls or dropping their entire weight on their knees in an apparent effort to unstick and reset the alignment of the cranial bones.

The younger the child the quicker it usually is to re-align the bones of the skull. Because of the soft spots on the head it is advisable that only practitioners comfortable with infant anatomy and cranial techniques attempt these adjustments. Adjustments can often take just a few minutes, sometimes with obvious changes in the outline of the head. CranioSacral Therapy is a very effective modality for releasing these types of lesions.