Role of Body Work for your Infant
Does your baby have some tension, a tongue and/or lip tie, or breathe through his/her mouth?
Many of you might be here looking for answers, support, direction... There are so many overlapping symptoms when it comes to a baby who has some muscular tension, ties, or is mouth breathing. So it's really hard to differentiate what the root cause is and therefore, where to start. I'm part of a team (across Canada/US) that works towards achieving your feeding goals while helping you and your baby to thrive in all areas! We as professionals have a variety of tools in our toolboxes to help you along the way, but as a team we aim to filling your toolbox with exactly what you need to thrive! Bodyworkers (craniosacral therapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, RMTs, etc), Speech Language Pathologists, Dentists, Myofunctional therapists, IBCLCs and your primary health care providers are all an important part of this team/collaborative approach.
What is a body worker?
A bodyworker is a professional who has a hands-on license to touch and extensive continuing education hours in areas such as CranioSacral therapy, myofascial release, osteopathy, etc. There are many different types of health care professionals who have taken CST (craniosacral therapy) courses including medical doctors, nurses, doctors of oriental medicine, osteopaths, psychologists, massage therapists, dentists, physical therapists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, occupational therapists, and some lactation consultants. Click here for a local list of body workers in the lower mainland.
What is Craniosacral therapy (CST)?
CranioSacral Therapy (CST) is a gentle, hands-on approach that releases tensions deep in the body to relieve pain and dysfunction and improve whole-body health and performance. It was pioneered and developed by Osteopathic Physician John E. Upledger after years of clinical testing and research at Michigan State University where he served as professor of biomechanics.
Using a soft touch which is generally no greater than 5 grams – about the weight of a nickel – practitioners release restrictions in the soft tissues that surround the central nervous system. CST is increasingly used as a preventive health measure for its ability to bolster resistance to disease, and it's effective for a wide range of medical problems associated with pain and dysfunction.
What is Manual Osteopathy?
Manual osteopathy is a method of evaluation, analysis and treatment of the musculoskeletal, visceral, circulatory, neurological and cranial systems. Manual Osteopathy is a natural hands on therapy with the intention of restoring the normal function of the body by treating the causes of pain and imbalances that may be the result of injury, illness and stress of daily living.
Manual osteopathy supports the philosophy that the body has an innate and natural ability to self regulate and heal. This ability is maintained by the unimpeded circulation and integration of all the body's systems of fluids and movements. The obstructions of these mechanisms are the focus of the osteopathic evaluation and treatment. The treatment plan will be directed towards restoring the body's circulation, and ease of movement within all the systems of the body encouraging the self-regulation and healing process. Click here for a more thorough description of osteopathy.
Who should see a body worker?
To be perfectly honest I'd love to encourage everyone to see a body worker! If you have any sort of injury, pain, irritating anything... post partum, post accident, sports injuries, and really just for overall maintenance when we're being rough on our bodies day to day. In saying this of course I'm here to encourage it for the mother-baby dyad and here's why:
Mom:
We all know pregnancy takes its toll on the body and could do with some support. Whether it's during pregnancy or after baby has arrived moms can benefit from body work too. We, as mothers, put our bodies through a lot of physical, emotional and hormonal stress and body work can help relieve some of that physical stress we literally carry around each and every day. From migraines, to sciatica; abdominal issues post pregnancy/c-section to loose hips/pelvis, etc. Ensuring us moms are at our best functioning selves is beneficial to the whole family.
Baby: Often babies have some area of tightness or compression that causes undue tension or stress on the nerves that supply the body. The tight or compressed areas are very gently softened and your baby will be able to let go of this stress, which relieves the symptoms. It is highly recommended to consider bodywork for babies with:
You may also want to consider bodywork for your baby if you notice:
How it helps?
Practitioners use hands-on assessment to locate areas of decreased mobility, tightness or restriction and gently help to mobilize the area using gentle experienced touch. Bodywork helps baby with body awareness and maximizes baby’s access to postural reflexes and natural movement inclinations through the nervous system. Baby bodywork is always gentle and tuned into baby’s unique needs. Body workers understand that the whole body plays a part in breastfeeding, not just the tongue and jaw, so there are improvements noted in all areas. For example; if a baby has tension running down one side of their body it can affect their ability to enjoy tummy time, cause their diaphragm to be tense (which can affect digestion and possibly cause spit ups or reflux like symptoms), cause discomfort when lay down in certain positions for feeding or resting, impede their ability to open their jaw wide enough to latch properly, impede their suck strength required to transfer milk at the breast (and sometimes even the bottle too), and can even affect what position they will happily sleep in. If any of this sounds familiar please consider booking in with one of the professionals listed on the resources page here.
Many of you might be here looking for answers, support, direction... There are so many overlapping symptoms when it comes to a baby who has some muscular tension, ties, or is mouth breathing. So it's really hard to differentiate what the root cause is and therefore, where to start. I'm part of a team (across Canada/US) that works towards achieving your feeding goals while helping you and your baby to thrive in all areas! We as professionals have a variety of tools in our toolboxes to help you along the way, but as a team we aim to filling your toolbox with exactly what you need to thrive! Bodyworkers (craniosacral therapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, RMTs, etc), Speech Language Pathologists, Dentists, Myofunctional therapists, IBCLCs and your primary health care providers are all an important part of this team/collaborative approach.
What is a body worker?
A bodyworker is a professional who has a hands-on license to touch and extensive continuing education hours in areas such as CranioSacral therapy, myofascial release, osteopathy, etc. There are many different types of health care professionals who have taken CST (craniosacral therapy) courses including medical doctors, nurses, doctors of oriental medicine, osteopaths, psychologists, massage therapists, dentists, physical therapists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, occupational therapists, and some lactation consultants. Click here for a local list of body workers in the lower mainland.
What is Craniosacral therapy (CST)?
CranioSacral Therapy (CST) is a gentle, hands-on approach that releases tensions deep in the body to relieve pain and dysfunction and improve whole-body health and performance. It was pioneered and developed by Osteopathic Physician John E. Upledger after years of clinical testing and research at Michigan State University where he served as professor of biomechanics.
Using a soft touch which is generally no greater than 5 grams – about the weight of a nickel – practitioners release restrictions in the soft tissues that surround the central nervous system. CST is increasingly used as a preventive health measure for its ability to bolster resistance to disease, and it's effective for a wide range of medical problems associated with pain and dysfunction.
What is Manual Osteopathy?
Manual osteopathy is a method of evaluation, analysis and treatment of the musculoskeletal, visceral, circulatory, neurological and cranial systems. Manual Osteopathy is a natural hands on therapy with the intention of restoring the normal function of the body by treating the causes of pain and imbalances that may be the result of injury, illness and stress of daily living.
Manual osteopathy supports the philosophy that the body has an innate and natural ability to self regulate and heal. This ability is maintained by the unimpeded circulation and integration of all the body's systems of fluids and movements. The obstructions of these mechanisms are the focus of the osteopathic evaluation and treatment. The treatment plan will be directed towards restoring the body's circulation, and ease of movement within all the systems of the body encouraging the self-regulation and healing process. Click here for a more thorough description of osteopathy.
Who should see a body worker?
To be perfectly honest I'd love to encourage everyone to see a body worker! If you have any sort of injury, pain, irritating anything... post partum, post accident, sports injuries, and really just for overall maintenance when we're being rough on our bodies day to day. In saying this of course I'm here to encourage it for the mother-baby dyad and here's why:
Mom:
We all know pregnancy takes its toll on the body and could do with some support. Whether it's during pregnancy or after baby has arrived moms can benefit from body work too. We, as mothers, put our bodies through a lot of physical, emotional and hormonal stress and body work can help relieve some of that physical stress we literally carry around each and every day. From migraines, to sciatica; abdominal issues post pregnancy/c-section to loose hips/pelvis, etc. Ensuring us moms are at our best functioning selves is beneficial to the whole family.
Baby: Often babies have some area of tightness or compression that causes undue tension or stress on the nerves that supply the body. The tight or compressed areas are very gently softened and your baby will be able to let go of this stress, which relieves the symptoms. It is highly recommended to consider bodywork for babies with:
- forceps or vacuum extraction delivery
- c-section delivery
- breech or transverse in utero position
- prolonged labor or pushing time
- short labor or pushing time
- any type of Birth Trauma
- pregnancy complications (gestational diabetes, high/low blood pressure, illness, preterm labor, etc.)
- History of decreased movements in utero
You may also want to consider bodywork for your baby if you notice:
- flat spots or bulges anywhere on the head
- overlapping sutures anywhere on the head (this is usually felt as ridges on the head) beyond the first few weeks
- uneven ear position (one may be higher or more forward in comparison to the other one)
- uneven eye position (one eye sits higher in comparison to the other)
- strong head preference to one side (how to spot this? note what side your baby's head is during routine care like diaper changes, is it always to the same side? Look at photos you have taken of your baby, notice is the head to the same side in every picture)
- irritability
- stiff movements or 'strong' babies who hold their head up from birth
- decreased flexibility
- decreased eye contact or "glazed over" eyes
- colic
- reflux symptoms
- excessive gas
- constipation
- sleep problems
- is a mouth breather vs nose breather
- decreased/poor feeding skills or latch (bottle or breast)
- weak, hoarse or squeaky cry
- discomfort when positioned in a car seat
- discomfort during tummy time
- recurrent ear infections
- arching through the back
How it helps?
Practitioners use hands-on assessment to locate areas of decreased mobility, tightness or restriction and gently help to mobilize the area using gentle experienced touch. Bodywork helps baby with body awareness and maximizes baby’s access to postural reflexes and natural movement inclinations through the nervous system. Baby bodywork is always gentle and tuned into baby’s unique needs. Body workers understand that the whole body plays a part in breastfeeding, not just the tongue and jaw, so there are improvements noted in all areas. For example; if a baby has tension running down one side of their body it can affect their ability to enjoy tummy time, cause their diaphragm to be tense (which can affect digestion and possibly cause spit ups or reflux like symptoms), cause discomfort when lay down in certain positions for feeding or resting, impede their ability to open their jaw wide enough to latch properly, impede their suck strength required to transfer milk at the breast (and sometimes even the bottle too), and can even affect what position they will happily sleep in. If any of this sounds familiar please consider booking in with one of the professionals listed on the resources page here.
Here is a video from a local collaboration of chiropractors from Chilliwack, BC. When doing suck training I suggest you use your finger with your nail bed down, not up. Then you can push down on the tongue as they suggest in the video and encourage the tongue to come forward. Keep in mind if your infant seems upset by any of the exercises/stretches in this video, don't push it. Try something else and then maybe come back to it. I highly recommend infants are seen by bodyworkers in the first weeks/months of life. To learn more about what they can help with check this out here or find a local professional here.
|
|
Useful articles/links with further information:
Newborn Osteopathy by Simon Prideaux in London, England (DO, MBAcC, MRCHM): www.cranialosteopath.com
"Breastfeeding and Craniosacral therapy: When it can help" by Dee Kassing (BS, MLS, IBCLC): www.lowmilksupply.org/craniosacral.shtml
"Considering CranioSacral Therapy in Difficult Situations" by Carol Brussel (BA, IBCLC): www.lalecheleague.org/llleaderweb/lv/lvaugsep01p82.html
Michelle Emanuel (OTR/L, CIMI, CST, NBCR, RYT 200): www.wholebodyllc.com/id18.html
"Benefits of bodywork" - www.ankyloglossiabodyworkers.com/benefits-of-bodywork.html
How can chiropractic work, acupuncture, or craniosacral therapy help with breastfeeding? An interview with Nikki Lee, author of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Breastfeeding Therapy
Breastfeeding and CranioSacral Therapy: When It Can Help by Dee Kassing, BS, MLS, IBCLC
Nursing on the go doesn't have to be difficult.
Considering CranioSacral Therapy in Difficult Situations by Carol Brussel, BA, IBCLC
A Tongue Restriction Isn’t Always a Tongue Tie by Carol Smyth, IBCLC. The role of bodywork in resolving tongue restrictions.
FAQs about Bodywork & Ankyloglossia from AnkyloglossiaBodyworkers.com
IBCLCs and Craniosacral Therapists: Strange Bedfellows or a Perfect Match? by Patricia Berg-Drazin, from Clinical Lactation, Volume 7, Number 3, 2016, pp. 92-99(8)
Chiropractic Care for the Breastfeeding Dyad by Sharon A. Vallone, DC, DICCP, from Leaven, Vol. 39 No. 6, December 2003 – January 2004, pp. 126-27.
Torticollis and Breastfeeding by Jody Krause, from New Beginnings, Vol. 20 No. 2, March-April 2003, p. 55.
Chiropractic treatment for breastfeeding difficulties in infants from the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association Research Foundation
Applications of CranioSacral Therapy in Newborns and Infants, Part I by Dr. John E. Upledger, Massage Today, May 2003. In his column “CranioSacrally Speaking” Dr. Upledger the developer of CranioSacral Therapy, discusses pregnancy, birth and delivery and the positive effects CranioSacral Therapy can have on newborns and infants.
Applications of CranioSacral Therapy in Newborns and Infants, Part II by Dr. John E. Upledger, Massage Today, June 2003. In his column “CranioSacrally Speaking” Dr. Upledger, the developer of CranioSacral Therapy, presents the second installment on newborns and infants. Dr. Upledger addresses deliveries by forceps and vacuum extraction, cesarean section and the efficacy of CranioSacral Therapy soon after birth.
CranioSacral Therapy for Infants and Children: A Good Start for the Next Generation by Carol Gray
CranioSacral Therapy from The Upledger Institute. CST was pioneered and developed by osteopathic physician John E. Upledger.
Holtrop DP. Resolution of suckling intolerance in 6 month old chiropractic patient. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2000 Nov-Dec;23( 9):615-618.
Newborn Osteopathy by Simon Prideaux in London, England (DO, MBAcC, MRCHM): www.cranialosteopath.com
"Breastfeeding and Craniosacral therapy: When it can help" by Dee Kassing (BS, MLS, IBCLC): www.lowmilksupply.org/craniosacral.shtml
"Considering CranioSacral Therapy in Difficult Situations" by Carol Brussel (BA, IBCLC): www.lalecheleague.org/llleaderweb/lv/lvaugsep01p82.html
Michelle Emanuel (OTR/L, CIMI, CST, NBCR, RYT 200): www.wholebodyllc.com/id18.html
"Benefits of bodywork" - www.ankyloglossiabodyworkers.com/benefits-of-bodywork.html
How can chiropractic work, acupuncture, or craniosacral therapy help with breastfeeding? An interview with Nikki Lee, author of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Breastfeeding Therapy
Breastfeeding and CranioSacral Therapy: When It Can Help by Dee Kassing, BS, MLS, IBCLC
Nursing on the go doesn't have to be difficult.
Considering CranioSacral Therapy in Difficult Situations by Carol Brussel, BA, IBCLC
A Tongue Restriction Isn’t Always a Tongue Tie by Carol Smyth, IBCLC. The role of bodywork in resolving tongue restrictions.
FAQs about Bodywork & Ankyloglossia from AnkyloglossiaBodyworkers.com
IBCLCs and Craniosacral Therapists: Strange Bedfellows or a Perfect Match? by Patricia Berg-Drazin, from Clinical Lactation, Volume 7, Number 3, 2016, pp. 92-99(8)
Chiropractic Care for the Breastfeeding Dyad by Sharon A. Vallone, DC, DICCP, from Leaven, Vol. 39 No. 6, December 2003 – January 2004, pp. 126-27.
Torticollis and Breastfeeding by Jody Krause, from New Beginnings, Vol. 20 No. 2, March-April 2003, p. 55.
Chiropractic treatment for breastfeeding difficulties in infants from the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association Research Foundation
Applications of CranioSacral Therapy in Newborns and Infants, Part I by Dr. John E. Upledger, Massage Today, May 2003. In his column “CranioSacrally Speaking” Dr. Upledger the developer of CranioSacral Therapy, discusses pregnancy, birth and delivery and the positive effects CranioSacral Therapy can have on newborns and infants.
Applications of CranioSacral Therapy in Newborns and Infants, Part II by Dr. John E. Upledger, Massage Today, June 2003. In his column “CranioSacrally Speaking” Dr. Upledger, the developer of CranioSacral Therapy, presents the second installment on newborns and infants. Dr. Upledger addresses deliveries by forceps and vacuum extraction, cesarean section and the efficacy of CranioSacral Therapy soon after birth.
CranioSacral Therapy for Infants and Children: A Good Start for the Next Generation by Carol Gray
CranioSacral Therapy from The Upledger Institute. CST was pioneered and developed by osteopathic physician John E. Upledger.
Holtrop DP. Resolution of suckling intolerance in 6 month old chiropractic patient. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2000 Nov-Dec;23( 9):615-618.