Chronic Fatigue

        “Nobody realises that some people expend tremendous energy merely
                                                     to  be normal".   Albert Camus
 
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a complex condition with a vast range of symptoms involving the immune, endocrine, gastro-intestinal system and brain. The root cause of CFS often includes several factors simultaneously like:

• Acute or chronic infection
• Genetic predisposition
• A flu-like illness
• Exposure to toxic chemicals, environmental pollutants or heavy metals
• Physical or emotional trauma

 
CFS is marked by a multitude of physical symptoms. For example: Muscular pain, jaw and throat pain, extreme fatigue and exhaustion, restless sleep, headaches, insomnia, depression, poor bowel movement, sensory hypersensitivity, intolerance to exercise, emotionally helpless and feeling wired yet tired at the same time. Currently there is no known medial cure for CFS, however sufferers can find great relief in complementaries therapies.
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Craniosacral is a great complementary therapy for CFS, as it brings the body into a healing state and out of its CFS characteristic dominant state of sympathetic overdrive. Getting the body out of overreactive responses will allow the body to self-correct, find homeostasis and to reset its physiology so it can regulate and perform the correct immunological and neurological functions.

On Vimeo there is a great  video by 2 Doctors called: "Chronic Fatigue - cutting through the B.S". Dr Martin Rutherford does an excellent job describing what happens in the body when the fight-flight response in the brain is stuck in the ON position in relation to CFS. "The stress signalling patterns in the brain changes your neurochemistry and disrupts your physiology". He also explains that "if you don't address this sympathetic dominance first, other treatments will fail because this hole needs to be plugged first". "This is a key procedure that produces successful results". And this is exactly what Craniosacral Therapy does, it plugs that hole so to speak.

​Craniosacral therapy is one of the best, if not The best therapy to get people out of chronic fight or flight sympathetic dominance, changing the brain's stress signalling patterns, and therefore it's neurochemistry,  "plugging that hole" and as a domino effect, changing one's physiological state. Here is how I address CFS in my six step approach:
 
1. Working with the physiological state of a person.
During a typical day human beings swing back and forth in their nervous system from activated “sympathetic” mode to the recovery “parasympathetic mode”. The physiological state of someone with chronic fatigue is very different than a non-chronic fatigue person. A chronic fatigue body lives in a physiologically stressed and emergency mode ALL the time.  One way to look at this is that relatively healthy people start their day with a full fuel tank that has been replenished during the night and starts to run low as the day progresses. CFS sufferers start their day on a virtually empty tank, where they need to keep their foot down on the accelerator, burning fuel and living off the fumes left in the tank. Sufferers are not able to fill up their tank, as they have to expend many extra critical physical resources and energy on a day-to-day basis just to be, that their body is just not able to go back and access the critical “rest and digest” healing recovery state. In essence a CFS person is not able to regulate their output and as the body gets pushed, it has to use more and more activated sympathetic nervous system energy from the reserve tank, whilst in the meantime, the dashboard starts flashing and beeping with warning signs. Rest, unfortunately is not refreshing as the body remains in survival mode, which leaves sufferers tired but wired.

Cranio is a great therapy for switching the body out of emergency mode and into a healing state so it can click into that recovery mode. Here the body can start to self-correct and self-regulate in order to perform the correct immunological and neurological functions, changing the physiological state.
 
2. Cranio works directly with the nervous system as a way to improve health
Chronic Fatigue people are often operating from a subtle perception of threat in their environment. This can happen subconsciously as it may be linked to something in the past for example, not feeling safe, feeling rejected or abandoned, in other words when one of our three primal survival needs were not met on a consistent basis. You may not even be fully conscious of this but your brain and body are. We essentially live with a 200 million year old part in our brain – called our reptilian brain - which is not there to make us happy but to protect us and to make us safe at all cost. This part of the brain reacts in a nano-second through our senses and has put itself into action long before it reaches our consciousness. Settling the nervous system is a top priority for Chronic Fatigue people as the body’s response to stress underlies many of the symptoms.  Cranio works with the nervous system stress and survival responses to these stressors, reducing adrenaline and normalising cortisol output, allowing for the body to come out of overactivation and back into balance.
 
3. Working with Brain Plasticity to improve health
Chronic Fatigue people are often primed to be more sensitive to stress and sensory triggers. Cranio aims to alter the neural pathways that contribute to this sensitivity through hands on treatment and also by incorporating body awareness exercises so sufferers can track body sensations more effectively, recognise triggers more easily and change the input. I personally also incorporate neuro-associative exercises and emotionally focused techniques to let go of any old patterns and to activate new neural pathways. Healing old patterns and creating new and more effective patterns form an integral part of my treatment plan.
 
4. Pacing
It is very important for CFS to go at their own pace, not to trigger any flare-ups or setbacks. Craniosacral therapy is by nature client led. We go as fast as the slowest part is able to let go in an effective and gentle manner. With the client we look at resourcing and creating more effective coping strategies. Pacing will allow a client to know when to rest and when to build up strength and activity as chronic fatigue people have a natural tendency to push beyond their energy levels.
 
5. Craniosacral works with Trauma Imprints in the body
For many Chronic Fatigue people a traumatic incident triggered the onset of the disease causing shock in the body. Trauma can cause an overwhelming expenditure of energy in a person’s body. When this is ongoing and the nervous system recognises that the amount of energy/hyperarousal is too high, it has one last card to play and that is to apply a very powerful brake, which leads to parasympathetic shock and immobility. CF people are living on an empty fuel tank with one foot down on the accelerator causing hyperarousal, whilst simultaneously the other foot is down on the brake causing an overwhelming helplessness. Cranio works with trauma and in particular with the effects and survival patterns that are left and imprinted in the body. The important part is and this is what Cranio does so well as a body therapy: the nervous system will only recognise that danger has passed when the mobilised energy has been discharged on a bodily level. You can talk all you want but you if don't discharge that high primal energy on a bodily level it will keep on circulating in your body.
 
6. Craniosacral addresses Physical pain
CFS people often have various aches, pain and inflammation in their body. Back pain, shoulder, arms, face, jaw and headaches are all part of the syndrome. Cranio address this through soft tissue release and unwinding techniques, improving the physical and physiological state of the body’s internal environment and reducing pain. Cranio allows for the body to switch out of the fight or flight/freeze response and to move into the rest and repair mode. This breaks the circuitry of exaggerated nerve signaling and allows the immune and nervous system to reset itself so it can start working in an improved and enhanced capacity. Cranio deals with the root causes, not just the symptoms, leading to improved health and wellness.

​ ​References:  Factsheet online http://sacfs.asn.au/about/general_info/fact_sheet.htm Virtual Medical Centre https://www.myvmc.com/diseases/chronic-fatigue-syndrome https://vimeo.com/227497273 - Chronic Fatigue - cutting through the B.S on Vimeo - Dr Martin Rutherford Waking the tiger - Peter A. Levine (1997) Kientalerhof (Switzerland): International School of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. Class Notes (2010). Teacher: Friedrich Wolf Facebook | Instagram