Re: CST: To Brion/

[Guest guest]

I have comments to make on several points raised in these emails.

(1) " it is my understanding that CST requires multiple sessions

within a period of a few weeks/months order to achieve optimum

benefits. "

This is categorically NOT true. It depends entirely on what is

involved. Yes, in some cases it will take weeks or months. But what

I have been told is that it is very common for someone to get 90

percent of the total benefit of it in just one session. It also

depends on what aspect of CST is being done. If hard palate, inside

the mouth work is being done, the general recommendation is for at

least one, and preferably two, one-hour full body sessions to be

done first. But a blanket statement that weeks or months is required

for optimal results in all cases simply is not true. Look at

Brion's example of results in one 30 minute session.

(2) " Because the unique problems that EDS patients have with their

spines, I would be careful about who you go to for Craniosacral

therapy. Maybe you could get a referral from a specialist who knows

you? I have seen some massage therapists advertise that they do

Craniosacral therapy, but personally I will only go to someone with

an MD/DO training just to be safe. There is a DO in Madison that

advertises that she does Craniosacral therapy- D.O. means " Doctor

of Osteopathy. " Not to knock massage therapists, they are a

wonderful resource. "

Please, please, please read the post that I wrote yesterday on CST.

Being an MD or DO DOES NOT BY ITSELF IN ANYWAY qualify someone to

adequately do CST! Training in CST does NOT involve just taking one

course or class in it. There are several " levels " of training. You

need to know what level the individual has had. I have assisted

several people on the list in finding practitioners and I can

absolutely assure you that I have in many instances found LMT's or

PT's in an area who were far and away, hands-down, better qualified

than any doctor or DO on the list in that area.

(3) " I had a constant headache in a very localized, precise area on

the right upper side of my head for two years, that started after a

roller coaster ride on the Texas Giant, a wooden roller coaster in

Dallas that whipped my head from side to side for several minutes "

Without knowing the EXACT location of the headache, I can think of

at least two or three very probable causes that could easily be

addressed by CST. One would be a " jamming " of the right Parietal

and Temporal bone suture. A second could be a jamming of the right

Parietal along the Frontal suture. And, there are a number of

possible " lesions " involving the Sphenoid bone. The first two would

usually be " fixed " in one session as part of the basic " ten-step "

procedure that is taught in level one. If the Sphenoid bone was the

culprit, depending on the type of " lesion, " I would say either level

one or level two. If it affected the hard palate as well, then I

would be looking for someone at a level three, even though level two

gets training in doing it.

(4) " Mike, another EDSer and father of Barb, yet another EDSer and

both list members of our several EDS lists is a trained massage

therapist who has special training in CST. He says that he has had

good results with using CST in some EDSer's. I'd simply love to

have Mike work on me and both my sons (both of them are EDSer's,

too....we have Classical and Hypermobility Types, with some vascular

components), but he is in Seattle, I think. I'm not opposed to

traveling there (I fly everyplace else for medical help, so why not

there, too? Since I'm in Sulphur Springs, TX, flying to Seattle

for weekly sessions is a bit of a stretch for my pain tolerance and

motherly duties.....especially during the school year. "

A couple of comments. I did a quick check for Sulphur Springs and

only found one CST listing and that was for level one. I can't tell

enough about the individual from the listing to be comfortable

recommending them. There are, however, over 2000 practitioners

listed for Texas with varying levels of training. But, you are not

that far from Dallas and there are at least 3-4 I would be more than

comfortable recommending. One is Dr. Fryer. Another is

Sally Fryer, who is a PT. Of the two, Sally Fryer actually has a

better CST/bodywork background than Fryer. I would suspect

that the going " rates " might be less with a PT than a full MD.

For mild type III EDS, I would have no qualms recommending a level

one practitioner, although I would prefer at least a level two. My

own training is through level two. My hesitation is NOT because of

concern of causing injury. My hesitation is whether they know enough

to be able to do any good. I would have far greater concerns about

someone seeing a " fully qualified " PT or DO who didn't understand

EDS than I ever would about someone with EDS seeing someone with

just the basic training in CST, if all that was being done was CST.

Once again, CST is an extremely gentle, non-invasive modality. A

perfect example of what I mean by this is that, even though I highly

recommended to Cindy that she try a couple of sessions of CST on

Dylan, I did not do them myself. I have absolutely no fear or

concern that I was going to hurt him or in any way make anything

worse. My basis was that I felt he should be seen by someone with a

higher skill level than mine to be able to get the most out of it.

But the main reason I didn't was time. I can (and did) find her a

very highly trained CST practitioner fairly close by. I felt our

time could be more profitably spent by concentrating on

those " things " that I do that she can't find locally and then

helping her find someone there for the other stuff, even if I did

feel comfortable doing the " other stuff " myself.

And that leads right in to your comment about " I'd simply love to

have Mike work on me and both my sons. " If you called me and said

you wanted to come out and have me do CST on you or your sons - I

would tell you right up front that you could do far better right

there in your area. You have practitioners fairly close by who are

far more qualifed in CST than I am. On the other hand, if you

wanted someone who could do the CST, balance it out with lymphatic

drainage, add whatever Myofascial Release work was necessary, and

then throw in some acupressure, polarity and directed energy to

round it all out ... That's a different matter. My " strength " isn't

in being a " specialist " in any particular modality. My " strength "

is in having a working level competency in an unusually broad range

of modalities that allows me blend them and integrate them in a

single session as necessary without having to resort to three or

four specialists to get the job done.

And to wind this one up - I keep saying " Be careful what you ask

for. " If I can figure out how to operate all the systems on our RV

in the next few weeks (now that we finally have it back from the

accident), I intend to start laying out some trip plans for the

year. We are tentatively looking at about three weeks on the road in

March to run down through the southwest (specifically to Oklahoma so

my wife can see where her family comes from) and then another three

weeks in April to go through the Dakotas to visit where I came

from. Then, sometime after the middle of June, we are looking at a

much longer trip. It could run anywhere from 30 to 90 days on the

road. On the short end, it would be back to the mid-west (Wisconsin,

Michigan and Indiana). On the long end, itt could be full cross

country and back, with zig-zagging detours along the way, depending

on how many replies I got to a Post that simply said " Anybody want

me to stop by? "