Craniosacral Therapy (Julian Cowan Hill, etc.)

Discussion in 'Alternative Treatments and Research' started by Tha_b_man, Jan 31, 2012.

    1. John G

      John G Member

      I tried it for a while. It didn't seem to help at all. Although , it may have helped if I stuck with it for longer,but it was getting too expensive. Each visit was adding up and I couldn't afford to keep going. Plus,it's hard to tell if the person that's doing the cranial thing , is actually doing it the proper way, and how do we know what the proper way is?.
       
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    2. RaZaH
      Cheeky

      RaZaH Member Benefactor Hall of Fame

      Location:
      Reykjavík, Iceland
      Tinnitus Since:
      2012/04
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Benzo + loud noise
      By now I have quack test , I ask them about Tinnitus , if they pause, look at their "chinese" acupuncture chart that they all seem to have and say " the liver" is connected to the ears , I know they are clueless.
       
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    3. Sailboardman
      Frustrated

      Sailboardman Member Benefactor

      Location:
      Florida
      Tinnitus Since:
      04/21/2014
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Sensorineural hearing loss right ear.
      Get a 1 hour massage, with a pretty girl and chances are your T will temporarily fade away!
       
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    4. John G

      John G Member

      Ha ha. That sounds like a good sales pitch for a late night tv infomercial
       
    5. CMJ

      CMJ Member

      Tinnitus Since:
      Approx 2013 - maybe earlier
      I tried it - did about 10 sessions over about 6 months.

      Along with most other treatments I found it really important to bring to it a positive attitude, based firmly in the belief that, T is a symptom - an idea I got from Julian Cowan-Hill.

      Looking back over my health history, building up to the onset of the tinnitus, I realize I was living an extremely high-cortisol life, and the tinnitus is, among other things, the sound of my cortisol, and my adrenaline levels, in a state of deep, chronic overwork. In other words, a state of hyper-vigilance.

      The cranio-sac allowed for this state to be relieved - temporarily - and the affect of the tinnitus to decrease for a while.

      I'd recommend - as long as they are good: there a plenty of cowboy and insensitive practitioners out there - cranio-sac to anyone processing T, as long as they understand their T as a process, and a symptom of something deeper.
       
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    6. RaZaH
      Cheeky

      RaZaH Member Benefactor Hall of Fame

      Location:
      Reykjavík, Iceland
      Tinnitus Since:
      2012/04
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Benzo + loud noise
      Any more experiences with Julian or his methods ?
      I did try CST and it did nothing , for the obvious reason that the person doing it did..well...nothing .
      Except holding her hands over my head etc. I fail to see how that would even work , wonder if that is classic CST ?
      I was expecting some sort of ...well...therapy ...related to the cranium ? Massaging even ?
       
    7. Eltel

      Eltel Member

      Location:
      London
      Tinnitus Since:
      07/14
      I have spoken to two people who said that Cranial Sacrial Therapy helped them ,one had been in a car accident so I could understand how it might help her .

      I just called the lady the 2 nd person recommended and awaiting her reply .Not sure what to make of it myself .I have tried Hypotheraphy and Vitamin B12 plus Magnesium so far .

      Julian Cowan Hill seems to talk sense in his vidoes though.

      Not sure if I will go ahead ,depends on cost I guess ,would spend a lot if there was a very good chance it would help .Shame no guarantee of anything

      Eltel
       
    8. Angelears

      Angelears Member

      Tinnitus Since:
      2012
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      noise induced and severe stress
      There is a doctor from England. His name is Julian Cowan Hill. He is a psychotherapist.

      He specializes in tinnitus. He talks about the nervous system and the flight fight response. He says most tinnitus is caused from higher stress levels in the body and having a higher set nervous system. He suffered terribly for 20 years and now he is T free through psychotherapy.

      He has helped so many people. He has groups I think you can join and you can e-mail him if you want. He can answer your questions and explain things in youtube videos. He is very comforting. He has several videos. They are great. I am going to watch some more later. He made me feel better just watching one video. I think its so awesome that not only is he a psychotherapist but he has been in my T shoes.

      Give the videos a try like me. What do we have to lose? Hopefully tinnitus! :)
       
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    9. JSalvatore
      Studious

      JSalvatore Member

      Location:
      Argentina
      Tinnitus Since:
      06/2014
      He is a great guy, but he is not a psychotherapist.Julian is a craneo-sacral therapist that works aiming T, his sessions are VERY expensive though
       
    10. Path Maker

      Path Maker Member Benefactor

      Tinnitus Since:
      12/2015
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      acoustic
      I think his pricing is in line with most practitioners in the healthcare field. Not overpriced. Just reasonable.

      And I'm not sure, but I THINK he may have some certification beyond craniosacral, in the psychological realm.

      And he is a great guy and his manner is beautiful in every video I've seen. There is no substitute for genuine. If I lived in England, I'd go to him. As it is, I think I may one day Skype with him for a bit.
       
    11. Stakovic

      Stakovic Member

      Tinnitus Since:
      1998
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Unknown
      SCAM every where
       
    12. Path Maker

      Path Maker Member Benefactor

      Tinnitus Since:
      12/2015
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      acoustic
      There are, in this crazy yet beautiful world, still and always, people who are genuine and care. Let us not be so blinded by skepticism from past hurts that we can no longer see what IS right and real and good.

      Everything I've seen about Julian Cowan Hill reflects compassion. I consider him a remarkably positive resource and his youtube videos bring both practical useful information AND essential HOPE to many people.
       
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    13. Angelears

      Angelears Member

      Tinnitus Since:
      2012
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      noise induced and severe stress
      He offers some free help through his videos. He has been talking for free to people today and yesterday who are posting on youtube. He has his own channel now. You can e-mail him for free. He wrote me back. Did not cost me a thing. He is very soothing to listen to. I wish he was in the USA near me. I would go see him and get my insurance to pay for it. Well I may need to pay co-pay but he would be worth it.
       
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    14. Path Maker

      Path Maker Member Benefactor

      Tinnitus Since:
      12/2015
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      acoustic
      Hey - maybe I just need to go live in England for a long holiday of fish-and-chips and Julian! :)
       
    15. ChrisJ

      ChrisJ Member Benefactor

      Location:
      London, UK
      Tinnitus Since:
      PT since 1988. T with H since June 2015
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Unknown
      I have been having Cranial Sacral Therapy now for almost a year. It's probably the one treatment I have stuck with the most. Even though it doesn't cure the problem it does help manage the symptoms. I have found it very relaxing and am lucky enough to have a therapist who also knows how to do trigger point therapy and work on my neck, shoulder and back. All of these areas affect my tinnitus, it's very somatic in that way, and it's helped me to cope with it.

      If you get lucky enough to find someone affordable I would deff give it a try.
       
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    16. RonnieCarzatto
      Cynical

      RonnieCarzatto Member

      Location:
      Canada
      Tinnitus Since:
      Feb 01 2017
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Mild head injury maybe... but who knows...
      I gave cranial sacral therapy a shot yesterday. It sounded like mumbo jumbo and quackery but with T I'll try anything.

      It was a nice, hippy like lady who did it. Pretty steep price.

      Consisted of myself laying on a table, as new age music played. She gently touched my feet, then moved onto my head.

      One thing I found interesting is out of nowhere my left leg began twitching uncontrollably! It was weird. There is something to it, no doubt. She said this was negative energy being released. Since T onset; yeah, I've been a pretty negative person. Didn't really help with T at all, but I slept better than I ever had later that night. Highly recommend for theraputic reasons, especially T related anxiety. I wouldn't expect much effect on T, but I felt more... "at ease" afterwards. I think this could help with habituation.
       
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    17. Tata

      Tata Member

      Tinnitus Since:
      01/2017
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Unknown
      My tinnitus started out in my left ear only, not it is in both ears, and it's a high-pitched hissing sound. It's getting worse, so I don't know what to do. I tried acupuncture, and it helped a little, but stopped after 5 treatments as it was getting too expensive.

      I tried a specialist, craniofacial pain, and they gave me a bottom mouthguard, and it made it worse. Sometimes I can't sleep even with a sound machine and a fan.

      My tinnitus is coming from the neck, and if I manipulate my neck, it gets louder. I would try anything and be willing to spend quite a bit of money to get rid of this. I may get headphones for the TV set so I can hear the TV better. It is really, really bad.
       
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    18. G61

      G61 Member

      Tinnitus Since:
      2016
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Head and neck trauma
      The tinnitus therapist, Julian Cowan Hill on YouTube always recommends Cranial Sacral Therapy or other body-based therapies . After six months onset of my tinnitus and there is very little or no improvement, I have to give it a try. I'm just sharing my experience. I'm not promoting this treatment at all.

      First of all, you have to find an experienced CST. There are very little information about Cranial Sacral therapists out there. Some of their websites are like voodoo, which says that it can treat autism and other sensory disorders. Those websites really freak me out. I find my therapist from an acquaintance who is also a tinnitus sufferer. That tinnitus sufferer told me that the CST did not help her tinnitus but it made her more relax and calm.

      Today, I had my first CST. My tinnitus is caused by head and neck injury. My therapist checked my neck and pinpointed the tensions in my neck and tried to release the tensions. Also, he found the tension area around my sternocleidomastoid muscle and bones aournd the throat. Then, he did some some cranial work on my skull. He told me something abnormal on my left skull (I don't know the term that he's talking about) and my neck muscle on the left is much tighter. And indeed my left ear has more severe tinnitus and hyperacusis. Overall, I found some reliefs for my tight neck. During the therapy, my tinnitus was softer maybe because I was more relax. I don't think that it will cure my tinnitus but it is a therapy that I can find some reliefs.

      To be honest, I was very skeptical about CST because I'm an engineer. My science backgrounds told me that it does not make sense. Now, I'm accepting anything with an open-mind because our science knows very little about tinnitus. I'm sharing this because I could not find anything useful information online. I just hope someone might find it useful in the future.
       
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    19. Frédéric

      Frédéric Member Podcast Patron Benefactor Advocate

      Location:
      Marseille, France
      Tinnitus Since:
      11/19/2012
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      acoustic trauma
      I went to 3 different ostheopaths who did CST on me. No improvement.
       
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    20. Tom Cnyc

      Tom Cnyc Member

      Location:
      NYC
      Tinnitus Since:
      05/2016
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Warehouse event after years of enjoying music.
      I went for CST and thought it was a bunch of bullshit. Relaxing - but not going to cure anything.

      After that - I started to see a physical therapist that is helping me work out my thoracic spine / neck muscles / shoulder / cranial alignment issues and its worked wonders.

      I can't stress it enough - these appointments are not relaxing. Cranial manipulations are mostly intra-oral and fucking painful.

      From a science perspective the reason it works is because the trigeminal nerve and the auditory nerve share circuitry. Any input coming from the former can be picked up by the latter once its on the fritz and previously asymptomatic issues become a huge nuisance.

      In the most recent appointment he told me that my skulls mobility has increased a lot. I noticed that very gentle pressure (remember I said previously it was very painful) was able to move the individual pieces of my skull. These gentle movements are the basis of CST if you're not seeing a quack. That said - if your neck muscles have your skull locked in place CST simply cannot work. You're trying to drive a car that's parked.

      To understand how far the fascia goes around your skull - grab your SCM. Really get a good grip. Pull out and down on it and you can feel it wrap your entire skull. Then start to think about how that's only ONE of the muscle groups in the area causing that.

      One massage won't fix it years of bad posture and computer work. It took me about 8 months - 10 visits or so to really start to see the advancements. It has helped many aspects of my life to work on my posture, tinnitus definitely being one of them.
       
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    21. Michael Leigh

      Michael Leigh Member Benefactor Hall of Fame

      Location:
      Brighton, UK
      Tinnitus Since:
      04/1996
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Noise induced
      This is one of the best and funniest posts that I've read in a long time @RaZaH Thank you for making me laugh so much.
      All the best
      Michael
       
    22. Lillian

      Lillian Member

      Location:
      Canada
      Tinnitus Since:
      09/2004
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Suspected Dental Work
      I had my first CST yesterday. It was painful !!! She said " I am being very gentle" for this first visit.
      I was awake all night and my T was louder. Can this happen? Hopefully, I will sleep tonight.
      My next session is next Tuesday. Should I continue with this based only on the first ? Any suggestions?
       
    23. Raphael7713
      Alone

      Raphael7713 Member

      Location:
      Stockholm, Sweden.
      Tinnitus Since:
      January 14, 2017.
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Not sure
      Hey guys. I really want to recommend you guys, specially the ones suffering from their T, to a Julian Cowan Hill on YouTube. This guy has some really interesting things to say about tinnitus and offers really good advice. He also insists that tinnitus can be cured and offers some really good explanations to almost every question you have. At first I thought it was someone who was trying to make money of selling his book and a fraud, but after watching several of his videos and reading the comments he receive I genuinely think this guy is for "real".

      This guy has been making videos on youtube for almost 10 years about tinnitus and like I said, he makes a lot of sense. If your tinnitus doesn't disappear his methods and advice can still help you go on with your life.

      Check his videos and let me know what you think.
       
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    24. GregCA
      Jaded

      GregCA Member Benefactor Hall of Fame

      Tinnitus Since:
      03/2016
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Otosclerosis
      I've watched a few of his videos and I suspect he is well intentioned, but I think his methods and advice are a reasonable match to mild T, for which the distress has a fairly large psy component. For those it makes sense to address the psy part, with meditation and anxiety management, etc. Since mild T is the most common variety, there is no doubt that he provides value to the "T community".

      For people with severe T however, I don't think mind tricks are particularly helpful (I don't think they hurt either, unless they kill the last shred of hope you had for some relief): we need something that is physiological, not psychological, because our stimulus is of the former nature, not the latter.
      That's my take on it!
       
    25. Raphael7713
      Alone

      Raphael7713 Member

      Location:
      Stockholm, Sweden.
      Tinnitus Since:
      January 14, 2017.
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Not sure
      My personal opinion is that if your T is caused by stress,/anxiety or tensions, I think Julians methods can work and cure you. Then it's all about "rebooting" your body back to it's natural state. However, I can't see his methods being effective against tinnitus that is caused by damage to the ear and exposure to loud noises, even if he himself says that all T forms can be cured with these methods.

      My T cause is unknown still, but I really wish it is stress related or anxiety related, because then I am sure the T can disappear if you change your habits and lifestyle. T that is caused by ear damage seems more difficult to cure, if possible at all. But only time can tell.
       
    26. InfiniteLoop
      Relaxed

      InfiniteLoop Member Benefactor

      Location:
      Redwood City, California
      Tinnitus Since:
      01/21/2014
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      High frequency hearing loss in left ear from head trauma (?)
      The lack of treatment for T and the elusive nature of T creates this endless list of "pseudo-treatments" for T with extreme large placebo effect, and nearly zero scientific backing. From time to time there are reports that are impossible to confirm that accupunture, homeopathy, cranio sacral therapy, supplements, LLLT, etc.... have helped somebody and that creates the delusion of that perhaps one should try because maybe my T root cause is different and maybe I can be helped by a total non-sense treatment. Then there is all the sugar coating about trying anything is a good idea because every person case is different.
      The fact is for those with auditory damage there is simply no way out with the current medical knowledge (let alone the pseudo-science methods). Maybe in 30 or 40 years there will be a decent treatment. In the meantime, we can just try to manage this condition playing mind games: I do not care, it is not that bad, I am stronger than T, etc....
       
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    27. Michael Leigh

      Michael Leigh Member Benefactor Hall of Fame

      Location:
      Brighton, UK
      Tinnitus Since:
      04/1996
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Noise induced
      Have you taken a look at this person's website and seen the amount he charges for his therapy? He even does Skype consultations. Once fees are paid nothing is refundable. He claims to be able to stop someone's tinnitus permanently with his treatment, which will take approximately two years of therapy with him so quite impressive. A very smooth and artful persuader, that won't have me at the top of his treatment list.

      Michael
       
    28. Raphael7713
      Alone

      Raphael7713 Member

      Location:
      Stockholm, Sweden.
      Tinnitus Since:
      January 14, 2017.
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Not sure
      I don't believe it at all. I watched a video of him today on youtube where he says that you don't even need to do his therapy, but you need to find your own way of calming down your nervous system.
       
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    29. Michael Leigh

      Michael Leigh Member Benefactor Hall of Fame

      Location:
      Brighton, UK
      Tinnitus Since:
      04/1996
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Noise induced
      By saying one doesn't need his therapy that's the confidence booster. Make a person think that he's genuine. He probably is genuine at the same time he has to make a living but it won't be from me. ;)
       
    30. Tom Cnyc

      Tom Cnyc Member

      Location:
      NYC
      Tinnitus Since:
      05/2016
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Warehouse event after years of enjoying music.
      My first theee trips to the doctor that understands this stuff my t spiked HARD the next day. It always calmed to better than before after.
       
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