Craniosacral therapy

Craniosacral therapy is a complementary manual practice using gentle touch on the head, spine, and sacrum. It is based on claims that practitioners can influence the craniosacral system to improve health.

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Craniosacral system: The cerebrospinal fluid, membranes, bones, and related structures that practitioners associate with craniosacral therapy. This proposed system is the target practitioners say they assess and influence.
Osteopathy: A system of manual healthcare founded by Andrew Taylor Still in the nineteenth century. Craniosacral therapy emerged from osteopathic ideas and hands-on practice.
Manual therapy: Healthcare approaches that use the hands to assess or treat the body. Craniosacral therapy belongs to this broad family of hands-on interventions.
Cranial osteopathic manipulative medicine: An osteopathic manual approach that applies gentle forces to the skull and other body structures. It shares historical roots and techniques but remains within osteopathic medicine.
Cerebrospinal fluid: A clear fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord and circulates through the brain's ventricles. Practitioners have attributed a palpable rhythm to its circulation.
Andrew Taylor Still: An American physician who founded osteopathy in the late nineteenth century. His osteopathic framework supplied the tradition from which cranial manipulation developed.
Complementary and alternative medicine: Health practices used alongside or instead of conventional medical care. Craniosacral therapy is generally classified within this broad group.
Massage therapy: Manual treatment that manipulates soft tissues to address comfort, function, or relaxation. Its focus on soft tissue contrasts with craniosacral claims about a system-wide rhythm.
Primary respiration: A subtle rhythmic motion that craniosacral practitioners propose arises from the craniosacral system. It is the rhythm practitioners claim to detect through light touch.
William Garner Sutherland: An American osteopath who developed cranial osteopathy in the early twentieth century. His claims about cranial bone motion became a foundation for craniosacral practice.