During the Lancaster infant research ten years ago, I would occasionally see a baby with bright-red facial blotches, either appearing at presentation or immediately after Gillespie Approach–Craniosacral Fascial Therapy. For about six months, I did not know what to make of it.
Then I surmised that fascial strain somewhere in the body was pulling into the forehead, cheeks, chin, etc. I knew from my adult/child practice that neck fascia would pull into their sinuses (allergies and congestion) and eyes (pain behind the eye and strabismus). So why not their facial skin?
Since histology (microscopic study) tells us superficial fascia lies directly beneath the skin, fascial strain could make it turn red. I often wondered what happened to those babies who were left untreated?
Fast forward to now. I have treated a 27-year-old woman with migraines and leg pain with 24 hours of Gillespie Approach–Craniosacral Fascial Therapy. She is deep in her traumatic onion and, for weeks, has been doing at least one hour per day of self-Craniosacral Fascial Therapy at home to expedite the healing process. Her migraines are fading, but something else very unexpectedly is happening. Her facial skin is clearing up.
She had typical teenage acne. When it continued in life, hormones were to blame. As it apparently turns out, severe fascial strain in her legs is pulling into her cheeks and cheekbones, causing not only her migraines but also her adult acne.
A small red facial blotch showed in her newborn pictures, but not enough causative evidence like traumatic forceps marks on the skin. I hypothesize that she experienced an inordinate amount of sustained compressive fetal fascial strain, pressure that would not leave a mark on her skin but dramatically imprint her superficial and deep fascia. When she was stuck in that fetal position, the strain patterns apparently ran from her legs to her face and head.
What health care practitioner would ever connect adult acne to fetal fascial trauma? To get at the root cause of an issue, we need to think in the space-time continuum of the craniosacral fascial system. I love this work.
August 11, 2019, Update from Dr. Barry Gillespie
As she is just becoming strain-free after months of Gillespie Approach–Craniosacral Fascial Therapy, this patient reports that her face is now 100 percent clear.
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