I rarely see patients for checkup visits. Usually the craniosacral fascial system functions well without further therapy. But I will tell patients to let me know if they have a continuing problem.
A mother with exceptional body awareness had been a patient for a number of years. She always wanted to be in peak health and recently came to my office with these issues: a lot of tightness in her mid-back, her wisdom teeth extractions were talking to her, and she had pain in her left quadriceps muscle.
Over the holidays, she contracted the flu and then the dreaded virus at the same time. For a week, she was very sick with low energy and had coughing spells. She then contracted bronchitis, which intensified the coughing.
In recovering, she was not herself and was still feeling tightness in her mid-back area. The diaphragm, the main breathing muscle, attaches to the inside of this area.
When I checked her, there was fascial strain in her diaphragm pulling into that mid-back area. Since the strain was fresh, it released well. Severe coughing can be likened to a repetitive strain injury where a repeated action overtime can cause fascial strain.
She also wanted me to check her wisdom teeth extraction areas where she was feeling some discomfort. In checking all four areas, the lower right, where she was feeling it the most, was straining hard down into her throat and trunk.
That strain eventually released nicely. The body holds all of its traumas back to conception and can present each specific layer at any time.
The last area was the left quadriceps muscle. There was no story about its tightness. I did not make a judgment around that aspect. I work with the body as it presents each issue—story or no story.
If a patient has a non-life-threatening trauma to their body, a checkup visit can be in order. Gillespie Approach Training is a great tool for a provider’s toolbox.
The Patient Emails
"It's interesting, my swallowing pattern on the right now feels SO MUCH different now than on the left. Not that I have trouble swallowing, but it somehow feels easier and lighter on the right and easier when swallowing. Also, when I tilt my head to the left, putting my left ear onto my left shoulder, the right side of my neck feels looser with nearly zero pulling."
