Since the Lancaster research began twenty years ago, the Amish community in Southeastern Pennsylvania has been very receptive to our work. They have allowed us to naturally work with their babies with clubfoot, pyloric stenosis, hydrocephalus, and chiari malformation who otherwise would have gone through the surgical route.
The clubfoot surgical procedure is a tenotomy, which releases the tight Achilles tendon. With a little help in our craniosacral fascial world, I believe the body is capable of releasing this tendon on its own.
A five-week-old newborn with clubfoot was doing well with Gillespie Approach therapy. I hypothesize that his foot got stuck in an odd position in utero and grew into that twisted shape.
In our therapy we believe that the distorted leg fascial web remembered its true position with treatment without casting and surgery. We have seen this with many babies over the twenty years.
The problem for this baby was that his foot was only small part of a larger full-body distortion. He had plagiocephaly, torticollis, reflux, and gas in addition to the clubfoot. Even though his other foot was not “clubbed,” it too had substantial fascial strain.
Both feet need to be checked with these babies. If a clubfoot baby has “successful surgery” but has an unbalanced gait later in life, the real problem may be rooted in the undiagnosed strain of the “good" foot.
In therapy his body went into a distinct twisted crescent position where his head and neck were at the other end of the clubfoot. I expect him to do well with continued therapy.
In searching for the root cause of the problem, mom said he got stuck in a transverse position in her abdominal cavity. When I checked mom, she had a twisted pelvis and tightness throughout her abdominal cavity actually causing her pain.
The major question is something I have discussed previously: Can "structural inheritance" be passed down from one generation to the next? Since this was her first child, I suggested therapy before her next baby to lessen the chance of another distorted newborn fascial web.
Our work can have broad ramifications when you look at the big picture. Consider taking Gillespie Approach Trainings to add an important tool to your therapy toolbox.
