A therapist recently brought her newborn son with a clubfoot to me for help. Here are some important lessons from this child’s therapy:
1. Your mindset is critical. If you believe that clubfoot is an incurable condition that can only be managed with casting and surgery, you are defeated. If you believe that fetal compressive fascial strain can be revisited and cleared, then “miracles” can possibly happen.
2. When a baby with clubfoot presents, you may be so focused on solely correcting the foot that you forget that it is a part of the craniosacral fascial system. The whole system needs to release with the foot.
3. This infant also had latch issues, reflux, congestion, gas, arching, hiccups, burping issues, and mouth breathing. His cord was wrapped three times at birth. On examination, there was significant neck and diaphragmatic strain. All of these conditions, along with the clubfoot, were rooted in a tight craniosacral fascial system due to birth trauma.
4. When I held his affected leg, it immediately led me to a position where his foot was close to his mouth. Mom said this was his same ultrasound position. The fascial system remembers it traumas.
When I held his “unaffected” foot, it went into the same ultrasound position. Even though the strain did not present as a clubfoot, it was an “unseen” problem. Since his connecting pelvis had some deep strains traveling up his body, clubfoot is a full-body condition.
5. For the oral tie enthusiasts, he had tongue tie and lip tie surgery for his latching issue. Mom said the floor of his mouth was still tight, which I agreed with at his evaluation. When the clubfoot strain significantly cleared after an hour of therapy, the floor of his mouth cleared. It is all connected in craniosacral fascial space and time.
I then questioned the need for those surgeries. My position has always been to get the baby strain-free first to see if I am dealing with true oral ties.
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