Girl with metatarsus adductus - Gillespie Approach–Craniosacral Fascial Therapy

Metatarsus Adductus

I worked with a toddler from Utah this past week for an intensive visit (two hours a day on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). She had metatarsus adductus from birth where the front half of her right foot turned inward.

She was the third child born at home, and her midwife did not notice any issue. When she started to walk, she tripped and fell a lot. Her pediatrician said she would grow out of it. Now at 2½ years old, she still has trouble walking and more so with running.

Her mother does not want conventional casting and surgery. She hopped on a plane to Philly because she saw the results of our clubfoot work on my website. She felt that if we had figured that condition out, maybe there was hope for her daughter.

She is a mom that we all want to have; she flies with her oldest daughter every eight weeks to a functional orthodontist in California. She sees tremendous value in this dental approach because her extraction orthodontics as a child has lead to a lifetime of airway issues.

On evaluation, the fascia from the toddler’s pelvis down to her toes was severely strained. The fascia in her right leg was medially rotating at least 90 degrees. The fascia in her left leg was laterally rotating. Wow, that would make it tough for anyone to walk. I postulate that severe sustained fetal compression was the root cause.

On the first day of CFT, her lower body fascia released beautifully. When the fascia in her right leg loosened on the second day, I started to work on her right foot. The last day was spent on the anterior half of her right foot.

The toddler’s initial low brain cycle opened to over 200 seconds with just the leg work. That foot strain may have caused cognitive issues later in life; it is all connected. How many people on the planet are going to connect those dots?

As I was showing the work to mom, I taught her a specific foot technique to do at home to avoid another trip East. Usually, I recommend that a parent takes the training to get the full picture, but I make a few exceptions.

A few years ago, I worked with a severe arching child from Europe. I knew from our infant Lancaster research that this child would not get better until that arching went away. I also knew no one in Europe would have a clue, and the parents were not close to our training location in the U.K. So, I switched practice gears and spent a lot of time teaching the parents. Dad would hold him in that severe arching position while mom would feel the strain release first in his occiput and then in his sacrum.

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