Medical researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are now discovering that people are dying of a “stiff” heart. I am happy medical research is discovering the world of tight/disease. Let’s look at that concept from our newborn/infant craniosacral fascial aspect.
We learned in our medical education the three types of muscle cells: skeletal, smooth, and cardiac. A thin layer of fascia surrounds each type of cell. We know when fascial is traumatized, it can stiffen and impair function of organ systems. When we are working with a newborn/infant, let’s look at the muscle/fascial tissues and our major conditions.
Skeletal muscles: These tissues, allowing for movement, need to be loose. When babies with hip/shoulder issues have difficulty moving, doctors first think of neurological issues. The Gillespie Approach can start to free up the craniosacral fascial system so these infants can begin to commando crawl and creep on their hands and knees.
We see torticollis babies who have trouble functioning. We believe their issue started with a compressive in utero strain pattern that culminated in body tightness. We also see babies with clubfoot, another example of skeletal fascial strain.
Smooth muscles: Smooth muscle function deals more with the autonomic nervous system. The Gillespie Approach can be effective for babies for swallowing, breathing, reflux, indigestion, gas, constipation, stridor, and pyloric stenosis. Since the craniosacral fascial system is one unit, tapping into the web allows us to go deeper in the body to treat/prevent conditions like pediatric asthma.
Cardiac muscle: We do not generally see newborns with heart issues, but maybe it is too early in the game for them to be diagnosed. Microscopic fascial strain from trauma may be present that can cause issues later in life.
At birth the heart is just beginning its lifetime journey after 34 weeks of pumping. Medical professionals may say a good APGAR score indicates heart health.
Two areas of fascial cardiac connection could be in arrhythmias and valvular disease. I had abnormal heart rhythm (premature ventricular contraction) in the 1980s. When the fascial strain in my chest from my scoliosis released, that condition resolved. It may have been lying dormant from birth trauma.
Fascial restriction of a leaky valve does not show up on any medical testing. Since the seeds of restriction may have been sown at birth, the later hardening of the cardiac/valvular tissue may not necessarily be due to classical cardiovascular disease.
The Gillespie Approach is a full-body newborn therapy. Pelvic fascia, pulling up into the neck, jaw, and head, can be straining through the heart. We just may not clinically see any immediate cardiac effects of the work in infants.
Our concept of prevention at birth may go beyond our present scope with this new finding. We shall see with the basic research in the coming decades.
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