Craniosacral Therapy for MS Pain Management

This past week I had my first craniosacral therapy session. Wow.

I have always been one to attack pain. I feel cheated if I get a massage and it doesn’t hurt at least a little bit. So it was a stretch for me to think that a light touch, that just holding the head, could release both pain and pent-up emotions. It sounds kooky, but maybe because I am still conditioned to think that whatever occurs in a hospital or involves a prescription is more medically legit. Tomorrow I go again and I have never looked forward to a mode of therapy like this. I even decided ahead of time that I would have no goals or expectations for a decrease in my pain level. “This is just one step in my journey of caring for me the best I can,” was my mantra.

The best moment came at the end of the appointment, when the Physical Therapist showed me a diagram and the major nerves channels. Each area was where I experience my headaches. Since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, my chronic migraines have morphed into face-aches, chin-aches and an aching on the surface of the majority of my head. I had received no explanation up until this moment. It was such a powerful experience that I will include a link to diagrams here: http://www.medivisuals.com/cranial-nerves.aspx

If you have been experiencing chronic headaches and have not found relief, I would recommend looking into insurance coverage for this therapy. In Massachusetts, Harvard Pilgrim covers it if it is performed by a physical therapist. If your insurance covers physical therapy, it will most likely cover whatever therapy you get done by the PT. Your Physical Therapist can figure out how to word it to make sure you are only stuck with the copay.

--Emily Royce