Cranial osteopathy and its claims in treating functional conditions resulting from cranial nerve entrapment- A literature review.
Item
- Title
- Cranial osteopathy and its claims in treating functional conditions resulting from cranial nerve entrapment- A literature review.
- Author(s)
- Loras, A
- Abstract
- This literature review sets out to discus the claims of cranial osteopaths, made in both historic and more recent osteopathic literature, to be able to treat a vast range of functl'onal conditions resulting from cranial nerve entrapment. Cranial osteopathic literature sets out a raft of functional conditions, believed to be resultant of cranial nerve entrapment, that cranial osteopathy is able to treat. In July 2009, the Chief Executive of the British General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) wrote to all osteopaths to highlight the importance of ensuring that all publicity material complies with the law and the GOsC Code of Practice, clause 92 of which stipulates that osteopaths are legally prohibited from advertising treatment for certain conditions (Soames, 2009). This is due to the lack of rigorous scientific research to validate the treatment claims. This literature review sets out to establish whether or not research exists to support cranial osteopathic theories, both in terms of the philosophy underlying diagnosis and treatment rationales, and in terms of the proposed causes and treatment methodologies for cranial nerve entrapment and its resultant functional conditions. The conclusions may be significant to the practice of cranial osteopathy, both in offering further validation of cranial osteopathy being an effective diagnostic and treatment approach, and also in its ability to produce positive outcomes in the treatment of cranial neuropathies. The review was conducted using an electronic search of the Greenwich University and Brighton University library online databases, Swetswise, BMJ journal collection, ^Science Direct, Elsevier, Wiley Interscience, Pubmed, AAOA (Insert JCOM etc) and Google Scholar. Books were sourced from the European School of Osteopathy library. Key words were: Cranial osteopathy, osteopathy, cranial concept, cranial rhythmic impulse, cranial movement sutures, primary respiratory mechanism, interexaminer reliability, interater reliability, palpation, cranial nerves, cranial nerve entrapment,cranial nerve compression, vagal neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia, hemifacial spasm, pathophysioligy, microvascular decompression. The validity of the claims set out by cranial osteopaths, both in respect to the theories behind cranial osteopathy generally, and cranial nerve entrapment and resulting functional conditions specifically, remains controversial. The very theories upon which cranial osteopathic diagnosis and treatment is based have been questioned and are yet to be definitively evidenced, with multiple studies trying to quantify the mechanics and physiology at play proving to be inconclusive, contradictory or at times dubious in methodology, statistically unchallenged and irreproducible. Despite this, anecdotal reports describe positive outcomes and practitioners continue to rely on subjective palpation and evaluation, rendering treatment and diagnosis practitioner dependent, possibly leading to different, diagnostic conclusions and therefore ~different treatment and intervention methodologies. This reliance on single case outcome based results and practitioner dependency Fenders effeciive outcomes difficult to quantify. There is a clear paucity of research to support the theories and claims put forward by practitioners of cranial osteopathy and a notable lack of research undertaken under rigorous clinical experimental conditions, particularly when dealing with cranial neuropathies. Unfortunately, without published randomized, blinded and placebo-controlled research to support the theories and treatment claims of cranial osteopathy practitioners, critics will continue to question the credibility of cranial osteopathy as an effective diagnostic and treatment methodology
- presented at
- European School of Osteopathy
- Date Accepted
- 2011
- Date Submitted
- 22.1.2013 16:23:35
- Type
- osteo_thesis
- Language
- English
- Submitted by:
- 62
- Pub-Identifier
- 15282
- Inst-Identifier
- 1229
- Keywords
- Cranial osteopathy; Cranial nerve.
- Recommended
- 0
- Item sets
- Thesis
Loras, A, “Cranial osteopathy and its claims in treating functional conditions resulting from cranial nerve entrapment- A literature review.”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed May 2, 2024, https://www.osteopathicresearch.com/s/orw/item/783