Combining Homeopathy and Cranial Osteopathy

Homeopathy is one such therapy that can be used in conjunction with Osteopathy successfully. When homeopathy is used along with cranial osteopathy, the effects of each homeopathic remedy can be felt directly by palpation of the involuntary mechanism (IVM) giving both the osteopath and the homeopath a deeper insight into what remedy is most beneficial to the patient.

Osteopathic treatment in general aims to alleviate symptoms by restoring mobility and enabling the body to rebalance itself though the self-healing mechanism. A structural osteopathic treatment which employs mainly joint articulation, soft tissue stretching and manipulation will access the patient mainly on a structural level. This sort of approach is often enough to relieve the overall strain on the body’s capacity to heal and the symptoms abate, but if the symptoms are held more on an emotional level, then a purely structural approach may not be enough.

An example of where an osteopath and homeopath would work effectively together would be when a physical and emotional trauma has occurred together. For example a patient presents after having a severe car accident where a fatality is involved. The patient sustains severe head and leg injuries and undertakes a lengthy course of structural osteopathy where any positive results of treatment fade after a few days. He then tries cranial osteopathy to which he also responds favourably, but feels the emotional impact of the car accident during the treatment. As the treatment sessions progress it becomes obvious that, when the patient’s emotional ‘strain’ is addressed, the physical symptoms worsen. The conclusion may be that the emotional strain is at the core of his problem and the physical body isn’t strong enough to help him resolve it.

By using a combination of homeopathy and cranial osteopathy, the two levels of the strain pattern may be accessed together. There are some osteopaths who actually treat alongside a homeopath within the same treatment session. The cranial osteopath would begin the treatment and palpate where the strain pattern is, the findings would be relayed to the homeopath and in conjunction with the patient’s response suitable homeopathic remedies may be prescribed to the patient during treatment, their effects monitored by the osteopath.

Combining these treatment modalities not only gives palpatory feedback to the homeopath as to the effectiveness of the remedies, but assists the osteopath in overcoming sometimes complex emotional strain patterns within the patient. This is beneficial to the homeopath who would normally prescribe specific remedies from a materia medica and their own experience without having any direct palpatory feedback as to the effect on the patient. In these cases combining cranial and homeopathic treatments in this way, the treatment becomes much more specific and effective at getting to the core of the patients symptoms.