The link between the cranium and our health

Naturally as a chiropractor you could say I see a lot of bones in the clinic. The bones I want to talk about today is the cranium as a whole and all the small jigsaw bones that fit together to create the skull. 

Functions of the skull 

The skull is often forgotten about and doesn’t come to mind at first as a bone of the body. What does the skull even do, you may ask? Isn’t it just there to protect your brain? Well that is part of its function but it’s not the only one. In the past we believed that the cranium fused after a certain age becoming one hard unit. This has recently been proven to be false. There is actually micro-movement within the sutures (joins) of the skull that helps with the flow of spinal fluid around the body. When we breathe we are actually creating a mini pump, which helps send spinal fluid around our brain and down to our tailbone and then back up again. Head hits, traumatic births, jaw clenching and tongue-ties can directly interfere with this pump. 

Why you need a healthy cranium  

I see a lot of young children in the wellness centre and this is because I regularly encourage parents to get their children’s spines checked for any interference. We are talking about thriving here; if our body is communicating effectively with our brain, then this limits our risk of injury and illness. I love checking the spines of the whole family. This is because I can help ensure that as each family member takes on their daily challenges, their nervous systems are primed and ready for anything that comes their way. The skull is a crucial part of how that nervous system works and unfortunately traumatic births and head hits are just a part of life. We do however have some control over how the body can recover from these incidents and we can limit the long term damaging effects. 

Curing tongue-ties 

Tongue-ties can limit the function of the cranium as well as lead to issues with breast-feeding, speech and the transition into solid foods. By correcting the cranial function and removing spinal interference we can help improve the overall development of a child and therefore help them thrive. So to recap, I’d argue the skull should be at the top of the list for important bones, after the vertebrae of course.