# Craniosacral massage therapy **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 29, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craniosacral-massage-therapy/576400 "2011-03-29T17:29:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craniosacral-massage-therapy/576400/1 "2011-03-29T17:29:11Z")
A massage therapist was explaining craniosacral therapy to me and made some statements that I’d like your opinions on. One was that the spinal fluid circulates between the brain and the entire length of the spinal column. Another was that the body occasionally “resets” this circulation in some manner. Are either of these true? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craniosacral-massage-therapy/576400/2 "2011-03-29T17:31:39Z")
[http://www.skepdic.com/craniosacral.html](http://www.skepdic.com/craniosacral.html) > **[Why Cranial Therapy Is Silly | Quackwatch](https://quackwatch.org/related/cranial/)** > > Craniosacral therapy (CST) is one of many terms used to describe a various methods based on fanciful claims that: The human brain makes rhythmic movements at a rate of 10 to 14 cycles per minute, a periodicity unrelated to breathing or heart rate.... ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craniosacral-massage-therapy/576400/3 "2011-03-29T17:35:20Z")
The only thing craniosacral therapy might be good for is to help you pull your head out of your ass and high-tail it out of the quack’s office. Otherwise, it’s separating you from your money. ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craniosacral-massage-therapy/576400/4 "2011-03-29T17:37:36Z")
I’m not even sure how that would work. Cerebrospinal fluid circulates through ventricles in the brain and the central canal in the spinal cord, and is circulated by the choroid plexus (which produces CSF) and the cilia on the cells lining the ventricles. I can’t think of anything a masseuse would do that would change CSF circulation that would not also probably injure you severely. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craniosacral-massage-therapy/576400/5 "2011-03-29T18:13:37Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > A massage therapist was explaining craniosacral therapy to me and made some statements that I’d like your opinions on. > > One was that the spinal fluid circulates between the brain and the entire length of the spinal column. > > Another was that the body occasionally “resets” this circulation in some manner. > > Are either of these true? CSF does circulate over the brain and spinal cord. There is no “reset”, except that more or less CSF can be resorbed into the venous circulation (at least to some degree) if there is too much or too little CSF produced. “Craniosacral therapy” and any activities of massage therapists are not going to affect CSF flow, unless (as previously suggested) they are violent enough to cause trauma to the brain and/or spinal cord and thus affect CSF circulation. And it’s a really good idea **not** to have massage therapists, chiropractors and the like do anything sudden or forceful around your head/neck area. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craniosacral-massage-therapy/576400/6 "2011-03-29T18:18:53Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > The only thing craniosacral therapy might be good for is to help you pull your head out of your ass and high-tail it out of the quack’s office. So rare that a form of quackery deliberately embraces such a poetically appropriate name. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craniosacral-massage-therapy/576400/7 "2011-03-29T21:12:38Z")
The most recent massage therapist I was referred to is a proponent of this therapy. Yeah, I stuck with the typical massage for two sessions, but she kept trying to push craniosacral therapy so I didn’t go back. Give me a regular massage and keep your woo to yourself, TYVM. Can’t do that? I am sure there is someone else who will take my money and massage my muscles. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craniosacral-massage-therapy/576400/8 "2011-03-29T21:16:12Z")
> [@Vihaga](#): > > I’m not even sure how that would work. Cerebrospinal fluid circulates through ventricles in the brain and the central canal in the spinal cord, and is circulated by the choroid plexus (which produces CSF) and the cilia on the cells lining the ventricles. > > I can’t think of anything a masseuse would do that would change CSF circulation that would not also probably injure you severely. No, no, they use only as much pressure as the weight of a nickel. There’s no possibility of injury or negative side effects! And it worked for my cousin! I had an otherwise rational midwife suggest this for breastfeeding trouble. When I called her on the lack of evidence, she said yeah, there’s no reason to think it works, but it might be worth trying. :smack: (FWIW, I recently [blogged](http://needforcognition.blogspot.com/2011/03/quick-and-easy-guide-to-spotting-altmed.html)about a quick list of quackery indicators.)