Spontaneous Healing

I have been reading this fantastic book called Spontaneous Healing by Andrew Weil, M.D. I purchased the book some time back as a tool for motivation, thinking the information inside would help me to better believe in the process. One of my bigger issues throughout this whole thing has been to believe in the process. It seems odd, even to me, that I would question my regimen as it has provided me with proof of its success time and time again. Yet, the westerner in me holds me attached to the old stinking way of thinking. I question my ability to cure myself and I sometimes fear that in the end I will fall on my face, at the mercy of a surgery mill. Even though logically I know this to not be true, it hangs around, tainting my insides. The book sat on my bedside table for much longer then it should have, it was if I was avoiding reading it; perhaps scared at the information it would provide that would pressure me into having no other option then to succeed.  Either way, Adnrew Weil appeared on Dr. Oz one day and I was mesmerized by his philosophy and understood it to be a sign that the time had come to pick up the book and face the truth. I have been enjoying it immensely and it has provided me with a clearer comprehension of the componenets making up our failed medical system and the the innate trust we lack in ourselves to be able to accomplish great feats of healing. Along with this priceless information, it provides many examples of individuals who found that trust and in turn, found their way back to health. One of the examples he provides presented me with a unique connection between some of the things I have experienced in the past and some of the things I am currently dealing with. It is difficult to explain so I will do my best. Remember, I always think the best way to educate yourself is directly. Anyone going the self-healing route should read this book and take away from it what you need. Here it goes:

In 1939, Dr. William Sutherland, discovered what he called the primary respiratory system (PRS), made up of the central nervous system. He found that it had a rhythmic motion just as our more well know respiratory system, hence forth known as the secondary respiratory system. This PRS, he found, was responsible for the following mechanisms:

• Motion at the cranial sutures, the joints linking the 26 bones of the skull.
• Expansion and contraction of the hemispheres of the brain.
• Motion of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.
• A fluid wave within the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord.
• Involuntary, subtle motion of the sacrum (tailbone.

The theory of the cranial movement was most harshly resisted as it was believed that the bones/joints of the skull were immobile. However, recently, researchers at Michigan’s State University College discovered he was right with x-ray films of living skulls. The idea behind Cranial Therapy is that something comes in and blocks this PRS from flowing correctly, in which case many symptoms can appear. Cranial Therapy is believed to ‘shock’ this PRS back into functioning properly. In this book, Dr. Weil studied this under Dr. Fulford who is responsible for providing the information I am relaying here. The way your PRS becomes restricted is through 1 of 3 kinds of trauma. Either, trauma during birth, physical trauma (usually early on in life), or psychological trauma. Here is where it gets interesting relating to me. One of the examples used was his treatment of children suffering from recurrent inner ear infections. He would concentrate on freeing up their sacrum. Here is how Dr. Fulford explained it,

“When the sacrum is restricted, the whole PRS is impaired. Along with this goes a pattern of restricted breathing, and it is the force of the breath-the rhythmic pressure changes in the chest- that pumps the lymphatic circulation. With inadequate lymphatic circulation there is poor fluid drainage from the head and neck. Stagnant fluid builds up in the middle ear, providing an ideal breeding ground for bacteria. You can wipe out the bacteria all you want with antibiotics, but if you don’t correct the issue of fluid stagnation they will just keep coming back.”

The reason I found this to be so interesting relating to me is for the following reasons:

1. I did suffer from tons of inner ear infections as a child and I could very well have suffered a birth trauma as I was premature.
2. As a child I would have seizures that would cause me to stop breathing. To treat this, doctors would have to use a long syringe to pull fluid off of my spine. I never understood why this was done or what caused these seizures. However, now that I have more knowledge on the subject, it doesn’t seem too far fetched to assume that the cerebrospinal fluid had to be pulled off of my spine because it wasn’t flowing correctly and would cause me to stop breathing (further proof in my mind of it being a respiratory system).
3. Currently my tailbone does not move. It was one of the issues while seeing my chiropractor, she would bang on it with her tools and just couldn’t get it to move freely like the surrounding vertebrae. Plus, I have coccydyenia, which basically means my tailbone is crooked. It juts off to the right instead of staying straight. This could be responsible for hindering the smooth flow of fluids in my spine and sacrum area.
4. I have always seemed to have neck issues. They have gotten worse since my symptoms appeared, but I always wrote it off as being a side effect of compensating for the nerve pain in my lower back.
5. My breathing has become more shallow and I feel less able to take deep breaths. I found this to be quite puzzling as I have quit smoking over the last 6 months as was fully expecting my lung capacity to improve.

Now, I don’t know if any of this is related to the to the other, but it is very interesting to see the common denominator in all of my health issues experienced thus far is related to my spine and sacrum. Could the nonfunctioning of me PRS be the catalyst that has fueled my health problems? Could it be that simple? Early on in my research I came across cranial therapy for the treatment of Tarlov, but at the time I was no where near ready for an alternative treatment of that status, cranial therapy sounded like some sort of new age, hippie crap. I was still dabbling my toes in the healing waters of nature. Now, however, I must admit, I am damn near chomping at the bit to find someone to perform cranial therapy on me! It is definitely worth a try for me…after all it is the one who keeps looking that finds the answers. I invite you to reflect on some of your health issues along the way and see if they could possibly be connected in anyway. I would definitely be interested to know…