Craniosacral Therapy for IBS and Gut Dysfunction

The state of your nervous system is closely reflected in the way that your visceral organs function.

The vagus nerve is a vital communication link between your brain and your organs. 80% of its fibres send sensory information from your body to your brain, influencing how you feel, think and behave. The other 20% of the fibres send signals from your brain to your body, regulating your heart, lungs and gut.

gut health and the nervous system

Many chronic health conditions are linked to long-term stress or a trauma history. Chronic and traumatic stress can impair the vagus nerve's ability to regulate your nervous system, affecting almost all your body's systems.

For instance, digestive issues may appear to be a stomach problem. However, many gut disorders are symptoms of nervous system dysregulation caused by chronic stress. The interruption in vagus nerve function can prevent proper organ regulation.

Chronic stress can lead to conditions like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) because anxiety can either inhibit or overstimulate the vagus nerve. This connection between the brainstem and the digestive tract can stop gut motility (the movement of food through the digestive tract) causing constipation , or it can speed it up, leading to diarrhoea.

Prolonged changes in gut motility can cause pain, disrupt the gut microbiome and trigger a histamine response, causing inflammation. IBS can alter sensory areas in the brain, increasing pain sensitivity - a phenomenon known as central amplification of pain. Read about how chronic pain conditions like IBS alter neural pathways over time to exacerbate the perception of pain at our blog post Craniosacral Therapy Treats Chronic Pain.

The sensation of increased pain can signal the brain that there is a threat even when there isn't, leading to more anxiety. Read about how the vagus nerve is involved in the stress response and traumatic stress at our blog post Craniosacral therapy for the Vagus Nerve: working with Trauma, improving Neurological, Cardiovascular, Respiratory and Digestive function.

Symptom flare-ups often occur during periods of high stress. When anxiety levels rise, you have fearful thoughts playing on a loop and you can't relax. The inseparable mind-body connection means that your body can't lower inflammation and move into a state of rest and repair, when you are experiencing heightened anxiety.

Conversely, if stress causes you to feel flat, depressed and disconnected from your body, this can adversely affect your immune system and circulation too.

Chronic stress has a huge impact on the endocrine and immune systems via the HPA Axis. IBS, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, autoimmune issues, allergies, migraines, cardiovascular issues and various gut disorders and hormonal imbalances can arise when the nervous system is dysregulated by prolonged or traumatic stress. Read about the HPA Axis and the neuroendocrine system at Craniosacral therapy for Endocrine Disorders & Hormonal imbalance: Diabetes, PCOD, Thyroid disorders.

HPA Axis controls digestion

Most people have never been told how chronic and traumatic stress disrupts the bi-directional communication between your brain and the rest of your body, causing IBS and other chronic conditions. When symptoms are treated as they appear, without addressing the root cause, these chronic health issues cannot be resolved. Craniosacral therapy helps you regulate your nervous system to alleviate IBS and all the above conditions by going straight to cause. When a patient receives Craniosacral therapy over a period of time, the sessions help the patient's nervous system to return to baseline as well as to continue to self-regulate for the rest of his life. Craniosacral therapy reduces anxiety, pain and inflammation. It supports homeostasis, a state of optimal balanced functioning of the human body. Studies have found that Craniosacral therapy reduces cortisol levels and supports neuroendocrine function. It has an established track record for alleviating IBS and digestive issues, while being completely safe, with no adverse side-effects.

Buchinger Wilhelmi, the world's leading medical clinic group specialising in therapeutic fasting for metabolic and gut health, offers Craniosacral therapy in the integrative medicine protocol offered at their private clinics at Uberlingen, Germany and Marbella, Spain.

Buchinger Wilhelmi offers Craniosacral therapy

Lanserhof is Europe's premier medical longevity clinic network which treats gut health as the foundation of longevity. They offer Craniosacral therapy to the guests at their exclusive private clinics in Tegernessee and Sylt in Germany, at Marbella and in Hamburg.

Wouldn't it be helpful to rethink health and illness to include your ability to regulate your nervous system? Craniosacral therapy restores vagal tone and nervous system regulation to provide permanent relief from IBS and digestive issues, rather than temporary symptomatic relief.

Credit for inputs on nervous system regulation from Jessica Maguire, educator.