Case Study: Craniosacral Treatment Successful in Headshaking Hektor, a TB gelding, raced successfully for the first four years of his life.
He was sold in the autumn of 1990, age 11. Unknown to his new owners, he was a headshaker. His headshaking was first noticed in the spring of 1991. Hektor was diagnosed as having seasonal allergies and being light sensitive. He suffered a head trauma with compression to the right nasal bone, frontal bone, sphenoid and maxilla. To make things worse, in 1995 he had another head injury, losing his two front incisors, only exacerbating his initial condition. Swelling of the tissues that line the inside of the upper airway affected the head injury. After his second head injury, he shook his head 24 hours a day. His headshaking was so severe, it rendered him unrideable.
Treatments tried prior to craniosacral therapy included antihistamines, steroids, chiropractic and acupuncture, none of which provided much relief. In 2000, 10 years after the onset of the condition, craniosacral treatments began.
A significant change was noticeable after the first craniosacral treatment. After the second treatment, the headshaking nearly stopped. After five treatments, Hektor was free of headshaking symptoms. He remains free of symptoms to this day. Hektor receives regular craniosacral treatments to maintain his overall balance and wellbeing. -- Maureen Rogers, Equine Craniosacral Consultant
Read more about Craniosacral Therapy in the December/January 2008 edition of Holistic Horse.