Our brains float in an ocean of cerebral spinal fluid. Cerebral spinal fluid cushions the brain, nurtures it, and floats away its trash. Without this great river of life, the brain would wither and die.

When traumatic brain injury interferes with the flow of cerebral spinal fluid, the brain can literally perish in its own garbage. Trauma can twist the vessels through which it flows — into, out of and through the brain. The pulsations of the brain and vessels that propel its flow can be compromised. The membranes and caverns that house the CSF can be injured, twisted, or obstructed. And the microscopic channels through which it brings its healing to each brain cell can be ruptured, damaged, or otherwise compromised.

For over 100 years, osteopathic physicians have developed sophisticated techniques for improving the flow of this life-giving fluid and restoring functionality to the injured brain. And in the last 8 years, astonishing scientific research has confirmed what we have known with our hands for all these many years: that without the enthusiastic flow of this great river of life, the brain will wither and die.

Brain injury causes inflammation. Inflammation is the way the body clears out the debris caused by injury — by burning it, engulfing it, and poisoning it with toxic chemicals. This process, essential to healing the brain and body from trauma, can sometimes go powerfully awry. Much of the newest research on brain injury is focused on stopping this destructive neuroinflammation.

One of the most critical ways to stop this destructive neuroinflammation is to make sure the brain does not suffocate in its own trash. Inflammation creates a tremendous amount of toxic cellular garbage. If that garbage is not flushed away, those toxins kill healthy brain cells - which creates more damage, and a vicious cycle of perpetual inflammation - cellular damage- more inflammation - more damage - can take off like a runaway train.

Osteopaths, with our reverence for the lymphatic system, have developed powerful techniques for supporting this underrated and unappreciated disposal system. In the brain, a combination of cerebrospinal fluid and glial cells form a unique trash removal system called the glymphatic system. Cranial osteopaths have worked for decades, long before the official discovery of this system, developing techniques for treating this powerful river of life. One of the most important things we do to heal the brain is help it take out the trash.

Plumbing is not very sexy. Medicine likes to focus on flashy things like the rock star neurons and the superstar heart. But without the brain’s humble plumbing system, our brains would drown in a swill of toxic trash. Problems with the glymphatic system and a newly discovered lymphatic system in the brain are now being studied for links to Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s Dementia. The groundbreaking work of Dr. Maiken Nedergaard has shown the critical role of toxic trash in these severe neurological diseases.

By releasing the constrictions in the fluid flow both into and out of the brain, cranial osteopaths can help the brain flush out these destructive toxins and help stop the cascade of inflammation at its source.