How do you diagnose how many balloons to use and where?

When I examine you, I am running proprioceptive tests. This is my way of determining which areas of your body are not under stable control by your balance system. The areas that are under good proprioceptive control should not be treated at the time. They should be left alone.

This is the problem that can be created by treating the area of the body that has pain. The stability of the body can be made worse, so that the results of therapy will be merely temporary. It is only through treatment of the appropriate areas that predictable and cumulative results can be seen.

At this time, this can be accomplished only through great personal insight of the therapist (luck) or with proprioceptive testing. The tests are conducted in standing, seated and supine positions. When the testing is complete for the day, I have a picture of the binding forces or lock patterns of the connective tissues in the skull, spine and pelvis. Once I understand this, I know the position in which I need to place your pelvis, head and neck and which positions in the nose need balloons as well as the number and kinds of balloons.

The treatment unlocks the binding pattern in the skeletal system (rather like creating an earthquake), and the body begins shifting its pattern of stabilization.

What happens when the balloons are inflated?

The endonasal balloons are inserted through the nostril into the top of the throat through one of the six passageways that are available. The inflating bulb is squeezed, pumping air into the balloon, and it puffs up in the nostril. As the air pressure in the balloon becomes greater, it presses outward against the bones inside the nose and upper throat. Eventually the pressure becomes great enough that the balloon forces its way into the top of the throat. At that instant the bony joints of the head are opened for a moment, and the tensions stored in the connective tissues are released. The bone structures of the head now shift.

What does depth of balloons mean?

When proprioceptive testing is completed for the day, some of the findings include a skull map. The positions of the skull that I have found important for treatment can be generalized as anterior (shallow), intermediate or posterior (deep). This is important for the choice of the shape of the inflating balloons. To reach a deeper joint in the head, thicker balloons (greater gauge) are required. Shallower depths are reached with thinner balloons. These variations will make the treatment feel different to the patient at the moment of inflation, but the changes felt after inflation will not differ.

Why is there a special massage before the balloons?

NCR is a therapy technique that changes the entire structural system, including the bones and muscles. By using NCR massage techniques, the general muscular structure can be changed to allow a simpler skeletal alignment pattern. However, the massage alone is not sufficient to create long-lasting changes, because massage treats only the muscles, and the balance pattern of the bones is the final factor in determining the chronic muscle tension and postural patterns.

The release of the muscles from their typical tension also releases tension inside the skull, spine and pelvis. This temporarily brings the bony structures closer to their ideal position, although in a manner that is inherently unstable. (Without appropriate bone movement, these changes are only temporary.) This means that NCR balloon treatment can be more effective and more comfortable because there is less mechanical resistance to movement of the bones toward their ideal position.

Why do you place my body in a special position during treatment?

Inside the skull and connecting through the spinal column and connecting with the pelvis is the meningeal system. It is comprised primarily of very strong and long, elastic connective tissue fibers. Eighty-five per cent of the meninges are found inside the skull. The remaining fifteen per cent surround the spinal cord and connect to the pelvis. The specialized bodily positions used during NCR place additional stress on the meningeal fibers from the pelvis through the spine and into the skull. This allows a greater and more complete shift of the entire system at the time the balloon is inflated.

In the past, NCR therapy was combined with mild adjustments of the spine and pelvis. When appropriate bodily positions are included with the balloon treatment, no other manipulations are needed. In fact, the need to include the spinal and pelvis adjustments was an indication of incomplete cranial therapy of the musculoskeletal system!

Is there anything I can do to accelerate my progress with NCR?

Yes. Active movements, if within a person's normal performance range, are helpful, especially balanced activities like walking or some kinds of swimming. It is important to stop exercising before much fatigue sets in.

If emotional tension and anxiety are prominent during a treatment series, then relaxant herbs and medications are very important.

If rapid progress is desired, treatment intervals should average less than twelve weeks but at least four weeks. This is the most efficient use of therapy. Some people, who lack the time for travel, are concentrating treatments into smaller time capsules and this works satisfactorily too. But these concentrated treatments create the potential for side effects from the changing structural patterns that are undetectable by the treating doctor that can lead to painful postural patterns, necessitating further treatment.

There has been a good treatment result with an experimental treatment protocol of twenty-four treatments in a month! In this situation, though, there was additional significant short-term side effects. There was great tenderness of the mucous membrane in the nose, and the following four to six weeks the patient's body was constantly changing, so he needed to be even more careful to avoid any traumatizing activities than any NeuroCranial Restructuring patient needs to be.

Is there anything that impedes my progress with NCR? What should I avoid?

Yes. Please avoid potentially traumatic activities and extremes in emotions or fatigue. Common daily activities can be harmful soon after receiving NCR treatment.

Any activity that stresses the muscles or bones in an unusual way can change the postural pattern, and before stability is achieved (after a treatment sequence) damage can occur. If you are not a furniture mover, don't begin moving furniture just after completing NCR. If you normally walk three miles daily, then walk three miles daily---don't decide to walk five miles because you're feeling so good.

If you're feeling good after receiving NCR, don't return to your therapist for massage or manipulation because it is your normal appointment time. (If their work were so great and effective, then you wouldn't have needed NCR.)

Massage, osseous manipulations, dental work, working or exercising to extreme limits, great fatigue or getting highly emotional can be detrimental to your NCR results. Please wait at least three weeks before beginning these sorts of activities. If you are still aware of movement going on, delay even longer. After stability is achieved, such activities will be no problem; there will be fewer difficulties in activity or mobility than there were before receiving the NCR.

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