License #22440

​​​Valerie Ford, LMT CLT

Functional Manual Therapy at Stellaria

Why the specialty in treating people with Traumatic Brain Injury/Concussion?

A few years ago I was riding bicycles in a National Park with the guy in my life when he wrecked and acquired a TBI.  I started specialty trainings to help his recovery and realized how much was possible and how few people have the skill and training to do the work.  I’ve found that a combination of lymphatic treatments of the head and neck, and various light touch osteopathic treatments of the cranial bones and membranes, nerves, vasculature and even brain tissue has a big impact on his life and lives of my other patients with brain injuries. 

 Teaching you self manual lymph drainage of your own head is a part of every treatment plan.  Chronic conditions like a TBI need effective maintenance and I offer Brain Wash Wednesdays, a zoom group class on Wednesday evenings to help you keep on track with your lymphatic care for your brain.

And of course head injuries often are accompanied by body injuries, so treating the head injury is only a part of each session.   

 There is an interesting study that two of the institutes I studied with did with former NFL players after Ricky Williams found success in the treatments that combine cranial sacral work with visceral and neural manipulation work. See more about that here -http://www.upledger.org/what-we-do/concussion-program.php.