My Favorite Adjustment: The Sphenoid Special
Hello and welcome to my blog!
Last week I was able to share with you my favorite adjustment I have ever received as a patient. That life changing moment has propelled me forward in my career with a desire to better understand exactly what happened to me that day. How incredible that our brain and its healing capacity is linked to who we are as a person, our thoughts, emotions, and experiences! Every time I get to perform an adjustment on a patient I am blessed with the opportunity to learn about the human experience, about how our body lives, heals, and thrives. Unfortunately before I get to experience the healing process with a patient, we have to go over the disease processes; how did the body become dysregulated, diseased, or deformed? Today I wanted to take the time to share my favorite adjustment to perform as a doctor. When a patient comes to my office and tells me “Everything is broken” or “Everything hurts and no one can find anything wrong with me!”, I realize the best place to start is with the brain. The brain controls every organ, every muscle, every tissue, every thought and sensation in our body. Logic says that if everything “feels broken” but there seems to be no cause for these disease processes, then maybe the thing that CONTROLS everything is broken. So let’s start with the keystone of the brain and body; the sphenoid bone.
So what is the sphenoid? It is a bone in the center of the skull that forms the base of the cranium and it adds strength and stability to the skull (Jamil, 2022). Everyone has a different shaped sphenoid and it is one of the most complex bones for anatomists to study (Costea, 2018). Your brain is nestled in this area and has a lot of important neurovascular structures that pass through the sphenoid. I tell my patients during their exam that I will be testing cranial nerves. These nerves are so important, they do NOT go through the spinal column, but instead exit the brain and innervate tissue directly. These nerves control basically all our organ function and our senses; sight and eye movements, smell, hearing, taste, swallowing and speech, as well as equilibrium. We only have twelve pairs of these incredibly important nerves, and five of them (as well as two branches of cranial nerve V) exit through the sphenoid (Jamil, 2022). I find that patients who struggle with speech impediments, dry mouth, grinding of the teeth, TMJ, difficulty swallowing, ringing in the eyes, issues with vision, sinus issues, and vagus nerve dysregulation all have sphenoid misalignments. Any correlation? My patients who have received sphenoid adjustments and have relief from these symptoms seem to think so! Actually, evidence shows that sphenoid misalignments can cause headaches and migraines, depression and anxiety, memory problems, brain dysfunction, learning disabilities such as dyslexia, bed wetting and nightmares, dental malocclusion, eye pain, strabismus, droopy eye, balance issues, problems with suckling, asthma, sinusitis, neck and lower back problems and scoliosis (Kita 2013).
Is that all the sphenoid does? HECK NO! The sphenoid is also part of the sphenobasilar junction and aids in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) movement through the brain's cisterns, ventricles, and spinal cord. The CSF is responsible for moving waste products out of the brain and bringing nutrition into the brain as well as cushioning the brain when the body experiences concussive forces. It also “maintains the electrolytic environment of the central nervous system (CNS), influences systemic acid-base balance, allows the supply of nutrients to neuronal and glial cells, functions as a lymphatic system for the CNS by removing waste products of cellular metabolism, and transports hormones, neurotransmitters, releasing factors, and other neuropeptides” (Whedon, 2009). My patients who have a sphenoid misalignment usually complain about mood dysregulation, foggy thinking, memory issues, and lethargy. These symptoms are also similar to what one would experience when having a concussion. Coincidence? Again, I think not. A lot of my patients test positive for cranial misalignments after sustaining a concussion, even if the concussion occurred several years prior. One of the things I focus on when adjusting the sphenoid is the CSF flow pulse and it will often be weak or absent on the side where the sphenoid has misaligned. Things that can cause the sphenoid to misalign and reduce CSF flow include childhood trauma (including birth), sports injuries, falls, extreme emotional distress, and accidents. Proven ways to improve CSF flow include “Cranial manipulation, craniosacral therapy, chiropractic adjustment of the spine and cranium, Network Care (formerly Network Chiropractic), massage therapy (including lymphatic drainage techniques), yoga, and therapeutic breathwork” (Whedon, 2009). When the CSF flow is maintained, the brain experiences less foggy thoughts, less ADHD symptoms, less moodiness, and less lethargy!
Want to know what else this bone influences? Your circadian rhythm (sleep pattern), your growth and development patterns (such as puberty), and your pituitary gland (your master hormone gland). Patients who tell me they have issues sleeping, staying asleep, or getting restful sleep often have a misaligned sphenoid! People with hormone balance issues, difficulty getting pregnant, hormonal acne, low testosterone, or thyroid dysfunction often have a sphenoid misalignment as well. When I have a patient who is trying to get pregnant I adjust the sphenoid. When I have a patient who has thyroid issues I adjust the sphenoid. Patients with gut issues I also adjust the sphenoid. At this point, I really should adjust or evaluate the sphenoid on everyone shouldn’t I?
Okay, so how do I adjust the sphenoid? This adjustment was taught to me by Dr. Jeanie Ohm during my Webster’s certification course for pregnancy. By gently placing my thumbs (or pinkies when it comes to small children) into the ear I am able to trigger a baroreceptor reflex and palpate the CSF and arterial pulses in the cranium. During this adjustment every heartbeat you have and every deep breath you take moves and oscillates the sphenoid until it is in a normal juxtaposition. I very rarely need to move my fingers during this adjustment and many patients feel like I am moving my thumbs, or they feel a fluid pulse, or sometimes they feel like their whole body is rocking “like I’m on a boat”. Every once in a while I have a patient who hears audible clicks in the cranium when the sphenoid moves! Sometimes these movements are delayed, but eventually your body takes the hint and the sphenoid adjusts to a position that is better for your structure and function.
There are some caveats to adjusting the sphenoid because it is also intimately related to our limbic system and hypothalamus. What this means is this adjustment can trigger emotional releases to past traumas, current stressors, or it can just be a release of emotion in general. I have had some patients call me later that day and ask, “Is it normal to go home and cry for 3 hours”? The answer is yes and no. No, people do not normally have that reaction, but if you are someone who ignores stress until it almost kills you, or if you like to ignore any bad thing that has happened to you and try to live life in denial, well the sphenoid adjustment might not be right for you yet. I always suggest for my patients to manage with a therapist or at least have a support system in place in case they struggle with PTSD, have a history of domestic violence, or if they have depression, anxiety, bipolar, ADHD, Autism, or thoughts of suicide or self-harm. For our body to heal, we have to include physical and mental healing in that process. I think the sphenoid can be a great tool for opening up your “rest and digest” part of your nervous system and to access a state of being where your mind AND your body can heal.
Curious about what this adjustment could do for you? Me too! Since so many of us have variability in this structure, and all of our bodies are unique, I never know how the adjustment will manifest. Some people never have Ulcerative Colitis symptoms again. Some people never have migraines again. Some people feel like themselves for the first time in a LONG time. I even had a patient who complained after this adjustment that he had his first brain freeze since he can feel the roof of his mouth now! In the future I am looking to study some of these responses and write case studies for publishing in academic journals, that way everyone can hear about the sphenoid special!
Feel well and do good,
ADIO
Dr. Tabetha Super
Jamil RT, Callahan AL. Anatomy, Sphenoid Bone. [Updated 2021 Jul 29]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK544308/
Costea, C., Turliuc, S., Cucu, A. et al. The “polymorphous” history of a polymorphous skull bone: the sphenoid . Anat Sci Int 93, 14–22 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12565-017-0399-5
Kita, Kevin. December 4, 2013. (2013, December 10). The most important bone in the body? Dr. Kevin Kita. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://drkevinkita.com/important-bone-body/#:~:text=Some%20of%20the%20most%20likely,placement%20of%20the%20sphenoid%20bone.
Whedon, J. M., & Glassey, D. (2009). Cerebrospinal fluid stasis and its clinical significance. Alternative therapies in health and medicine, 15(3), 54–60.