Can Craniosacral Therapy Help Headaches? A Nervous System Fix
Headaches are exhausting.
They interrupt your work.
They make it hard to think clearly.
They affect your mood.
And over time, they can create anxiety just waiting for the next one to hit.
If you’re thinking of trying craniosacral therapy at Mindful Living Chiropractic and Acupuncture, here’s some research to help you decide. A 2023 study looked at whether craniosacral therapy could reduce headache symptoms. In simple terms, here’s what they found.
What Did the Study Do?
People who experienced headaches received several sessions of craniosacral therapy.
Researchers measured:
How often headaches happened
How severe they were
How much they interfered with daily life
Anxiety levels
They compared scores before treatment and after treatment.
What Happened?
Fewer Headaches
After treatment, people were having headaches less often.
This change was statistically significant, meaning it was very unlikely to be random. ✅ That’s important!
Headaches Were Less Disruptive
Researchers used something called the HIT-6 scale. It measures how much headaches interfere with things like:
Work
Focus
Energy
Mood
After craniosacral therapy, scores improved by about 6–13 points.
That equals roughly a 15–30% reduction in how much headaches were affecting daily life.
So not only were people having fewer headaches, the headaches they did have weren’t taking over their lives the same way.
Anxiety Improved Too
Chronic headaches don’t just hurt physically. They can create stress and anxiety.
The study also showed:
Less disability from headaches
Less anxiety overall
That’s important. Pain and stress feed each other. When one improves, the other often does too.
What This Means
After several sessions of craniosacral therapy, participants experienced about a 20–30% overall reduction in headache burden.
That’s meaningful. 💫✨
It doesn’t mean headaches magically disappear.
But it does suggest that gentle, nervous-system-focused care can make a real difference.
Why This Makes Sense
Craniosacral therapy works with the nervous system.
Headaches are often tied to:
Tension patterns
Stress responses
Nervous system overload
When the body feels safer and more regulated, symptoms often soften.
This study supports what our practitioners see clinically: When we calm the system, pain patterns can shift. 🌻
If headaches are something you live with, know that there are options beyond just pushing through or relying solely on medication.
Your nervous system is not broken.
It may just need support.
Click here to set up an appointment for craniosacral therapy with our experienced practitioners at Mindful Living. Experience the relief yourself!
