The meninges are a protective sheath that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. There are three layers and they run from the inside of your skull and attach at your tail-bone.
You may have heard of the meninges because of meningitis which is an acute inflammation of the tissue, most commonly by bacteria or viruses, but what I am talking about is a very different process but involving the same structure.
There was a remarkable neurosurgeon called Shokei Yamada, who passed away in 2017 at the age of 91, leaving behind a remarkable career. I came across him through his work on what he called 'Adult Tethered Cord Syndrome' (TCS).
Tethering of the spinal cord is probably pretty much as you would imagine, it is the fixation and stretching of the spinal cord by inelastic structures, such as a fibrous adhesions at the very end of the spinal cord (filum terminale), tumours, bony growths, spina bifida, or most commonly scar tissue formation. Any of these processes will result in the restriction of movement and the pulling and stretching on your nerves and brain stem (imagine tucking your shirt in really tightly, holding it in place and feel how much it limits your movements).
The serious causes are rare but what is more common, and likely to affect many of us to a certain degree, is the formation of scar tissue in 3 places; between the layers of the meninges themselves, the meninges and the bones of the spinal column, and the meninges and the spinal cord.
Both these images are of the same spine, the one on the left an x-ray, the one on the right is a dissection. The arrows on the right hand image show where there is scar tissue and tethering that is not visible on x-ray. If you base your findings and treatment solely on x-ray, then you will likely be missing a significant part of the individuals clinical picture.
The reason why this is so common is that the scar tissue gets laid down when we are in a less than ideal posture for stretches of time (sitting at a desk, head stuck forwards on our phones, sleeping on too soft or poor quality mattresses, hunched up because of stress etc), and traumas, falls and accidents. I would hazard a guess and say that is most of us. Over time the body will lay down more scar tissue, alter the spinal biomechanics to compensate, and repeat the process until it cannot compensate any further and symptoms will arise. The scar tissue is therefore both a cause and an effect of faulty spinal motion and positioning.
So what did Dr Yamada discover?
Amongst other things he recorded changes in oxidative metabolism. Neurons (nerve cells) need energy to function, and through the stretching of the spinal cord, there was a significantly reduced amount of energy produced by a specific process called oxidative phosphorylation.
This is huge.
When there is stretching of the spinal cord because of scar tissue, this may often be the underlying cause of low back pain, nerve pain, sensory changes, scoliosis, muscle weakness, foot deformities, gait difficulties, muscle atrophy and various other symptoms.
Dr Yamada's intervention involved making a surgical incision of the meninges at the base of the spine in order to decrease the tension.
This proved to be incredibly effective. Low back and leg pain improved dramatically, motor and sensory changes improved, as did foot deformities, and incontinence.
A second neurosurgeon, Alf Breig also did extensive research in the field of biomechanics behind neural tension and the impact that has on the central nervous system. The major factor that increased tension was head flexion (ie 'text neck'), which we all do for an inordinate amount of time. His surgical intervention therefore, was to surgically attach a ribbon from the base of the skull to the upper back so his patients were physically unable to bend their head forwards. Similar to Yamada's surgeries, significant improvements were made in pain and neurological symptoms.
These operations proved the significance of the meninges in structural problems, and the profound effects of creating more slack in the system, but they also involved surgical processes. So the question arises, is that the only way that these issues can be dealt with?
Luckily, no.
Within Advanced Biostructural Correction (ABC), there are specific manoeuvres designed to deal with the scar tissue and adhesions, without having to go under the knife. These manoeuvres known as meningeal releases, over time, free up movement of the spine in order to unwind the body that has been so twisted up over many years. This in turn allows the neurological and energetic pathways of the body to flow unimpeded.
Leaving meningeal adhesions unaddressed is a key reason why in many techniques, bodies are not consistently fixed. It is like if you listen to music but don't untangle your headphone cable, your head will be in a pretty uncomfortable position if your phone is in your pocket.
My intention, and the intention of ABC, is based on the idea that the human body has a remarkable capacity to heal, far beyond what we can possibly appreciate and in ways that we don't fully understand. It is always striving to work at it's best, but there are limits as to what it can do. What we do with this work is to do what the body is struggling to do for itself through 2 major methodologies:
- Meningeal releases
- Specific corrections to stuck or misaligned areas within the spine
We aim to take the metaphorical straight jacket off so that your body can move, heal and function as it was designed to.
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