Gathering place for osteopaths
Sympathetic tone...is it the route of all evil?
Hi, just wondered if any of you agree that sympathetic tone seems to be the route of all evil as is the case in my practice? Also, if this is the case, I'd love to hear any weird, wonderful or simple suggestions as to how to reduce or rebalance it please? Happy new year to all!
Ben Court
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rikamortis on
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Hi Ben long time no see...
Not quite sure what u mean by sympathetic
Tone as the route of all evil I thought it was
Responsible for maintaining arteriolar calibre
And without it you would die of circulatory shock!
If your talking about damage to sympathetic
Nerves which is responsible for CRPS then fair
Enough although it's pretty rare.
I think I know what your getting at but your
going to have to expand a wee bit please.
All the best Rik
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Permalink Reply by Small Fry on -
We all know people who can't relax, even when there is nothing to be tense about, who over-react to situations, or who refuse to take a break even when everyone sees their activity level is harming them. Raised sympathetic tone causes a shift of priorities - blood is diverted away from vegetative functions, the whole physiology shifts towards survival now. Absorbtion and elimination are reduced, perception, planning and learning are surely altered too, and crucially, tissue regeneration. So recovery is slowed or halted. None of this is evil as such, it is an important survival effect. But when excessive or sustained, the effect is the accumulation of unfinished repair work and immunity, ie chronic disease. Some of this is maintained by the posture - an inefficient posture full of stresses and strains demands energy, muscle action etc above what should be needed, and a diversion of resources to meet that need. Even if you your only source of stress is staying up 'til midnight thanks to electric lighting, instead of being asleep by 7pm, how can that not influence every cell the body in some way, big or small? I wouldn't say it is the root (sic) by the way, of all evil, but it is an important part of the pattern.
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Sorry SF I was being pedantic as a physiologist
the term "sympathetic tone" has a specific
definition and is important for a specific physiological
purpose. You understand the basic physiology
and I agree with you that although it is part of
the pattern it's not the route of all evil. However
you stop short of offering anything constructive.
I think Dr J holds the key to this one so if I were
you Ben I'd get your tomahawk out and start doing
your shaman dance! Or alternatively read anything
by John Sarno, the answers your looking for
might be in there.
All the best mate
Small Fry said:We all know people who can't relax, even when there is nothing to be tense about, who over-react to situations, or who refuse to take a break even when everyone sees their activity level is harming them. Raised sympathetic tone causes a shift of priorities - blood is diverted away from vegetative functions, the whole physiology shifts towards survival now. Absorbtion and elimination are reduced, perception, planning and learning are surely altered too, and crucially, tissue regeneration. So recovery is slowed or halted. None of this is evil as such, it is an important survival effect. But when excessive or sustained, the effect is the accumulation of unfinished repair work and immunity, ie chronic disease. Some of this is maintained by the posture - an inefficient posture full of stresses and strains demands energy, muscle action etc above what should be needed, and a diversion of resources to meet that need. Even if you your only source of stress is staying up 'til midnight thanks to electric lighting, instead of being asleep by 7pm, how can that not influence every cell the body in some way, big or small? I wouldn't say it is the root (sic) by the way, of all evil, but it is an important part of the pattern.
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Permalink Reply by Small Fry on
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I answered the question, I just thought it was obvious. If there's another layer to this or a private joke please let me in on it.
Rik Fulton said: You understand the basic physiology
and I agree with you that although it is part of
the pattern it's not the route of all evil. However
you stop short of offering anything constructive.
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Permalink Reply by Small Fry on
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Okay, Rik, sorry - just re-read the original question and there is a second half. Deal with the causal and maintaining factors would be my suggestion, then allow time and space for recovery.
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Permalink Reply by Osteocourt on -
Thanks Rik (good to hear from you too, hows tricks?) and Small fry for your comments, its fascinating to hear your views and yes you were right to go beyond the physiology of the SNS as this was what I was trying to learn more about, i.e. if we can address the physical strain patterns in our patients by reducing the sympathetic load first then will we achieve a better result, not withstanding the fact that the patients sympathetic system may well be chronically alert on a fight or flight pathway and that we and them will in most cases be unable to remove these at least in the short term? I've heard of some practitioners stimulating the five senses all at teh same time to produce a massive sympathetic load only to then acheive a reflex parasympathetic rebalance, others use bioelectric fields and grounding, some IVM specifically CV4, classical osteopaths lateralise the dorsal erector spinae to achieve etc, it is a minefield to choose which approach might yeild the best CNS rebalance, but before I go down this path I would like to know that the question is worth answering and hence my post on SM (sacral musings!)......
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Permalink Reply by Small Fry on
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Well it goes the other way also, reducing physical stress reduces workload on postural structures (among other things), and therefore lowering of sympathetic tone is a possible consequence. We won't get very far either without giving credence to the many forms of environmental stress also. I would never seek to lower sympathetic tone directly, just as I tend not to seek to alter any specific outcome. Just treat what is there and let nature take its course. What unfolds afterwards is another matter, and it's not possible to cover that in detail here.
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Apologies guys John Samo who the hell is he!!
bloody predictive text.
Have a look for John SARNO MD!!
His books are really cheap and worth a read.
Let me know what u think.
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community teamPermalink Reply by Kiran on -
Ooh, Rik do you have and of his (Sarno's) book? Any chance you could do a short review of any of them?
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Permalink Reply by OsteopathyNY on -
Treating the autonomic nervous system is incredibly important beyond sympathetic tone. However, an up-regulated sympathetic nervous system commonly a result of our constant stress, plays an important role in facilitating the dural membranes and can have a profound influence throughout the body. If you do not properly treat the trigeminal nerve, you will have difficulty balancing the autonomic nervous system. The fastest and most profound way of influencing all these structures that I have found is a treatment aimed at down-regulating the autonomic nervous system and in turn the dura. It is called Primal Reflex Release Technique (www.theprrt.com) it is incredibly fast and incredibly powerful. It changed my practice and I highly recommend it.
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Permalink Reply by indikate on -
Hi Osteocourt
I find that high sympathetic tone is an effect rather than the root of a problem. To my imagination in the tissues it feels like a buzzing at about 20 - 30 Hz. I always like to assess this particularly in children who are presenting with behavioural concerns, but with the awareness that this phenomenon is likely to be activated due to the visit. I find that this abberant pattern often self "corrects" during the ttt without any direct intervention on particular structures but I am very interested to hear that others find a direct approach to be effective.
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