CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT01822236Updated Mar 25, 2015

Craniosacral Therapy to Treat Chronic Low Back Pain

An interventional study of Craniosacral Therapy Program and One technique of craniosacral therapy in Low Back Pain, sponsored by Universidad de Almeria. Completed at 1 site in Spain. Open to participants aged 25 Years to 60 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2015-03-25.

Sponsored by Universidad de Almeria · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
70
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
25 Years to 60 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a craniosacral therapy program are effective on disability, quality of life, autonomic nervous system and oxidative stress indicators in patients with chronic low back pain.

Read the detailed description

Design: Randomized clinical trial. Objective: to determine the effectiveness of a craniosacral therapy program on disability, quality of life, autonomic nervous system, body mass, hormonal indicators, spinal projection, and oxidative stress indicators in patients with chronic low back pain.

Participants: Seventy patients with chronic non-specific low back pain will be randomly assigned to an experimental and control group.

Intervention: For 10-week, the experimental group will undergo treatment comprising 10 sessions (1/week) of a craniosacral therapy program with ten techniques, and the control group will receive only one craniosacral technique.

Main Outcome Measures: disability, quality of life, biochemical estimation interstitial fluid, body mass indicators, hormonal indicators, indicators of autonomic nervous system,and indicators of oxidative stress will be collected in both groups at baseline, 10 weeks and 15 weeks after the last intervention in the experimental and control groups, by an assessor blinded to the treatment allocation of the patients. Baseline demographic and clinical variables will be examined between both groups with an independent Student t-test for continuous data. Separate 2x3 model ANOVA with time (baseline, 10 weeks and 15 weeks) as the within-subjects factor, group (experimental, control) will be to determine the effects of the treatment.

02

Conditions studied

  • Low Back Pain

Keywords

  • low back pain
  • Manual Therapy
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Quality of life
03

In context

Back Pain

2,373 studies on the registry are indexed under Back Pain; 284 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 70 is above the median of 60 across 1,941 interventional studies indexed under Back Pain.

Browse Back Pain studies →

Lead sponsor

Universidad de Almeria is the lead sponsor of 71 studies on the registry; 11 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
25 Years to 60 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Low back pain for > 3 months
  • Score > 4 on the Roland Morris Disability questionnaire
  • No undergoing another physical therapy treatment

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Clinical signs of radiculopathy
  • Presence of lumbar stenosis
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Spondylolisthesis
  • History of spinal surgery
  • Treatment with corticosteroids in the past two weeks
  • Disease of the central or peripheral nervous system
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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
Double (Participant, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
70 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Craniosacral Therapy Program

    A program of 10 craniosacral therapy techniques

    Other: Craniosacral Therapy Program

  • Active comparator
    One technique of craniosacral therapy

    Decompression L5-S1.

    Other: One technique of craniosacral therapy

Interventions

  • OtherCraniosacral Therapy Program

    The ten techniques of craniosacral therapy program are: Still Point (CV-4, Sacred Feet), diaphragms(pelvic, respiratory, thoracic inlet, hyoid, Occipital Cranial Base), Decompression L5-S1, Dural Tube Glide, Lift Front, Parietal Lift, Compression / decompression of the joint sphenobasilar, Temporary Technique, Compression / decompression of the temporomandibular joints, and Still Point CV-4.

  • OtherOne technique of craniosacral therapy

    Decompression L5-S1: lumbosacral decompression

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change for the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire

    The Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire is a self-administered disability measurement scored on a 24-point scale from 0 = no disability to 24 = severe disability

    Time frame: At baseline, 10 weeks and 15 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change for the Lifestyle indicators

    Estimation interstitial fluid biochemistry and measure the following indicators: body mass, hormonal, autonomic nervous system and oxidative stress.

    Time frame: At baseline, 10 weeks and 15 weeks

  2. Change on Neural Network Analysis

    Analysis of the projection on the spine and segmental innervation projection

    Time frame: At baseline, 10 weeks and 15 weeks

  3. Change on Quality of Life

    SF-36 Health questionnaire scores range from 0 to 100% and indicate the self-perceived health-related quality of life

    Time frame: At baseline, 10 weeks and 15 weeks

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Universidad de Almeria
    Almeria, 04120, Spain
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Arnadottir TS, Sigurdardottir AK. Is craniosacral therapy effective for migraine? Tested with HIT-6 Questionnaire. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2013 Feb;19(1):11-4. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2012.09.003. Epub 2012 Nov 9. PubMed 23337558 ↗
  • Jakel A, von Hauenschild P. A systematic review to evaluate the clinical benefits of craniosacral therapy. Complement Ther Med. 2012 Dec;20(6):456-65. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2012.07.009. Epub 2012 Aug 22. PubMed 23131379 ↗
  • Curtis P, Gaylord SA, Park J, Faurot KR, Coble R, Suchindran C, Coeytaux RR, Wilkinson L, Mann JD. Credibility of low-strength static magnet therapy as an attention control intervention for a randomized controlled study of CranioSacral therapy for migraine headaches. J Altern Complement Med. 2011 Aug;17(8):711-21. doi: 10.1089/acm.2010.0277. Epub 2011 Jul 6. PubMed 21732734 ↗
  • Harrison RE, Page JS. Multipractitioner Upledger CranioSacral Therapy: descriptive outcome study 2007-2008. J Altern Complement Med. 2011 Jan;17(1):13-7. doi: 10.1089/acm.2009.0644. Epub 2011 Jan 9. PubMed 21214395 ↗
  • Castro-Sanchez AM, Mataran-Penarrocha GA, Sanchez-Labraca N, Quesada-Rubio JM, Granero-Molina J, Moreno-Lorenzo C. A randomized controlled trial investigating the effects of craniosacral therapy on pain and heart rate variability in fibromyalgia patients. Clin Rehabil. 2011 Jan;25(1):25-35. doi: 10.1177/0269215510375909. Epub 2010 Aug 11. PubMed 20702514 ↗
  • Elden H, Ostgaard HC, Glantz A, Marciniak P, Linner AC, Olsen MF. Effects of craniosacral therapy as adjunct to standard treatment for pelvic girdle pain in pregnant women: a multicenter, single blind, randomized controlled trial. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2013 Jul;92(7):775-82. doi: 10.1111/aogs.12096. Epub 2013 Mar 4. PubMed 23369067 ↗
  • Gillespie BR. Case study in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: the corrective aspect of craniosacral fascial therapy. Explore (NY). 2009 Sep-Oct;5(5):296-8. doi: 10.1016/j.explore.2009.06.003. No abstract available. PubMed 19733816 ↗
  • Mataran-Penarrocha GA, Castro-Sanchez AM, Garcia GC, Moreno-Lorenzo C, Carreno TP, Zafra MD. Influence of craniosacral therapy on anxiety, depression and quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2011;2011:178769. doi: 10.1093/ecam/nep125. Epub 2011 Jun 15. PubMed 19729492 ↗
  • Holla M, Ijland MM, van der Vliet AM, Edwards M, Verlaat CW. [Death of an infant following 'craniosacral' manipulation of the neck and spine]. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2009 Apr 25;153(17):828-31. Dutch. PubMed 19469218 ↗
  • Mann JD, Faurot KR, Wilkinson L, Curtis P, Coeytaux RR, Suchindran C, Gaylord SA. Craniosacral therapy for migraine: protocol development for an exploratory controlled clinical trial. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2008 Jun 9;8:28. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-8-28. PubMed 18541041 ↗
  • Gerdner LA, Hart LK, Zimmerman MB. Craniosacral still point technique: exploring its effects in individuals with dementia. J Gerontol Nurs. 2008 Mar;34(3):36-45. doi: 10.3928/00989134-20080301-04. PubMed 18350746 ↗
  • McManus V, Gliksten M. The use of CranioSacral therapy in a physically impaired population in a disability service in southern Ireland. J Altern Complement Med. 2007 Nov;13(9):929-30. doi: 10.1089/acm.2007.0521. No abstract available. PubMed 18047438 ↗
  • Downey PA, Barbano T, Kapur-Wadhwa R, Sciote JJ, Siegel MI, Mooney MP. Craniosacral therapy: the effects of cranial manipulation on intracranial pressure and cranial bone movement. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2006 Nov;36(11):845-53. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2006.36.11.845. PubMed 17154138 ↗
  • Flynn TW, Cleland JA, Schaible P. Craniosacral therapy and professional responsibility. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2006 Nov;36(11):834-6. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2006.0112. No abstract available. PubMed 17154136 ↗
  • Bergkvist H. [A reflection over craniosacral therapy]. Ugeskr Laeger. 2005 Oct 3;167(40):3801-2. No abstract available. Danish. PubMed 16221407 ↗
  • Maher CG. Effective physical treatment for chronic low back pain. Orthop Clin North Am. 2004 Jan;35(1):57-64. doi: 10.1016/S0030-5898(03)00088-9. PubMed 15062718 ↗
  • Moran RW, Gibbons P. Intraexaminer and interexaminer reliability for palpation of the cranial rhythmic impulse at the head and sacrum. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2001 Mar-Apr;24(3):183-90. PubMed 11313614 ↗
  • Green C, Martin CW, Bassett K, Kazanjian A. A systematic review of craniosacral therapy: biological plausibility, assessment reliability and clinical effectiveness. Complement Ther Med. 1999 Dec;7(4):201-7. doi: 10.1016/s0965-2299(99)80002-8. PubMed 10709302 ↗
  • Upledger JE. Craniosacral therapy. Phys Ther. 1995 Apr;75(4):328-30. doi: 10.1093/ptj/75.4.328. No abstract available. PubMed 7899490 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Mar 25, 2015, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01822236
Lead sponsor
Universidad de Almeria
Collaborators
Universidad de Granada
Responsible party
Adelaida María Castro-Sánchez (PhD (Lecturer), Universidad de Almeria) — Principal investigator
First posted
Apr 2, 2013
Start date
Apr 2013
Primary completion
Dec 2013
Completion
Dec 2013
Last update
Mar 25, 2015

Study contacts

Adelaida Castro-Sánchez, PhD
study director · Universidad de Almeria

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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