It feels like asymmetry. One side is moving and the other side is not doing anything.
That is the finding. Feeling that asymmetry is the most important step, and it is the one most doctors never get to. Once you feel it, you have identified the issue.
Four questions at every contact
Symmetry. Quality. Amplitude. Rate.
At each contact, ask which one is not like the others. In an infant, one of them should clearly not be working like the others.
That does not make it the primary pattern. It tells you where to start asking why, and to keep asking why until you get to the base of the restriction.
What you feel first is rarely the whole story
If one area of the cranium is involved, every area is involved. The dura is continuous. The brain reduces input from the problem area by creating restriction somewhere else, so you are always feeling a primary pattern plus compensation.
So start at the sphenobasilar hold. Decide which side is not moving, occiput side or sphenoid side, and ask whether it is primary or compensating. After a correction, go back to the beginning and recheck: occiput, sphenoid, temporal, parietal, frontal, maxilla. The next primary can show up anywhere in that order.
Hands first, eyes second
Facial asymmetry, ear height, head tilt and head shape measurements all matter. They give you a map. In an adult, though, what you see is years of compensation, and it will not tell you what to do this second.
Your hands will. “I can feel right off the bat that the left temporal isn’t moving.” Then you use the other indicators to confirm it.
Monday
Put your hands on before you look. The cranial handholds you finish with are where you learn, with very light pressure, how the cranium is actually moving. Run SQAR at every contact, name the parameter that stands out, and confirm with your indicators.
If you are not sure what you are feeling is real, that is normal. It is absolutely trainable.
Heard on the podcast: Stop Guessing. Start Feeling. Start Fixing.