Due to the connections of the dura mater (your brain and spinal cord’s very own version of saran wrap) to the opening at the base of the skull and the top two bones of the spine, when primary structural shift is present, normal blood flow and cerebrospinal fluid flow are hindered. This in turn interferes with the normal flexion and extension of the sphenoid bone when we inhale and exhale. Because correcting primary structural shift does not happen in one adjustment, but rather over the course of your initial phase of care, by retraining your muscles to support the top vertebra’s normal position, applying gentle corrective pressure to the bones of the skull can help aid in restoring normal motion of the sphenoid bone. Because we can not access the sphenoid bone directly, we place gentle pressure on contact points throughout the skull in order to affect the other bones that form joints with the sphenoid. In doing this after adjusting the primary structural shift, the ultimate goal is to restore normal movement of the sphenoid bone and allow normal function to take place, including normal blood flow and cerebrospinal fluid flow throughout the central nervous system.