Comparison between CV4 and EV4 - Osteopathic Research

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4.2.1 CV4-technique = Compression of the fourth ventricle
Position of the hands:
• the underarms are lying on the bed
• hands are resting in each other
• the thenar eminences and thumbs parallel
and pointing in caudal direction.
• the thenar eminences are located on the
lateral angle of the occipital bone.
fig. 12
CV4
Performance:
In the cranial extension phase, the intent is to follow the shrinking of the occiput
and to somewhat press together its anguli laterales. In the cranial flexion phase,
the intent is to hinder the anguli’s branching out laterally by using minimal
compression whereby care must be taken not to block the cranial rhythm.
Movement amplitude gets smaller whereby the flexion and extension movement
comes to a stop after several cycles. This is called the “stillpoint” and can last
from a few seconds to several minutes while hands remain on the occiput.
At the end of the stillpoint, the practitioner feels a strong expansion force in the
form of pressure on the balls of the thumbs which he passively observes. These
cranial expiration and inspiration movements are observed for a few cycles to
once again judge the quality of the cranial rhythm.
Margit Grill / 2006