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Multiple Sclerosis (MS): New Ideas Worth Considering

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex disease, and no two people experience it in exactly the same way. Symptoms, severity, and disease course vary greatly.

Clinicians recognise four main types of MS:

  1. Clinically Isolated Syndrome (CIS) – a first single episode of neurological symptoms.

  2. Relapsing–Remitting MS (RRMS) – the most common form, marked by flare-ups (relapses) followed by periods of remission.

  3. Secondary Progressive MS (SPMS) – often develops after RRMS, with symptoms gradually worsening over time.

  4. Primary Progressive MS (PPMS) – a steady progression of disability from the start, without clear relapses or remissions.

Two Common Themes in MS

Although every person’s MS journey is unique, two patterns often emerge in clinical experience:

  1. Hypermobility – Many MS sufferers appear to have very flexible joints and connective tissues.

  2. Stress-related relapses – MS flare-ups often follow periods of extreme psychological or physical stress.

Why Might This Be the Case?

MS is now understood as an autoimmune disease, in which the body’s own immune system mistakenly attacks the central nervous system. This process is driven by an inflammatory cycle.

  • Historically, MS was thought to occur mainly in people born at higher latitudes, with lower rates near the equator – suggesting vitamin D and sunlight as protective factors (Simpson et al., 2019).

  • Today, the consensus is that MS involves both genetic susceptibility and environmental triggers, including stress, infections, and early-life trauma (Lassmann, 2018).

  • Importantly, stress and unresolved trauma can amplify inflammatory pathways through over-activation of the autonomic nervous system (Black & Garbutt, 2002; Danese & Lewis, 2017).

This means that past emotional trauma may continue to fuel the inflammatory cycle that underpins MS, increasing the likelihood or severity of symptom expression.

Can Manual Therapy Help?

Manual therapy cannot “treat” MS directly. However, it may provide benefit by reducing autonomic nervous system hyper-reactivity. Since the autonomic system strongly influences inflammatory processes, creating states of deep relaxation may help “dial down” the intensity of the immune response (Chrousos, 2009).

In practice, this involves evoking powerful parasympathetic states – for example, using the mammalian dive reflex, a reflex that all humans retain. This reflex is triggered by water contact and is known to promote parasympathetic dominance (Panneton, 2013). In therapy, water or copper pads may be placed near the head and sacrum, combined with gentle craniosacral techniques, to encourage this response.

What Does Treatment Involve?

  • The client is asked to focus on past traumatic events that still evoke tension or upset.

  • Treatment only proceeds if the person is clear and confident that they wish to reduce the emotional and physical “hold” of these memories. Ambivalence can prevent change.

  • Pads of water or copper are applied, and gentle manual pressure is used to encourage tissue release while the memory is recalled.

  • Typically, the immediate outcome is a sense of looseness, relaxation, and tiredness.

What Might Happen to My MS?

The effect on MS itself cannot be predicted for each individual. However, if the treatment reduces the inflammatory drive behind the disease, the “power” of symptom expression may lessen over time. While this is not a cure, it may support better day-to-day function and resilience. If the inflammatory cycle is reduced or inhibited, then the autoimmune condition, which is driven by the inflammatory cycle,  the condition could  be slowed, inhibited or arrested. The slowing of the “kindling” to the next attack is likely to be viewed as a welcome outcome.

References

  • Black, P. H., & Garbutt, L. D. (2002). Stress, inflammation and cardiovascular disease. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 52(1), 1–23.

  • Chrousos, G. P. (2009). Stress and disorders of the stress system. Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 5(7), 374–381.

  • Danese, A., & Lewis, S. J. (2017). Psychoneuroimmunology of early-life stress: The hidden wounds of childhood trauma? Neuropsychopharmacology, 42(1), 99–114.

  • Lassmann, H. (2018). Multiple sclerosis pathology. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine, 8(3), a028936.

  • Panneton, W. M. (2013). The mammalian diving response: An enigmatic reflex to preserve life? Physiology, 28(5), 284–297.

  • Simpson, S. Jr., Blizzard, L., Otahal, P., Van der Mei, I., & Taylor, B. (2019). Latitude is significantly associated with the prevalence of multiple sclerosis: A meta-analysis. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 90(12), 1322–1330.

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