What trauma would be induced from #3?

• A. Inferior vertical strain
• B. Right lateral strain
• C. Left sidebending rotation
• D. Left lateral strain

Answer: (C)

Trauma patterns in cranial osteopathy are read by the direction of the skull’s combined motions, not just a single displacement. A sidebending-rotation strain is a paired movement: the cranial bones bend to one side while rotating in the same direction. If the pattern shown is left sidebending-rotation, it means the mechanism produced a twist that leftwardly bends the cranial base and rotates the bones to the left. The most plausible trauma is a twisting or lateral impact that drives the head to rotate left and bend left, such as a force from the right side or a fall that causes the head to twist to the left. This produces the characteristic left-side bend with left rotation.

In contrast, an inferior vertical strain would show a vertical separation of the key cranial bones, while lateral strains describe pure side-to-side displacement without the accompanying twist. So the left sidebending-rotation pattern specifically points to a leftward twist injury, matching the described mechanism.