What is Osteopathy?
Osteopathy Manual Practice is a hands-on approach that diagnoses and treats body dysfunction to promote health. It is a unique approach and a philosophy of health, which considers the body as a whole and which uses the hands as a tool for diagnosis and treatment. The strength of osteopathy is its focus on the root cause of symptoms.
How does Osteopathy work?
Osteopathic manual practitioners focus on hands-on, manual therapy, using a variety of techniques and approaches. These include:
Structural techniques, which aim to improve joint mobility, muscle relaxation and flexibility, and the smooth gliding of fascia.
Gentle mobilizations of the digestive tract, which aim to restore the proper functioning of the organs.
Craniosacral techniques, which aim to relax the whole body through the balance of the autonomous nervous system.
How and why the techniques are used are as important as the techniques themselves. Osteopathy manual practice is guided by the principles of the understanding the body as a whole, and the body’s potential to self-heal.
A Brief History
Osteopathy was developed during the 19th century in the USA by Andrew Taylor Still as an alternative to current medicine. Today, there are two streams:
Osteopath Physicians, who are trained in the USA and practice primarily in North America. They are medical doctors and do not focus on manual therapy.
Osteopathic Manual Practitioners (DOMP), who are trained in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and use a hands-on holistic approach to address physical imbalances.
Who can benefit from Osteopathy?
The following conditions can all be treated with Osteopathy:
Tendinitis
Back pain
Headaches
Neuralgia: carpal tunnel syndrome, sciatica
Release post-trauma: sprain, strain, pulled muscles, whiplash injury
Postural imbalances: rounded shoulders
Post-surgery scar tissue release
Infant (newborn and baby) motor development and physical asymmetry screening
Aches and discomforts during and after pregnancy
Digestive troubles and tension
Psychosomatic tension
Additionally, Osteopathy has helped people of all ages and age-related conditions:
Newborns and Babies
Newborns and babies often struggle after delivery with small physical tension, positional discomfort or digestive challenges, which is all expressed through crying. Osteopathy will help release these tensions and make sure your newborn’s motor development is progressing well.
Conditions which Osteopathy can address:
Post-delivery check-up, especially in case of an emergency C-section or for a mother’s first baby
Colic, purple crying, unsettled baby
Torticolis and plagiocephaly
Gas-reflux-constipation
Screening developmental milestones, from lifting the knees up to rolling over and walking on all fours, including compromised movement patterns
Adults
Adults face physical and emotional challenges throughout their lives, which sometimes translate into physical discomfort or pain when the body can no longer compensate.
Osteopathy will help the body find a new way to accommodate these challenges without compromising well-being.
Conditions which Osteopathy can address:
Back issues, tendinitis or tight muscles as a result of desk work or physical jobs that each put their share of stress on the body
Micro- or macro-traumas or muscular imbalances from athletic activities like rock climbing, skiing, running, etc.
Sport injury including:
Post-surgery or traumatic scar tissue created as the body heals, which may compromise normal movement
Women’s health, in particular during pregnancy and postpartum, when the body undergoes significant postural and physical challenges in a short period of time
Injury prevention through movement and posture optimization
Children and Teenagers
Children and teenagers test their bodies every day as a means to discover the world. As a result, their body may experience trauma and tension, which Osteopathy can help remove and release.
Conditions which Osteopathy can address:
Back pain
Headaches
Stomach aches
Lack of coordination
Post-injury treatment from sprains, strains or fractures
Check-ups on posture and motor development
The Elderly
The main challenge for the elderly is staying active and strong as the body ages and takes longer to recover. By improving mobility and movement, Osteopathy helps to maintain a dynamic and pain-free life.
Conditions which Osteopathy can address:
Balance issues
Recovery from a fall
Tightness and stiffness related to the aging process
Maintaining strength and fitness to assist with independent living.
What is Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization?
DNS is a posture and movement rehabilitation approach developed by Dr. Pavel Kolar of the Prague School of Rehabilitation. It is an observation-based approach that considers the developmental motor patterns of the human being between birth and the third year of life as a reference for adult postural assessment.
These patterns can become compromised through life and work, trauma, athletic injuries, and aging, and can lead to long-lasting mechanical imbalances and eventually to acute pain.
DNS addresses the origin of the pain by helping to restore original movement patterns resulting in better posture, greater alignment, and more efficient movement.
Osteopathy and DNS are complementary approaches because they both look at the body as a whole. They can benefit patients across a wide range of ages and physical abilities, as the goal is to prevent the onset of pain and improve functional ability.
I have been certified as a Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization Certified Practitioner since 2017, and I was involved in the development of this therapeutic approach in France.
What should you expect during an appointment?
A session with me always starts with a conversation to get to know your complaint, your medical history, and you as a person.
We then do a physical assessment of your posture and range of motion. I ask my patients to wear comfortable and flexible clothing like shorts or tights and loose shirts. First, we will do an active assessment of your movements in order to see what challenges you are dealing with. This is followed by a hands-on, passive assessment where I look for muscles tightness, high-tone, mobility restrictions, scar tissue or joint dysfunction. This gives me the information needed to come up with an osteopathic diagnosis, which will be the basis for implementing a treatment plan.
The treatment phase comprises a mix of muscles relaxation, fascia release, joint mobilization, and active exercises.
At the end of the treatment, we will again perform the active mobility assessment to compare to the beginning of the session. We will also chat about different exercises or routine modifications that you might implement in your life in order to prevent any imbalances from reoccurring.
