What is Osteopathy?
Put simply, its a form of manual therapy that recognises 3 very important principles:
The body is a unit
Structure and function are inter-related
The body can heal itself
These principles seem amazingly obvious and simple. Yet time and again, people come to our clinic and it’s obvious that no-one has ever approached the problem with these simple principles in mind.
Let’s look at an example of each principle:
Your body does indeed operate as a single unit. So if you have a sore neck and your lower back pulls your shoulder down towards your hip, you are going to need to have both areas treated to remove the neck pain.
Structure and function are inter-related. We have an opposable thumb that allows us to hold a telephone. So without a thumb (the structure) we cannot use a telephone (the function). This same principle holds true right down to the cells in our bodies. For example, a liver cell under a microscope looks distinctly different to a kidney cell. Consequently they produce different proteins and have different receptors in their cell walls, in other words the function of each cell is related to it’s structure.
When a cell is compromised it will actually undergo a structural and functional change. A simple example of this is a muscle in long term spasm. Your body will shorten and thicken the connective tissues in and around the muscle - commonly known as scar tissue. This structural change has the functional effect of slowing nutrients flowing in to the muscle and at the same time slowing the rate that waste products are released. The result is painful, constant low grade inflammation.
The fact that your body can heal itself is about the best news you’ve had all day! Notice that when you get a cut on your arm, your body fixes it up all by itself? Your body can also heal itself in such a way as to stop the process that is creating the pain. If normal function is returned to a compromised area - say for example a muscle in spasm, then your body will stop producing the inflammation that is creating your pain.
Your body's ability to heal itself is even more important than you probably realise - the body you have today is NOT the same as the one you will have in years to come. This can be for better or worse. Start looking after your body better today than you did yesterday and this healing process begins. You can actually reverse the process that is causing your aches, pains and the chronic illnesses you may be experiencing. This can be as simple as reversing the process causing your neck pain or can be as significant as reversing the process that leads to Type II diabetes!
Osteopathy uses a variety of hands on techniques, some of which you may already have been exposed to or know about that have been used effectively for thousands of years like manipulation and soft tissue therapy. However osteopaths have invented other techniques not so well known outside our profession such as muscle energy, counterstrain (also called positional release), functional and cranio-sacral techniques. Whilst these later techniques are now being copied by other professions, they are mostly not used with the same level of effectiveness. This is because these techniques were designed to work within the framework of osteopathy. Without the osteopathic approach, they are just a jumble of techniques with no unifying approach.
Osteopathy is therefore a tool that looks at the structure of your whole body and uses a variety of hands on techniques to remind your body how to function normally, thereby allowing your body to heal itself. Along with regular low impact exercise and a good diet, your body can then perform to its optimum level, pain free and with less risk of developing chronic debilitating illnesses.
