Osteopathy

Osteopathy procedure uses in its diagnosis and treatment the alternative art of correcting medical imbalances in the muscles, organs, and ligaments of the body by tissue involved adjustments in order to promote healthy functioning. These imbalances are corrected by restoring balance between the nervous and musculoskeletal structure of the body. What the layman calls "having his back cracked." There is so much more to it than that.

The word osteopathy means "suffering of the bone" in Greek, and osteopathy as we know it today was developed by Dr. Andrew Taylor Still, who recognized the importance of a proper skeleton structure in order for the body to be healthy.

Osteopathy is of interest to anyone who studies physiology and human anatomy, as the muscular-skeletal system is the framing of your house! As the structure of your home is threatened from termites, your health is threatened when your muscular-skeletal structure is out of sequence. Osteopathy and orthodox medicine have many things in common, such as the use of the scientific knowledge of anatomy and physiology, as stated above, and their clinical methods of investigation. The greatest differences, however, lie in the way patients are evaluated and in the approach to each patient's treatment. For instance, two people come in with lower back pain, but one is treated for a misaligned hip, while the other one has one leg shorter than the other, rather than both of them being given pain pills and sent on their way.

Traditional medicines appear to go for surgery as a treatment for say, back pain in some instances, whereas an osteopatholgist would probably recommend chiropractic and massage care and would look into the root cause, however long ago it might have been, for the pain. That is one of the reasons that at your first trip to the osteopath's office you might find yourself answering a series of seemingly obscure questions about your health and sports activities as a child. It could very well be that the old football injury which you suffered in grade school has caused your hip to grow out of alignment and is now causing the stinging leg pain that has kept you home from work for the last three days.

How Osteopathy Works

Osteopaths believe in the self healing capacity of the body and the law of Homeostasis where the process by which every living organism adjusts itself in order to keep in stable condition, with preset limits (such as the amount and rate of blood flow in the veins.) The ability of the human system to modify itself to stay alive is fascinating. Take the example of one individual cell.

Enter a virus, and the cell throws up antibodies to block this virus from infecting it. One little cell. Now imagine your whole body doing that, and imagine what pressure that effect must have on the muscular-skeletal structure of the human body.

This is why osteopaths consider their practice important, to keep that balance in order. They are convinced that if good circulation is maintained and good food is eaten and that you do not put any toxins in your body and have a positive mental attitude, that your body has the capacity to continue to heal itself, as evidenced by wounds healing and fingernails re-growing after being cut off. This self-healing mechanism belief is the backbone of the principles and application of osteopathy.

Osteopaths believe that disease primarily comes from within the individual, such as depression causing internal disease, or guilt causing heart attacks- and so they concentrate on the person who is suffering rather than on the micro-organisms that are thought to cause disease. They also believe that there are times when the disease has gone too far without treatment, and so will refer out to specialists, again osteopathy is considered to be primarily preventative treatment. In these cases, osteopathy can help the person to function to the best of his ability, given the circumstances. The example of this would be, say, an alcoholic having liver damage. The osteopath will refer the person to a liver specialist, but will continue to see the patient for adjustments meant to keep his pelvis and back in alignment, alleviating back pain, which the alcoholic used as an excuse to drink for pain relief.

Most osteopaths are actual doctors, capable of everything from paediatrics to surgery. Most often, though, an osteopath will also be practicing as a chiropractor. Through the gentle manipulation of tissues, they can reset spines and take away tissue pain caused by trauma from long ago or from something as simple as picking up a bag of groceries the wrong way.

Osteopathy On The Web

The internet has many websites on osteopathy. There is a chat room devoted to people who have had both positive experiences with osteopaths as well as website for those who believe it to be a dubious practice. Before making a decision to seek out their help, you may want to do some research online and get actual opinions. Once again, very simply, here are the four principals of osteopathy. They are taken from The American Osteopathy Association and are written exactly as they appear in the association's doctrines, 1991:

1. The human person is a unit in which structure, function, mind and spirit are mutually and reciprocally interdependent.

2. The body, through a complex equilibrium system, tends to be self-regulatory and self-healing in the face of disease processes.

3. Adequate function of body systems depends upon the unimpeded circulatory mechanisms, nerve impulses and neurotrophic influences.

4. A rational treatment regimen is based on this philosophy and these principles.

Thus, from the above, it can be surmised that osteopathy is a form of healing, which not only looks at a patient as a physical being, but instead, looks at them as emotional and spiritual beings too. The guiding force behind osteopathy is the belief that the body can heal any problem that it faces, provided it is given the chance. If you can keep your body the way nature created it, you can cure all your health problems. And an osteopath is here to help you do just that!

Article on Do high heels cause back pain? Courtesy of Mrs Hannah Walder