Osteopathic manipulative treatment OMT

Osteopathic manipulative treatment, or OMT, is hands-on care. It involves using the hands to diagnose, treat, and prevent illness or injury. Using OMT, your osteopathic physician will move your muscles and joints using techniques including stretching, gentle pressure and resistance.

OMT can help people of all ages and backgrounds. The treatment can be used to ease pain, promote healing and increase overall mobility. OMT is often used to treat muscle pain. But it can also help patients with a number of other health problems such as:

• asthma
• sinus disorders
• carpal tunnel syndrome
• migraines
• menstrual pain

When appropriate, OMT can complement, and even replace, drugs or surgery. In this way, OMT brings an important dimension to standard medical care.

Open day aims to raise awareness of back pain treatment

People were able to bone up on taking care of their back at an open day in Bath.

Around 60 people dropped into an information day held by the Oldfield Osteopathic Clinic at Green Park Station to find out what they could do to limit the risk of back pain.

A range of therapists were available to answer questions, while Chris Cook, a Bath Rugby academy player, and Danielle Goodman, who represented Great Britain in the triathlon, spoke to shoppers about their experiences with pain.

The event was held to mark Back Awareness Week, and osteopath at the Oldfield Park clinic Dave Inman said: "Back pain can really affect a person's life and make it hard to do simple, everyday tasks."

It is estimated that four out of five adults will experience back pain at some point in their lives.

The British Osteopathic Association found that simply changing the way you sit or being more aware of your posture could reduce the risks of back pain in later life.

Will I feel better straight away?

The answer to this question depends on the condition the patient presents with. It is possible to leave an Osteopathic treatment pain free, but this is very rare as the majority of patients present to an Osteopath as a last resort, after having been in pain for a long time. The earlier you visit your Osteopath, the quicker they can get you better.

 

Osteopathy for babies

Osteopathic treatment can be invaluable for treating a wide range of health conditions in babies. The gentler, non-manipulative techniques, commonly known as ‘cranial osteopathy’ are especially suitable for treating young children, including newborn infants.

Birth is a very physical and perhaps stressful process on a baby’s body. At birth, much of a baby’s skeleton is more like cartilage, especially the plate-like bones that make up the skull. These ‘plates’ are quite soft and malleable, and are designed to overlap and glide over each other, enabling them to sustain the forces of labour and allow the head to pass through the birth canal. However, this pliability may mean that they are susceptible to strain and ‘moulding’, which is often evident after birth in babies that have asymmetrical, flattened or markedly pointed head shapes.

A degree of moulding is normal, and usually resolves within the first few days after birth along with the normal processes of adapting to breath in air, crying, and sucking. However, in some cases the moulding can be retained, and will need attention. Left untreated, the bony plates may remain overlapped, pulled apart, or under excessive strain. This in turn can cause tension or pinching in the delicate membranes that cover the brain and nervous system. Overstrain of tissues and compression of joints in the head, neck and upper back may also occur as a result. This may affect the nerves which come from the base of the skull and help in such body functions as feeding, digestion and breathing, and may cause other imbalances in the rest of the body.

Low Back Pain

Low Back Pain (LBP) - simple cure but not so simple to do. Pain in the low back region is the most common muscular skeletal disorder of industrialised societies today and the number one cause of disability in persons under the age of 45.

What is the cause of LBP?

It is a link between a persons current posture, work habits, home recreational activities on top of old childhood injuries. We find that by the time a person is working they have received numerous minor disc injuries while growing up. These are usually caused by regular childhood games, sports, falls and tumbles.

Pelvic Torsion Syndrome (PTS) would be, in our opinion, the most common underlying cause of LBP that leads to disc lesions and sciatica. Even a disc lesion has an underlying cause - this is the PTS.

Solution

The way to correct this is quite simple but does take some skill to accomplish it well. The cranial osteopathic approach (as well as some chiropractic) uses the cranial mechanism to find which way the pelvis is twisted. We then unwind this twist and - most of the pain is gone almost miraculously and with no relation to disc bulges or prolapsed.  However, sciatic pain due to disc herniation will inevitably require much more work if the bulge is pressing against the nerve.

Osteopathic Principles

1. The body is a unit.

2. Structure and Function are reciprocally inter-related.

3. The body possesses self-regulatory mechanism.

4. The body has the inherent capacity to defend and repair itself.

5. When the normal adaptability is disrupted, or when environmental changes overcome the body’s capacity for self maintenance, disease may ensue.

6. The movement of body fluids is essential to the maintenance of health.

7. The nerves play a crucial part in controlling the fluids of the body.

8. There are somatic components to disease that are not only manifestations of disease, but also are factors that contribute to maintenance of the disease state.

Why Osteopathy?

Osteopathic manual practitioners assess and treat your body as a whole, because:

• symptoms sometimes show up in a different part of your body from where the problem actually is
• there may be several factors contributing to the symptoms you experience

Osteopathic treatment is efficient, which helps to minimize the number of visits you need. Practitioners go through many years of training to develop their highly refined palpatory skills.

Examples of conditions and problems that osteopathic manual practitioners can help treat.

Children's Issues

• colic
• spitting up
• sucking difficulty
• delayed development
• birth trauma
• otitis media

Pain

• neck pain
• back pain
• sciatica
• headaches and migraines
• jaw pain and TMJ syndromes
• pain resulting from motor vehicle accidents
• pain resulting from over-use and sports injuries

Systemic Problems

• neurological syndromes
• digestive disorders
• genitourinary problems
• chronic infectious disease
• circulatory problems

Pregnancy Issues

• back pain
• digestive upset
• edema and swelling

Respiratory Illness

• asthma
• bronchitis
• pleurisy
• allergies
• Ear, Nose and Throat Problems
• chronic ear infections
• recurrent sore throats
• frequent colds
• glaucoma
• sinusitis
• tinnitus

Note: It is important that you speak with your medical doctor for the complete diagnosis of any medical condition.

 

Osteopathic medicine

Osteopathic medicine is similar to traditional, or allopathic, medicine but it places a much greater emphasis on the role of normal body mechanics and the musculoskeletal system. One of the principles of osteopathic medicine is that the patient's illness and traumas are stored within the structure of their bodies

The osteopath, like a chiropractor, is trained to palpate (touch) the body to detect tissue texture, flow of fluids, and motion of joints, and to seek out impairments caused by traumatic injuries and chronic or acute illnesses. The objective of the osteopathic physician is to restore the body to its normal or full function by applying a precise amount of force to promote movement of fluids, (a rhythmic flow of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain and spinal cord), decompress joints and bones , and increase tissue function.

Like chiropractors in their philosophy and approach, osteopaths use only their hands to diagnosis and treat, sees the body as a single functional unit, and values the wisdom of the body's ability to heal itself.

The body is a unit where dysfunction in one areas can affect another area. For example, a disc problem in the neck can pull the legs and affect the way we walk. Treatment for the legs can significantly reduce the neck pain.

Why See an Osteopath?

The most common complaints for which patients consult Osteopaths include back and neck pain, sciatica, headaches, pains in peripheral joints such as shoulders, knees and ankles, tendinitis and muscle strains, work-related and repetitive strain injuries, and sports-related injuries. Other conditions for which Osteopathy can play a significant role in reducing the severity of symptoms include asthma, gynaecological dysfunction, arthritic conditions and chronic fatigue.

When visiting an osteopath for the first time, a full case history will be taken as well as an examination. This generally requires the removing of some clothing and the performance of a simple series of movements.

The Osteopath will use a highly developed sense of touch, called palpation, to identify any points of weakness or excessive strain throughout the body. Osteopathic treatments are tailored to the requirements of the individual patient, and techniques are selected which are appropriate to the patient's needs. For some acute pain, one to two treatments may be all that is necessary. Chronic conditions may need ongoing maintenance averaging six to eight sessions.