Ever wondered, what is osteopathy? And what does an osteopath treat 🤔

So what is osteopathy?

Osteopathy is a form of manual medicine rooted in the relationship between the body's structure and how it functions. Osteopaths are primary health care practitioners who assist healing by focusing on how the musculoskeletal system (skeleton, joints, muscles, connective tissues, tendons and ligaments), nerves (including the different nervous systems), cardiovascular system (in particular circulation of blood and lymph), and internal organs function together as a holistic unit.

Within this broad philosophy, there is quite a breadth of different ways osteopaths treat; whether this is a good or bad thing is a discussion for another post 😉. For example, some osteopaths adopt techniques that involve applying pressure to the skull (cranial osteopathy) or aimed at internal organs (visceral techniques). In contrast, others focus on the mobilisation and influencing the muscles, ligaments, tendons and joints of the body (structural osteopathy).

The body has an inherent ability to heal itself.

The body is a very intelligent, intricate collection of interconnected components. It has many internal processes designed to respond to stressors and the environment. Your body will inherently do its best to heal itself and keep you functioning. Despite this intelligence, many of the complex processes within your body occur automatically, and when things go wrong, they can have upstream and downstream implications. Your body will often compensate in a less-than-ideal way, ultimately resulting in inappropriate movement patterns, pain, and the overloading of adjacent structures.

What does that mean, you may ask? Well, let's look at a simple muscular sprain; the muscle fibres become damaged, and as a result, your body automatically sends cells to repair the damaged tissue. Inflammation occurs as well as pain. Your body then protects and guards that damaged muscle, but because you need to continue to function, you recruit other muscles. These muscles are usually not designed to undertake the lost function or were unprepared for the added load, ultimately causing dysfunction. This is where osteopathy can help.

What do osteopaths treat?

At Movement Mechanics, our Osteopaths use objective biomechanics movement assessment tools to form a comprehensive diagnosis which enables us to treat a wide range of issues.

We utilise evidence-based hands-on manual techniques with the aim of getting our patients to the most efficient state for repair and healing. Here are just some of the things osteopaths treat:

Sports Injuries

Injuries can occur whether you are an elite athlete, weekend warrior, or participate in recreational activities. Osteopathy can help correctly diagnose your injury for efficient rehabilitation, help you manage your pain and avoid the adoption of inappropriate compensatory movement patterns while you recover.

Assessment of sports-related injuries begins with a thorough case history and analysis to determine the underlying cause of your pain and/or dysfunction. This includes conducting biomechanical movement assessments, specific tests, exercise prescription, and providing a safe and individualised treatment program.

Our treatment of sports-related injuries involves using hands-on techniques to modulate pain, address muscular imbalances, restore joint mobility and provide you with the tools to recover. We know how long different tissue types take to heal, so if they are not responding as we expect, we have a trusted specialist referral network we can utilise.

Lower back pain

Back pain is something many of us will have to contend with in our lifetimes. It can be a very frustrating and debilitating issue affecting our lumbar spine, often referred to as lower back pain, and/or the thoracic spine, often referred to as the upper back.

Numerous factors can predispose someone to back pain and stem from a range of structures in the body, from muscles and ligaments attaching to the spine, pelvis and hips, to the discs between spinal segments and even referred visceral pain.

That's why it is paramount that your back pain's cause is correctly identified and treated accordingly. We have a range of treatment modalities and referral pathways at our disposal no matter to help get to the bottom of what tissues are causing your discomfort and ultimately get you moving again.

Neck pain

Neck pain can be a multifaceted and highly debilitating issue that significantly impacts our activities of daily living. On top of the local pain and loss of function, it can also cause headaches, muscle spasms and pain in the arms or shoulders.

Many things can cause acute neck pain, from strained muscles or ligaments, trapped nerves, your sleeping position, poor posture, sports or work.

Depending on the cause and severity of your neck pain, there are several manual approaches we can take, including soft tissue mobilisation, joint mobilisation and exercise therapy, just to name a few.

Headaches & migraines

Headaches are one of the most frequent symptoms reported by patients in primary care and are often multifaceted and misdiagnosed. Headaches can present in many different ways and are often confused with migraines.

Both headaches and migraines can heavily impact your ability to function, and both should be taken seriously. The most crucial part of successfully treating a patient with headache-like symptoms is correctly diagnosing whether or not they are suffering from headaches or migraines, and if the patient is suffering from headaches, identifying what type of headache they are suffering from.

Statistics suggest that tension-type and cervicogenic headaches are two of the most prevalent types, accounting for 60-80% of all headaches. These types of headaches derive from the muscles and joints of our body, making them two of the main types of headaches osteopaths can actually influence.

Sciatica

Sciatica is a term you may have heard or a condition you may have been diagnosed with, but what does it mean? It refers to a condition that impacts the sciatic nerve. This important nerve originates in your spinal cord in your lower back, and travels deep down past your gluteals, down the back of your legs to your foot. When this nerve becomes irritated or compressed at any point along its course, this is known as sciatica.

With sciatica you will often experience pain, numbness, muscular weakness or tingling anywhere along the nerve distribution, ranging from a dull ache to incapacitating pain. You may also have difficulty moving and controlling your leg, significantly affecting your quality of life. There are an array of potential causes, including prolonged seated postures, crossing your legs while you sit, tight trousers (particularly with phones or wallets in the back pocket), tight muscles (particularly in the gluteals), injury to the lower back, arthritis, changes to the spine and/or disc in your back.

Treatment involves reducing pressure on the sciatic nerve by addressing any musculoskeletal components contributing to its compression/irritation and putting in place a careful management plan inclusive of exercise and lifestyle modifications that help increase the strength and flexibility of the muscles supporting the lower back whilst reducing any points of nerve pressure or irritation. In some cases, a referral to a specialist may be required.

Breathing dysfunction

Breathing is something overlooked by many practitioners. Not only does it sustain life by supplying our body with oxygen and removing CO₂, it also impacts our biomechanics, cognitive function, posture, metabolism, and much more.

Research has shown that through breathing retraining, osteopathy can aid breathing dysfunctions (such as asthma, COPD, coughing, sighing, wheezing, breathlessness, and sleep apnea), poor blood circulation, reflux, constipation, and gut health.

Poor breathing mechanics can be a predisposing factor for a number of muscular strain injuries as well as have a negative relationship with psychosocial issues such as anxiety. Pain, stress, injury and illness, can lead to our breathing becoming dysfunctional, most of the time without us even realising.

Resulting in habitually shallow breathing, and the inappropriate recruitment of accessory muscle.

When our breathing becomes dysfunctional, it can no longer efficiently respond to our needs, exacerbate pain, and puts muscles used for movement under increased strain, predisposing injury.

Temporomandibular pain/Jaw pain

Jaw pain or Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain and dysfunction is a relatively common issue seen in osteopathic practices. The TMJ is made up of three key structures, the temporal bone, the mandible and an articular disc sandwiched between the two bones acting as a cushion to prevent friction. This joint has relationships with numerous muscles that ensure its correct function.

Osteopaths commonly treat TMJ dysfunction and the associated symptoms that may occur with it. These issues usually arise from asymmetric tension of various muscles or misalignment of the temporal bone with the mandible. These joint dysfunctions can cause symptoms such as pain, clicking when opening or closing the mouth, jaw locking, difficulty chewing, ear aches and headaches.

Careful diagnosis is key so that the tisses causing the issues can be addressed rather than soely focusing on the symptoms. Causes of TMJ issues can stem from your neck, shoulders, stress, bruxism, posture or structures within the TMJ.

Whiplash & whiplash associated disorder

Whiplash and Whiplash-associated disorders can cause a variety of musculoskeletal and nervous complaints. Sufferers may experience muscular pain, dizziness, headaches, protective postures, and reduced mobility related to the traumatic mechanism to the upper neck.

Our Osteopathic treatment is aimed at downregulating tissue pain responses, reducing antalgic postures and movement patterns, and restoring function.

As with any traumatic injury, we believe imaging is essential. In relation to whiplash, we use it to rule out any bony injury that may have been caused, and identify and manage any soft-tissue damage.

Carpal tunnel syndrome

Osteopaths commonly treat carpal tunnel syndrome with the aim of treatment being to relieve the tension on the median nerve and therefore relieving the symptoms in the patient's hand. Stretches and lifestyle advice may be given and may include frequent breaks at work, changing your desk set up, where possible, using the opposite hand and so on. Stretches are aimed at improving flexibility and reducing muscle tension in the forearm, as these muscles, via tendons, attach to the hand to make it move.

So if you would like to see if one of our experienced osteopaths can help you, book online today 😊