Osteopathy

Osteopathy is a holistic medical science, which emerged during the latter part of the nineteenth century. The approach was first developed as an alternative to orthodox medicine which in the mid nineteenth century killed almost as many as it cured. Although orthodox medicine has gone well beyond that level (!), there is still very definitely a need for Osteopathy in healthcare.

When the body is healthy all the messages carried by the nervous and hormonal systems of the body (the control systems of the body) get to their destination in a timely and intelligible state. If the structure of the body—its mechanics—become distorted by disease, trauma or bad use (posture) habits then the messages of the control systems will become distorted. As an Osteopath my work is essentially concerned with detecting changes in the mechanics of the body and working out if and how they may be affecting the control systems to produce the symptoms that the patient has. Once I have worked out what the pattern of distortion in the mechanics is I can find ways to help the body to find its optimum mechanical balance so that the information in the control systems can start to flow freely again. This is the  treatment phase of  Osteopathy—where I use my hands to help the body to re-find its optimum balance. There are many techniques in the osteopathic domain and I use all of them as will best suit the patient and their particular problem and body type.  The group of techniques that I use the most is generally called Cranial Osteopathy.

Cranial Osteopathy

Cranial Osteopathy is a strange name in that it implies that it will be all about the head or cranium. This is not the case—cranial techniques can be used with any part of the body. The name Cranial Osteopathy came about because with those techniques we can treat the head and skull—while with other kinds of Osteopathy we cannot. Hence Cranial Osteopathy as a name came about as a description of what we can do that practitioners of other sorts of osteopathy cannot.

The body is in a constant state of motion—expanding and contracting with a movement that is a bit like breathing (though slower and it continues even if you hold your breath). This movement of subtle expansion and contraction is often called the Cranial Rhythmic Impulse (CRI) and is central to how the body organises and maintains health. It is also central in how we treat with Cranial Osteopathic techniques. The body can only be aware of itself in movement. Our nervous and other control systems register change, they don’t really register something that stays the same . So to be aware of our body’s posture we have to be in motion—no matter how subtle that is. The CRI causes the body (all over) to be in a state of regular rhythmic expansion and contraction—things we have two of (like arms) tend to roll outward and inward, things we have one of (like spines) tend to move up and down in the body. These movements are very small but can be felt by experienced hands. The body uses these regular movements as a “blueprint” to be aware of itself and to organise itself to maintain healthy mechanical relationships between the body parts and systems. When we are injured—by illness or trauma—these subtle movements can become distorted leading to continuing ill health and problems. In Cranial Osteopathy we use the hands to guide these subtle movements back towards healthy expression. As the CRI becomes more organised and balanced the body gets better feedback about its current state through the nervous and hormonal systems and can start to regain health.

What  Can I Help With?

Osteopathy can help a huge range of people with an equally huge range of health problems and concerns. Osteopathy as a holistic approach, is concerned with the individual and how they personally can be brought to optimum health. It is not concerned with treating the symptoms of a disease it is rather concerned with helping the individual to overcome the disease process. This makes Osteopathy a very individualised approach. No two people will need exactly the same treatment. That having been said I can list a lot of types of illness that can be helped with an Osteopathic approach. The most obvious category of problem, I suppose, is muscular-skeletal problems like painful backs, necks and sports injuries. Other muscular- skeletal problems include postural problems, work related problems like RSI. “Frozen shoulders” and “trapped nerves”  also respond very well to Osteopathic Treatment.  Another example of the muscular-skeletal kind would be TMJ related problems. TMJ dysfunction usually responds very well to osteopathic work and I have had many referrals from dentists over the years for help with this problem. I often treat people who need help with migraines and other kinds of headache. Many kinds of bowel problem (for instance IBS) or menstrual difficulty will respond to Osteopathic treatment. Sinus problems will often resolve with Osteopathic help as will asthma and other breathing related difficulties.

In using the very gentle techniques of Cranial Osteopathy  I can treat people for whom other more vigorous approaches would be inappropriate—for instance babies and the very frail. I treat many babies and children—indeed about a quarter to one third of my patients are babies and children. Babies are brought for many different reasons—everything from a check up after a difficult birth  or for help with poor suck reflexes, colic, glue ear, speech problems, bowel problems, bedwetting—the list is nearly endless.