Osteopathy

What is Osteopathy?

Osteopathy focuses on restoring function where it is lost. Often this is focused on correcting the structural alignment of the body using gentle manipulation. Osteopathy looks at the relationship of all body parts and how they work together. Consequently, osteopathy focus on a variety of thought processes that works on the:
1. Mechanical presentation of the body
2. Visceral (aka organs) mobilization
3. Cranial-sacral system

By treating and aligning the musculoskeletal framework, mobilizing the viscera (stomach, liver, lungs, colon…), restoring the cranial-sacral rhythm, there is liberation of the body’s circulatory, lymphatic and nervous systems and increase in bodily function. Osteopathy believes that the body is able to self-heal and self-regulate, but requires the removal of these anatomical root cause of the problem, which in turn affects the internal physiology.

Working on the neck musculature affecting the patients shoulder girdle
Assessing the patient’s colon mobility
Treating the pelvic and lumbar structures – no high velocity thrusts are applied by manual osteopaths

What can Manual Osteopathy help with?

  • Neck and back pain
  • Muscle and joint pain (eg. hip, knee, shoulder, ankle, wrist)
  • Postural problems
  • Sore muscles (ex. rotator cuffs, hip flexors, IT Bands, hamstrings)
  • Pinched nerves (eg. sciatica, tingling hands/fingers)
  • Poor circulation and edema (eg. cold hands/feet, swollen joints)
  • Respiratory problems (eg. asthma, shortness of breath)
  • Digestive problems (eg. IBS, acid reflux, constipation, diarrhoea)
  • Genito-urinary problems (eg. pelvic floor injury, bladder incontinence, pregnancy difficulty)
  • Pre/postnatal problems (eg. pelvic or back pain)
  • Sports and other traumatic injuries (eg. concussions, whip lash, car accidents)
  • Headaches/migraines
  • Other physical issues that remain unsuccessfully resolved
Hip flexor and pelvis treatment – hip flexors can influence the position of the lower back and pelvis.
Thoracic vertebrae & ribs treatment – the thorax influences our bodies range of motion and impacts the health of our internal organs like our heart and lungs.
Tissues stabilizing the shoulder joint treatment – through tissue connected to the shoulder also connects elsewhere, so can influence the neck, upper back, forearm and hand.

How do manual osteopaths assess my problem?

Osteopathy looks at the whole picture of a patient’s health and the impact it has on their life. During our initial assessment, we ask about the patient’s health history (ex. previous illnesses, operations, injuries, accidents and medication) because these could contain clues to relevant problems. During our assessment, we use a combination of your medical history, current problems, and palpatory findings discovered during motion tests and static findings. If together we decide to proceed after the assessment, a unique treatment will be applied to you based on your assessment and structural diagnosis. As mentioned, treatment involves a gentle, but firm manual therapy addressing the root cause of the problems.

Who can benefit from Osteopathy?

Patients young and old can benefit from osteopathy! The most common type of patients osteopathic manual practitioners treat are those currently experiencing pain or symptomatic problems. However, osteopathy can also be used as a preventative therapy, as patients often have silent problems, which are ticking time bombs waiting for a trigger.

How many treatments will I need?

Each patient’s treatment plan is dependent on a number of variables. For example, the longer the issue has been present, the longer it takes to correct. Also, recovery depends on each person’s vitality and how their body responds to treatment – often younger patients respond very quickly, while patients who are older require more time.

Is osteopathic treatment covered under OHIP?

No, unfortunately OHIP does not cover osteopathic treatment. However, almost all extended health insurance plans do cover osteopathic treatment – please check your coverage prior to appointments.