About Osteopathy
What is osteopathic health care?
Osteopaths view health and illness from a musculo-skeletal perspective. Osteopathy is a system of diagnosis and treatment that lays emphasis on the structural and functional integrity of the body. Through a variety of techniques, joints are mobilised, muscle tension relieved, blood and nerve supply to tissues enhanced, the body's own healing mechanisms facilitated and its capacity for compensation improved. Advice on posture and exercise may be provided to aid recovery, promote health and prevent recurrence of symptoms.
A Definition of Osteopathy
Osteopathic healthcare is a complete and distinctive primary care model, for treating illness, centred on palpatory evaluation of the whole person. It is dedicated to optimising health for the individual and potentially for whole communities. It is based on the recognition of the components involved in the reciprocity of structure and function. Osteopathy recognises the contribution of genetic and environmental factors and the influence of lifestyle in maintaining health or in the causation of disease.
What do osteopaths treat?
One hesitates to outline a list of problems as this may limit the potential and scope of osteopathy. Osteopaths are capable of treating a wide range of disorders. Before the age of antibiotics osteopathy had the reputation of being efficacious in treating pneumonia, for example. However, it is safe to say that generally, if there is a problem with a muscle or a joint, an osteopath can treat it. Some common problems may include:
- low back pain which may or may not include sciatica
- neck and upper back pain which may or may not include pain in shoulder,
- upper arm, elbow, fore-arm, wrist and hand
- peripheral joint pain (shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, ankle, foot
- workplace strains
- sports injuries
- backache of pregnancy
- symptoms of chronic conditions, e.g., asthma, arthritis
- stiffness associated with wear and tear
- effects of trauma, e.g., whiplash
- period pain
- irritable bowel syndrome
- postural problems & many others
At first, osteopathy may not look an obvious choice for irritable bowel syndrome but when it is realised that the bowel is made up of muscle and that muscles become tense and tight when a patient becomes stressed. Indeed, it becomes difficult to think of any condition that osteopathy is contraindicated for. It is obvious that osteopathy cannot cure a chronic condition such as arthritis but it can help ameliorate many of its painful features. Cancer is another condition where osteopathy can often make life more comfortable for those suffering from this distressing condition.
Other perspectives to osteopathic healthcare
Psycho-social
The LSO acknowledges that an understanding of life-styles and the influence that these have on health outcomes is necessary. Psycho-social factors and their role in producing a negative or positive health outcome in patients are discussed. In considering psycho-social factors much has been written about the role of happiness in being healthy. One was reminded of this when reading in the BMJ recently, 23rd Dec, 2000, to quote Hugh Downs `A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes'. It could be suggested that exchanging the word `happy' for `healthy', in this context, is appropriate when exploring issues of health and illness.
Holistic
Smuts coined the word holism to describe a philosophical way of looking at how living things functioned, both in their interactions with each other and with their environment. It also applied to the individual organism in the terms that health depended upon the healthy structure of the whole person and not just to an isolated part. Irwin Korr, a physiologist who devoted his life to putting osteopathy on a scientific basis, summed up the osteopathic perspective by suggesting that the person was not ill because he had an ulcer but that he had an ulcer because he was ill. A holistic perspective is essentially ecological in that it postulates that the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts.
Ecological
Osteopaths recognize the importance of how the individual inter-relates with his/her environment. The modern osteopath therefore recognizes the importance of environmental factors in the maintenance of health. Hygiene and clean water have had a profound influence on public health. The role that nutrition plays in maintaining health is being increasingly accepted. The ecological perspective is acknowledged with emphasis on the holistic approach.
Health promotion
Osteopaths recognize the perceptions of the patient in assessing what may be wrong. Health belief models are important in this regard. Empowering the patient to have knowledge and control over their own health is often crucial in producing a positive outcome. The unhealthy patient is often disempowered with feelings of helplessness and a seeming inability to have any control over one's destiny. An osteopath is trained to offer support and guidance in promoting health for the individual patient. Issues of sex and gender, culture and ethnicity may have influences here.