Osteopathic Medicine
Osteopathy is a natural hands-on medicine that views the individual as a whole unit. With the belief that the ability to recover from illness is inherent within our own bodies, osteopathy assesses and treats movement restrictions in your body tissues that prevent you from feeling healthy and fit.
It is unique because osteopathy focuses on the cause of pain and dysfunction rather than concentrating only on the symptoms.
Treatment may include osteoarticular corrections (gentle realignment of the bones), visceral manipulation (gentle mobilization of the organs of the body), cranial osteopathy (gentle movement of the bones of the skull), normalization of myofascial tension (restoring normalcy in the muscles and surrounding tissues), muscle energy (creation of muscle relaxation through muscle contraction), strain counterstrain (method of relaxing and re-positioning joints).
Osteopathic Protocol
After the practitioner has assessed all body systems a treatment plan is implemented.
- Treatments are 60 minutes in length.
- Treatments administered once a week or once every two weeks based on need. Time between visits allows the body to adapt to treatment.
The Osteopathy Manual Practitioner
The osteopathic practitioner is required to finish five years of study which includes a thesis study to be defended to a panel of officiants.
To enrol in the Ostopathy Program, an applicant must hold a degree in medicine, nursing, dentristry, naturopathy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, athletic therapy, registered massage therapy, or chiropractic.
One of the objectives of the Ontario Association of Osteopaths is to create a unified body of those wishing to uphold the highest and safest professional standards of Osteopathy.
Benefits of Osteopathy
- Removes the underlying cause of pain
- reduces pain and stiffness in muscles and joints.
- increases range of motion in the joints
- treats spinal problems resulting from poor posture or spinal disc injuries
- Relieves chronic pain through non-invasive treatment
- decreases stress on the joints
- reduces tension in the body
- relieves tension headaches and migraine headaches
- Helps the body adapt to hormonal and structural changes during pregnancy
- Reduces scars and adhesions
- Treats trauma resulting from accidents
- sports injuries
- motor vehicle injuries
- Encourages the body to heal itself
- increases circulation
- reduces blood pressure
