Osteopathy

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“The Body has the innate ability to heal itself” - Osteopathic principle

Health is related to our physical, emotional and spiritual selves. The structure of our body, the one unit that houses many systems and parts are all connected and function depends on these to be in balance. My mission is to help my patients accomplish optimal health and reduce the need for surgery and drugs.


My goal is to empower patients on their health journey by guiding them to connect with their bodies inner wisdom. I prioritize establishing trust through consent from touch to treatment plan, leaving the patient in the driver’s seat of their healing.

 

History of Osteopathy

 
 

For me, telling the history of Osteopathy is one of the most important things because the roots of it came from indigenous medicine. The founder of Osteopathy in 1874 was Dr. Andrew Still who was an allopathic medical doctor dissatisfied with the health outcomes of his patients and on his quest for better medicine, he lived on a Shawnee/Cree reservation for over a decade learning this work. He started Osteopathy in opposition to the colonial minded medical paradigm intending for it to be its own complete medical system. My hope for Osteopathy today is for current manual Osteopaths to remember this history and honour the roots of the medicine so they can humble themselves and decolonize osteopathy which has become more and more colonial in it’s elitism, exclusive associations, which do nothing for helping patients. The founder of Osteopathy of 1874 would not be able to join most of the osteopathy associations today and to me, this says a lot. We must remember where we came from to know where we are going. And decolonizing systems is where true healing takes place.

 
 

What is Osteopathy & How Does it work?

The body when given the proper care has the complete ability to heal itself.

When you look at the body as a whole and not the sum of it's parts, you can see everything is perfectly designed to interact with one another. Pain is usually an indicator that something is wrong, however, while most modalities will look to the particular area of complaint for treatment, Osteopathy looks at the body as a whole and can perceive the origin of the problem which is the cause and the pain as merely a symptom.

Osteopathy is completely hands on meaning the practitioner is a functional anatomist working with the bones, muscles, ligaments, fascia, nerves and joints to bring it back to balance as these areas can become restricted, constricted, inflamed, tender and spasmodic.

It utilizes techniques such as Mobilizations (MOBs), Muscle energy techniques (METs), Visceral Manipulation (VM), Cranial System adjustments (CST), Neuromeningeal manipulation (NM), Still technique (ST), Somato emotional release (SER) and Myofascial Release (MFR).

This work allows the body's life sustaining fluids such as lymph, blood, synovial fluid, axoplasm, cerebrospinal fluid, digestive juices, intracellular and extracellular fluids to move properly and provide healing in the body.   This type of work helps many people who are experiencing trauma, illness, accidents, scarring from surgery, childbirth, postural issues, and the cumulative effects of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual stress. Osteopaths master palpation which requires a very skilled and sensitive touch and deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and body biomechanics, providing techniques which structurally bring the body back to it's intended alignment. Palpation is completely unique to Osteopathy.


How is it different?

Commonly referred to as “Osteo”, through it’s deep understanding of anatomy in it’s ideal form can discover the Why of what hurts rather than merely looking at the What of what hurts.

This way of looking at a patient is so much more effective than conventional treatments that it reduces or even eliminates the need for drugs and surgery as it addresses the root cause of pain to guide it’s treatment plan.

It is not the study of bone disease as many assume but it’s a philosophy that looks at how the bones, muscles, organs, nervous and circulatory system can lead the body into disease (Osteo - pathos). It is at it’s essential form historically, a hands on medical practice by facilitating people’s bodies into proper function; eliminating disease and improving body systems by bringing the body’s structure into balance.


Who can Benefit?

Anyone! Osteopathy optimizes everyone’s health. Great health affects all our systems such as reproduction, nervous system, immune system, respiratory and the list goes on. Everything from trauma, asthma, to immunity and arthritis can be improved or managed. People do not need an active injury to seek an Osteopathic practitioner. Even athletes can improve their performance and prevent injuries by seeing one. All ages welcome, including newborn babies and pregnant mothers.