What to expect during an osteopathic session
A comprehensive and individualized approach to assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of musculoskeletal conditions
Initial Assessment: Your practitioner will begin by conducting a thorough assessment of your medical history, including past injuries, surgeries, and current health concerns. They may ask detailed questions about your symptoms, lifestyle, and any factors that may be contributing to your condition. Your practitioner may also perform physical examinations, assessing your posture, range of motion, and tissue texture to identify areas of dysfunction or restriction.
Hands-On Treatment: Osteopathic treatment typically involves hands-on manual therapy techniques aimed at improving mobility, reducing pain, and restoring balance within the body. Your practitioner may use a variety of gentle techniques such as highly developed sense of touch, soft tissue manipulation, joint mobilization, stretching, cranio sacral technics, visceral manipulation, and gentle manipulation of the spine and other joints. The treatment is usually tailored to your specific needs and may vary depending on your condition and response to therapy.
Education and Self-Care Advice: Your practitioner may provide education about your condition, helping you understand the underlying causes and contributing factors. They may offer guidance on self-care strategies, including exercises, stretches, ergonomic modifications, and lifestyle adjustments to support your recovery and prevent recurrence of symptoms. Your practitioner may also provide advice on posture, ergonomics, nutrition, stress management, and other factors that can impact your overall health and well-being.
Follow-Up and Monitoring: Depending on your condition, your practitioner may recommend a series of follow-up sessions to monitor your progress and adjust your treatment plan as needed. They may also collaborate with other healthcare providers, such as physicians, physiotherapists, or rmts… to ensure coordinated and comprehensive care.
Holistic Approach: Osteopathic treatment takes a holistic approach to health, considering the interconnectedness of body, mind, and spirit. Your practitioner may address not only the physical symptoms but also the emotional, psychological, and social aspects of your health, aiming to support your overall well-being and quality of life. Overall, during an osteopathic session, you can expect a personalized and holistic approach to care, focusing on addressing the complex root causes of your symptoms and empowering you to take an active role in your health and healing process
Uncovering the Backbone of Osteopathy
Unheard Perspectives, Unmatched Insights :
In Osteopathy, you can find manual practitioners using different kind of approaches:
Structural: action direct on the structure we work on through high velocity low amplitude joint techniques HVLA, Muscular Energy Technique, Strain- Conterstrain…Historically, British osteopaths are well trained on these techniques.
Functional /Tissular: refers to indirect techniques on soft tissus, connective tissus Which can be associated with Cranio sacral system (membranes and cerebrospinal fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord) and the Visceral (addresses restrictions of mobility and motility of organs, adhesions of scar tissus). French Osteopathic Practitioners have a huge background on these techniques as Canadians and Brazilians Manual Practitioners in Osteopathy.
Evidence based Practice : The evidence for effectiveness of manual therapies is growing and becoming more robust. There is moderate and strong evidence for pain relief and improving function for low back, neck, shoulder disorders and headaches. Australian, New Zealander and Swiss osteopaths are focusing on this aspect.
In the US, the physicians trained in Osteopathy are called Osteopaths. In Canada, Osteopaths are the doctors trained in the US. The therapists graduated with a Masters are called Manual Practitioner in Osteopathy from Canadian perspectives in order to ensure the reliability of the profession while attempting to regulate the profession.
I personally navigate in between all these approaches in order to get the most accurate treatment depending on your condition.
External ressources:
Fasciae:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-E42_OCCGY
What to expect after an osteopathic session and the rebound effect
Discovering the Effects: Post-Osteopathic Session Insights
After an osteopathic session, you may experience a range of immediate and delayed effects as your body responds to treatment. Manipulations may cause inflammation, which serves as a foundation for healing the tissues. Here's what you might expect:
The goal of an osteopathic practitioner is to scan your body for areas of tension, fixations, and loss of mobility. Once these areas are located, your osteopath corrects these lesions using various techniques.
Osteopathy does not aim to mask a symptom by treating only the area of pain; instead, it seeks to restore overall mobility so that the body can use its self-healing function to return to its optimal health state and balance. In essence, we can say that the osteopath aims to release key areas to enable the body to free itself. In other words, after the osteopathic practitioner's work, it is your body's turn to work!
Generally, at the end of an osteopathy session, patients feel relief, liberation, or a sense of lightness, improved mobility, reduced pain, emotional shifts. However, it is possible that they may later experience side effects such as a resurgence of pain, muscle tension (similar to soreness), fatigue. This is known as the rebound effect, which corresponds to the effort your body makes to regain its health state.
The effects of osteopathic treatment may continue to unfold in the days following the session as your body continues to respond and adapt. You may notice further improvements in mobility, pain relief, and overall well-being over time.
Your osteopathic practitioner may provide recommendations for self-care practices to support your ongoing recovery and optimize the benefits of treatment while managing the pain. This may include exercises, stretches, lifestyle modifications, ergonomic adjustments, or other strategies to promote healing and prevent recurrence of symptoms. It's important to communicate any unusual or concerning symptoms with your osteopathic practitioner, as well as to follow any post-treatment instructions provided. If you experience persistent or severe discomfort after an osteopathic session, it's advisable to contact your osteopathic practitioner for guidance and follow-up care.