Healing hands
Osteopathy is a manual therapy method that is often used to treat back pain. The term comes from the Greek: osteon = bone; pathos = suffering, disease.
However, osteopaths not only deal with health problems of the skeletal system such as back pain, but also see osteopathy as a holistic therapy concept that focuses on the whole person: Body, mind and soul.
Four basic principles
Osteopathy is based on four principles:
” The human being is a unit: all parts of the body, the mind and the soul are interconnected and interrelated. There is a life energy that flows through the entire body.
” Structure and function influence each other: poor posture, for example, can gradually lead to anatomical changes, while injuries or scars can restrict the function of tissue.
” The body can regulate and heal itself (self-healing powers): Ideally, all parts of the organism work together harmoniously, the immune system fends off illness, injuries heal again and irreparable damage is compensated for. In a healthy person, all processes are in balance (homeostasis). If this is disturbed, complaints and illnesses can occur.
Osteopathic treatment focuses on the patient and not the disease. An osteopath focuses on the entire organism, uses and mobilizes the body’s self-healing powers and improves its function by manually treating a body structure.
How pain and illness arise
Osteopathy, which is used to treat back pain, among other things, is based on a special understanding of disease. There is constant movement in the body: The heart beats, blood and lymph circulate, signals buzz through the body via the nerves, wave movements of the stomach and intestines help with digestion.
If this flow of movement is impeded at any point (e.g. by external influences, injuries or inflammation), pain (e.g. back pain) and illnesses occur.
Osteopathy as a blockade breaker
Osteopathy attempts to detect and eliminate movement restrictions and blockages in people with back pain or other ailments. The therapist does not effect a cure directly, but by stimulating the body’s self-healing powers. The osteopath uses only his hands (manipulation). Medication and medical instruments or devices are not used.
The right therapist
- Physiotherapists and masseurs can also train to become osteopaths, but must then pass an alternative practitioner examination.
- Training takes place at private osteopathy schools. The German Association of Osteopaths (VOD) maintains a list of doctors, alternative practitioners and physiotherapists who have completed a qualified five-year training course to become osteopaths and undergo regular further training.
- Some osteopaths carry the D.O.® brand as the highest quality mark: they have also written and successfully defended a scientific thesis.
Gentle treatment
Osteopathic treatment begins with a detailed discussion with the person to be treated. The osteopath then uses his hands to look for restrictions and tensions in the patient’s body that are causing the back pain (or other complaints). Once he has found “blockages”, he releases them with gentle, calm hand movements, whereby the affected body structures are stretched and moved. This is intended to get the “life energy” flowing again and restore the body’s balance (homeostasis).
The osteopath then primarily treats the restricted mobility of the lumbar vertebrae as the source of the problem.
In osteopathy, there are no fixed (schematic) treatment procedures – each patient is treated according to their individual needs and the respective functional disorder. The osteopath’s approach varies from session to session. The current physical and mental condition of the person being treated is decisive in each case.
Duration of treatment
An osteopathic treatment usually lasts between 45 and 60 minutes. In the case of acute problems, up to three sessions are sometimes sufficient for an improvement; chronic complaints may take longer. Initially, treatments usually take place on a weekly basis, later every two to three weeks.
Possibilities and limitations
Osteopathy is used – alone or as an accompanying therapy – for many complaints and illnesses, both in adults and children. Examples include back pain, lumbago, joint problems, menstrual cramps, heartburn, painful adhesions following surgery, headaches and birth-related cranial deformities or blockages of the cervical spine in babies.
Osteopathy should also not be used on babies and small children, or only with the utmost caution.
Note: If you are interested in osteopathic treatment, you should first seek detailed advice from an experienced therapist.
Effectiveness
Some studies have shown that osteopathy has a positive effect on back pain. In one study, it was able to alleviate patients’ symptoms just as well as painkillers, exercise and physical therapy – and without any side effects. Nevertheless, according to some experts, the effectiveness of osteopathy for back pain has not yet been sufficiently proven.
