top of page

Osteopathic Principles.

 

Where there is life, there is motion. Osteopathy appreciates the significance of even the smallest motion within all the tissues and cells of the body, and applies this understanding in it’s unique form of medical care. Simply put, when the body’s motion is in balance, a state of health exists. When this motion is disturbed, health is affected and a state of disease can arise. It is the osteopathic physician’s highly developed sense of touch that allows the physician to palpate (feel) this motion and, through skilled hands, to administer osteopathic manipulative treatments. These treatments can relieve disturbances of motion and enhance the vitality and function of the patient.Although osteopathy employs the practice of manual medicine, it is not just a set of techniques. It is a philosophy and a science based on the application of sound principles. Initially conceived during the late nineteenth century by Dr Andrew Taylor Still, the founder of osteopathy, these principles have been consistently validated by scientific research.

 

The philosophy and science of osteopathy is based upon the following four principles:

  • Structure and Function are Interrelated

  • The Body is a Single Dynamic Unit of Function

  • The Body Possesses Self-Regulatory and Self-Healing Mechanisms

  • Rational Treatment is Based on Applying These Principles

Specialties //

ACUTE & CHRONIC SPORT-RELATED INJURIES

 

An osteopath can help improve performance as well as treat the injuries being suffered. By using their knowledge of diagnosis and highly developed palpatory skills they can help to restore structural balance, improve joint mobility and reduce adhesions and soft tissue restrictions so that ease of movement is restored and performance enhanced. For those of you wishing to keep fit, the osteopath can help you keep supple and improve muscle tone so reducing the risk of injury to soft tissues unaccustomed to the extra work they are being asked to do. Advice on diet and exercise which will help you with your specific sport may also be offered.

 

Remember: NO NSAID's (motrin, ibuprofen, naproxen or similar) in the first 72 hours after injury - this limits the initial healing process.  Tylenol is OK

• Begin slowly and build up, especially after an injury

• Warm up first, and then warm down with stretches afterwards

• Drink plenty of water when exercising

• Exercise regularly, and try to alternate the types of exercise that you are doing every day

• Following a joint injury apply ice to the area for 10 minutes, every hour, if practical. Apply a bandage to compress the tissues. Elevate and rest if possible.

SHOULDER & POSTURAL CONCERNS

 

Postural & shoulder examination is a fundamental part of the osteopathic examination. 

 

Your body spends its lifetime in the gravity field of the earth and it is your posture that resists the constant pull of gravity. Good posture results from structural alignment of the body, like a child's tower of bricks, where the weight of the block above is transferred directly to the one below. Support is provided by the bones and ligaments with minimal energy wastage.However, posture changes throughout life and develops from environmental factors, habits and trauma. 

 

With our heads carried forward, shoulders hunched and backs flexed. The body can no longer be held upright by its own alignment - the tower of bricks begins to topple forward. Muscles need to hold the body upright. That takes energy and produces waste products such as lactic acid and directs blood away from the vital organs to the muscles keeping you vertical. This leads to postural fatigue. The body tries to compensate by laying down connective tissue. Stiffness and restricted joint movement are the result. The spine loses its shock absorbing ability and there is a greater risk of joint degeneration and arthritis. Eventually the bones and joint surfaces re-model and the postural changes become largely fixed. Osteopathy can help with these problems.

NUTRITIONAL EVALUATION

 

Throughout patients’ treatments, we offer continual feedback and teach the patients about healthy nutrition practices. This supports patients’ growth toward healthy eating and weight stabilization.

 

We help patients recover from poor eating habits and eating disorders. Our treatment process begins with a thorough clinical assessment to address current and past eating practices and the physical and emotional consequences of these practices. This includes the evaluation of symptoms, such as depression, anxiety and substance use, as well as lifestyle factors, such as social support from family and friends.

PATIENT EDUCATION

 

Patient education is extremely important! The benefits of patient education include:

  • Increasing the patient's ability to cope with and manage his or her health

  • Facilitating understandings of health statuses, diagnosis and treatment options, and consequences of care for patients and their families

  • Empowering patients to make decisions related to their careIncreasing patients’ potential to follow a health care plan

  • Helping patients learn healthier behaviors

  • Promoting recovery and improved function

  • Increasing patient confidence in his or her self care

  • Decreasing treatment complications

TRIGGER POINTS - DRY NEEDLING - BIOPUNCTURE

 

Trigger point injections typically are a combination of steroid and anesthetic injected into a point that may be painful but has a pain referral pattern.  Utilizing fine gauge acupuncture needles can often elicit a similar relief to actually using pharmaceutical injection.  By "hitting' the same points, needle stimulation can release thes patterns of tension and pain distribution. 

 

Homeopathic injectible preparations can add a further layer to this treatment.  This set of prescription but non-pharmaceuticals work by stimulating your own body to pay attention and attend self-regulate the tissues that they are directed into.  We have had some amazing responses from these injections, usually to 1/2" or less depth into soft tissues only. 

 

 

 

 

SPECIALIZED EVALUATIONS

​

- Blood cell nutritional evaluations

- Digestive and gut health lab evaluations

- Complete thyroid and adrenal evaluation

- Complete cholesterol and risk stratification evaluation​

- X-rays: post injury

- Postural evaluations: scoliosis, pelvic obliquity,             'short leg syndrome'

- Referrals for EMG-NCS     

SYMPTOM SPECIFIC EXERCISE

 

You will not just get a print out of a bunch of exercises that you may or may not need (or even have the ability to complete).  When you are evaluated, you will recieve comprehensive, sympton-specific exercises that are tailored to your needs.

INDIVIDUALIZED COMPOUNDED RX

 

Compounding is the science of customized medicine. Most prescriptions are filled with an “off-the-shelf” medicine, prepared by drug manufacturers to work for a wide range of people. Compounded prescriptions are different, because they’re filled with a custom prepared medicine, made specifically for a single patient.

 

Compounding is performed by compounding pharmacists, a special kind of pharmacist with the knowledge, equipment and training to create medicines from scratch in a laboratory. And because compounded medications are made one at a time, they can be prepared in the form and dose that’s ideal for the patient.

 

There are many cases where compounding can benefit the patient:

  • The patient requires a customized dose of a medication

  • The patient has difficulty taking a medication in its commercially available form

  • The patient needs a medicine that has been discontinued by the manufacturer

  • The patient is allergic to certain agents used to make a medication

  • The patient takes many medications and would benefit from having them combined

PHYSICAL THERAPY

 

- Scoliosis program to treat curvature of the spine

​

- Manual therapy, which uses the massage and manipulation of the body's soft tissues to relieve pain and promote healing

 

- Preparing the body before orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation after surgery

- General strength training

- Rehabilitation after a bone fracture

​

- Outpatient prosthetic rehabilitation, to help individuals adjust to an artificial limb or other external appliance

- Rehabilitation after a back or neck injury

​

- Rehabilitation after a sports injury

​

- Comprehensive musculoskeletal evaluation to determine the cause of and best treatment for acute or chronic pain

ORTHOTICS

 

It is surprising how often feet and ankles are overlooked sources of pain generation throughout the body - all the way up to the head and TMJ joint!  Think of them as the foundation of your building.  If that is not working for you, then everything that comes above is in a constant state of stress and strain. 

 

We make recommendations from an intervention as simple as a heel lift for inside the shoe, to off the shelf orthotics, to providing a prescription for custom fit and formed orthotics. 

bottom of page