What is Osteopathy?

The philosophy of Osteopathy is based on four basic principles:
• Each structure in the body supports the body’s functions.
• The natural flow of the body’s fluids – lymphatic, vascular and neurological
– must be preserved and maintained.
• The human body is the sum of its parts. Its physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and cognitive systems don’t work independently - they work in harmony.
• When the body has no restrictions, it has the inherent ability to heal itself.
Osteopathic Manual Practitioners recognize a person as an integrated whole. When all of the body’s components are in balance, a person is complete and in total health. Osteopathic Manual Practitioners work to maintain, improve and restore the normal physiological function of interrelated body structures and systems, enhancing the body’s natural ability to heal itself.
Using various manual assessment and techniques and modalities, Osteopathic Manual Practitioners work to identify and ease restrictions, constrictions and pain; reduce swelling; improve tissue mobility; and promote proper function and healing in people of all ages.
~From the Ontario Association of Osteopathic Practitioners website

What do Osteopath’s Treat?

Sporting Injuries
Having a keen sporting background and interest I am well aware of the strains and forces placed on the body during sports at any level and any age, and understand how Osteopathy can help. Regardless of the area of pain or the onset of the injury we can work through the issues and help your muscles recover faster, increase your flexibility and the range of motion through your joints. See how we can help you raise your game!!!

Non-Sporting Injuries
Even if you do not participate in sports, we can still unfortunately injure ourselves. Whether it be it from lifting something too heavy and hurting our backs, sleeping funny and waking up with a stiff neck to overusing our shoulders gardening. These can all result in pain and discomfort, which will benefit from Osteopathy. We can use a wide variety of techniques to free up our joints and improve tissue healing.

Low Back and Neck Pain
Low back pain and neck pain are probably the most common areas we treat here at the clinic, the spine is of extreme importance for the well being and functioning of the body. Unfortunately lots of things can go wrong with the spine, disk damage, degeneration, nerve irritation, muscle sprains to name a few. See how we can help keep you mobile and pain free!!

Posture
It is a fact that no one has perfect posture, but we can all try and aim to have our bodies functioning optimally to help reduce stress or ‘wear and tear’ on our joints. Having proper alignment of our spine, shoulders, hips and so on can all aid in creating a body with minimal imbalances and therefore more equal distribution of forces such as gravity that are constantly placed upon our bodies.

Degeneration and Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis/Degeneration is just a fancy word for wear and tear, it is closely related to posture, past injuries and sports/occupation. It happens to us all to some degree but unfortunately when it becomes more severe it can cause pain and discomfort. Although no manual practitioner can reverse the changes on the bones, manual practitioners can help improve the range of motion, relax muscles and stretch the soft tissues to prevent the rubbing of ‘bone on bone’. Commonly affected areas include the Knees, the Hips, Low back and the Neck.

Nerve Irritations
Nerve irritation or a ‘Pinched Nerve’ as it is often called, is a common occurrence, with symptoms including Pin and Needles, sharp shooting pain and even muscle weakness. There can be a multitude of factors that can cause compression of the nerve, for example it can be spinal disk related, pinched by bones or tight muscles that irritate the nerve as it passes through. Removing the forces that are causing the compression will result in a reduction in symptoms!

Shoulder Pain
I like to consider myself a shoulder expert! It is a fascinating and extremely complex joint. It is amazing as it provides a huge range of motion, allows us to do some many movements, activities and so forth. However with all the complexity and range of motion it leads the shoulder prone to numerous injuries, commonly our ‘Rotator Cuff muscles’ can become torn, inflamed as well as poor biomechanics (hunched shoulders) and so forth can all result in pain, weakness and limited mobility.

Osteopathic Manual Practitioners can treat a variety of aches, pains and health concerns. If you think you could benefit from the help of an osteopath. Call Dalhousie Health & Wellness to book your Osteopathic visit today!