Osteopathic Manual Therapy

Osteopathic Manual Therapy is a gentle hands-on therapy that aims to promote health by restoring optimal motion throughout the whole body. This approach is guided by the understanding that all systems of the body operate together to create and sustain health, and that a restriction in one part of the body can affect functioning in other areas of your body.

Osteopathic practitioners use information from a thorough assessment and knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics to form a ‘clinical' impression’ of the underlying cause(s) of symptoms. This assessment includes a thorough health/medical history, a posture/alignment assessment, orthopedic tests, motion tests, and osteopathic palpatory (hands-on) tests.

Treatment is based on this assessment, and may involve gentle mobilization of joints and bones, soft tissue release, fascial release around organs/viscera, and lymphatic drainage. Multiple areas of your body will likely be treated, and not just the area where you are experiencing pain or dysfunction. When motion/mobility improves throughout the whole body, often function and symptoms improve too.

Examples of manual techniques that may be used include: joint mobilization, myofascial release, cranio-sacral therapy, muscle energy technique, visceral manipulation, and strain/counterstrain.

This approach can be applied to help alleviate a wide variety of health issues including:
-  acute and chronic injuries and conditions
-  headaches and post concussion syndrome
-  TMJ dysfunction
-  digestive disorders
-  infant conditions such as colic, breastfeeding difficulties, and torticollis
-  promotion of healthy pregnancy and postpartum recovery