Barb Lukac answers some Frequently Asked Questions about Osteopathy!
1. How would you describe Osteopathic treatment?
Osteopathic treatment is a gentle form of manual therapy. We as practitioners don’t use any high velocity thrusts to achieve joint mobilization but rather manipulation to soothe the body to release any tension on its own. We use the patient’s own body, for example: an arm or leg, to make an adjustment. When making a correct adjustment, we are removing the body’s need to compensate. When the body compensates, discomfort begins. Removing the compensation allows the body to heal, to move freely and thus increasing health.
2. How does Osteopathic treatment differ from Chiropractic or Physiotherapy?
Osteopathy focuses on finding the root cause through manual manipulation to all the body systems, muscles, skeletal, visceral, neural and lymphatic. We treat the whole body, not just a specific area. Other modalities may focus specifically on rehabilitation of specific areas, typically after an injury while Osteopathy tries to prevent injury by realigning the body making sure no added stress is acting on an area due to compensation. Osteopathic techniques are a gentle approach using mobilizations and focusing on the body as a whole.
3. What types of issues do manual Osteopathic practitioners address?
Joint pain
Posture
Digestive
Lymphatic
Bowel issues
Numbness and tingling
Tight muscles
Range of motion
4. What age is Osteopathic treatment appropriate for?
Osteopathic treatment is for all ages but I focus on treating patients aged 5 and over.
5. What should I wear for an Osteopathic treatment?
Dress in clothes that are comfortable and non restrictive. Long pants, short or long sleeve t-shirt & socks.
6. How can I expect to feel after an Osteopathic treatment?
After manual manipulation, patients can feel some discomfort or tiredness for up to 48 hours which is very common.
7. How frequently might I see my Osteopathic practitioner?
After the initial assessment and treatment the practitioner will have a better idea of how frequently the patient should come back for follow up treatments. Every patient is different but the way I work, the less I see you the better because that means your body is healing and not dependent on treatment. In saying that, I could see a patient once a week for 4 weeks and then start spacing it out to every 2 weeks, every 3 weeks and so on. There are some patients that also come in for maintenance because we can’t out run everyday life and repetitive movements that cause discomfort.
Reach out to Barb at barbaral@thrivemassagewellness.com