A Tune-Up for Your Body: Osteopathy and Prevention
Most people seek an osteopath when they have an injury or pain. However, osteopathy is most beneficial as a form of overall health maintenance. Osteopathy prevents worsening health and a variety of issues that come with restrictions in movement.
Osteopathy is a form of holistic treatment which provides outstanding results when used preventatively as it optimizes the body’s natural healing mechanisms. It is harder to treat a problem once you have symptoms and pain that cause you serious concern. It may take a long time to heal once you’ve reached that point. Residual effects may remain because the problem has become so ingrained in the body’s systems.
Osteopathy sees life as movement…everything in the body requires mobility. Any restriction affects other things. The body naturally works to heal itself, but its compensations may cause additional problems. A small restriction which could have been treated preventatively, when untreated, can lead to digestive problems, poor sleep, fatigue, and susceptibility to illness and injury.
All body parts have major and minor movements. For example, the knee’s major movements are flexion and extension. You can easily decide to do those and make your knee flex or extend. However, there are many minor movements that the knee is capable of in natural life, that you can’t simply “make” the knee do on demand. For example, if you are running and hit uneven pavement or ground, your knee will use these minor movements to adjust and keep your knee or ankle from twisting. If your body has underlying restrictions/problems, it won’t be prepared to make these minor movements to compensate and you’ll end up with an injury. Similar things happen when carrying a heavy bag or doing any strenuous movement.
If you have never seen an osteopath before, it is wise to come in for a full checkup to see what can be done to keep your body moving well, and therefore to keep you healthy. If you are noticing symptoms that you might not think of as treatable by osteopathy, such as fatigue, digestive issues, getting sick often, or small pains, paying a visit to an osteopath can definitely help. Most people can benefit from an osteopathic session once every 3-6 months.
With this regular osteopathic “tune up”, the body’s natural mechanisms will help you avoid injury. For example, if you are moving a heavy object and have had regular osteopathic treatment you may just feel a bit tired and sore temporarily afterward. Someone who has not received preventative maintenance could easily get injured in such circumstances.
Body & Soul’s osteopaths provide a wide range of osteopathic treatments including joints manipulations, muscular, soft tissue, visceral and cranial treatments. They focus on releasing pain and addressing several functional problems in order to assist the body’s innate healing capacity and restore optimal functioning to all systems. Click here to schedule an appointment.