BACKWORKING OSTEOPATHIC PRACTICE

It is important that a full diagnosis and treatment plan is tailored to your needs if you are to benefit from osteopathic treatment. Osteopaths aim to identify what’s causing your current symptoms, the initial cause of your pain or discomfort and anything that may be preventing it from resolving naturally (restrictions elsewhere in your body for example). This is why it is so important to get to know you, what you and your body have been through and what your hopes and expectations are. Your body will do everything it can to keep your eyes level - to hunt for food and to watch out for predators. It essentially achieves this by adding spinal curves and/or shortening various muscle groups in response to any abnormalities or injuries that have occured. This may work well for a time but this compensatory response can cause strain to the joints and muscles throughout the body and result in pain and discomfort.

Addressing the problems that caused the body to compensate in the first place, enables it to move more freely and with minimal stress on any one part. If a joint isn't working as well as it can do (e.g. through disease, postural adaptation or injury), another joint is forced to 'work harder' as you move your body around. This can cause inflammation, ligament strain, muscle strain and a degree of joint damage. All of which can cause pain and discomfort.

It can also reduce the overall level of movement that the body is able to achieve. Improving the restricted joints ability to move, will reduce the demands placed on the other joints and muscles in the body, again enabling it to move more freely and with minimal stress on any one part. Structures within the body (muscles, joints, nerves, organs, blood vessels etc) are all sensitive to compression. If a structure is compressed, it reduces it's ability to function optimally, receive nourishment and get rid of waste products. This can result in a wide variety of symptoms.