Osteopathic medicine is a type of medicine that considers the entire body and not just a person's individual or isolated symptoms. Osteopathic medicine is very popular right now, especially for people who suffer from joint and muscle pain. Many people believe that when you have neck pain, one of the best resources you can seek out is an osteopath. Of course, if you've never visited an osteopath before, you might be nervous, but you really need not worry. Here is what to expect when you visit an osteopath to treat neck pain.
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The first part of your visit will be an exam that feels more like a visit to a "traditional" doctor. You'll most likely give your complete medical history and also receive a physical examination. In many cases, your osteopath might order extra tests to help narrow down exactly why your neck is in pain. You might have an X-Ray taken to see if there is any physical damage to the vertebrae in your neck, but don't be surprised if your osteopath pays attention to other parts of your body as well!
You should know that your visit to an osteopath will involve quite a bit of touching. Osteopathic medicine is "hands on" medicine.
The osteopath you visit can use any or all of the following methods to treat your neck pain:
Counterstrain technique: this is where you are moved into a position that helps to restore the motion to any muscles that might have been restrained/strained.
Muscle Energy technique: your osteopath will give you specific exercises in which you will use your muscles from a specific position and move them in specific directions.
Soft Tissue technique: this technique involves your osteopath putting pressure on the muscles that are near and around your spine. Sometimes the pressure is deep, other times it involves traction or rhythmic stretching.
Thrust technique: your osteopath will use high velocity force to reintroduce movement to your joints or to get rid of any signs of muscle asymmetry, restricted movement, muscle tenderness Osteopathie München or tissue changes.
If your osteopath deems it necessary, your neck pain might be treated with a low level laser or even acupuncture!
An osteopathic visit might sound scary, but there is no reason to be frightened. Most people who visit an osteopath don't experience any pain. Most of the time osteopathic visits have been reported to be pleasant and relaxing!
A number of people often confuse osteopaths with chiropractors, but it is important to understand that the two professionals, while seemingly similar, are actually quite
Chapman's Reflexes are a series of points that can help stimulate normal function in the lymphatic and endocrine systems. Most of these points are located on the front of the body between the ribs next to the sternum and on the back along the spine between the spinous processes and the tips of the transverse processes.
Easily palpated, these points can help restore the circulation of lymph and support the endocrine glands to supply the optimum amount of hormones that are necessary to the biological function of every cell in the body. Chapman's reflexes have influenced a number of developments including: Travell's Myofascial Trigger Points, Eunice Inghams' Reflexology, and Dr. George Goodheart's Applied Kinesiology.
How was Chapman's Reflexes developed?
Frank Chapman, D.O., discovered the "Chapman reflexes" in the early part of the 20th century. He found that there were specific points on the body that when stimulated had a positive effect on many kinds of health conditions. He believed that these points excited sympathetic nerve fibers that can cause specific lymph vessels to increase or decrease their function. He correlated these reflexes with specific organs and illnesses.
Chapman graduated from the American School of Osteopathy in 1897 and began locating and working with reflex points in 1901. He diligently kept notes and case studies over twenty years, eventually documenting over 200 separate and distinct reflexes. After Chapman's death, his wife Ada Hinckley Chapman, DO, and his brother in law, Charles Owen, D.O., gathered together Chapman's materials in a book released in 1932. The book was full of charts and recipes for locating and using Chapman's Reflex Points to stimulate the lymphatic system.
At the time of Chapman's death Owen "had but little opportunity for more than a cursory experience" with the reflexes. After working with the reflexes for a five years Owen put out a revised version of the book along with his own findings entitled An Endocrine Interpretation of Chapman's Reflexes in 1937. Owen focused on the effect of specific reflexes on the endocrine system and the many health problems resolved by appropriate treatment.
Owen also added his discovery that he called the "pelvic thyroid syndrome." He found that imbalances of the pelvis could directly affect endocrine function. In particular, imbalance of the pelvis was associated with dysfunction in the ovary/testes reflexes causing an imbalance in the thyroid gland and the rest of the endocrine system. This meant that by restoring pelvic balance and stimulating related Chapman Reflexes, normal endocrine function could return.