Techniques of Osteopathy
The different techniques used are based on the overarching principle of osteopathy: that the function and structure of the body are interdependent. When structure is altered at a musculo-skeletal level we find alterations in other systems of the body, such as restrictions in movement, rigidity, and changes in body tissues and body asymmetry. The following are some of the techniques used in osteopathy:
- Soft tissue techniques. These are principally used in the musculature of the back and consist of rhythmic stretching, deeply-applied pressure and traction. The object is to relax hypertonic (tense) muscles and eliminate edemas.
- High-speed techniques. With these manipulations the therapist seeks to return total movement to a blocked articulation and normalise neurological reflexes.
- Muscle-energy techniques. These are stretches in which the patient is required to voluntarily contract specific muscles, thus making the stretch more effective.
- Functional techniques. These very gentle techniques manipulate affected tissues, bringing them from the restricted position to the most comfortable possible state. The idea is to relax the tissues in order to eliminate the nervous reflexes that feed and maintain the tensions and blockages.
- Visceral osteopathy. The internal organs of the abdomen and chest can suffer tensions and restrictions which affect their own proper functioning and which can provoke discomfort and pain in other parts of the body. This branch of osteopathy seeks to normalise relations between the different internal organs and eliminate tensions in the tissues within them.
- Cranial Sacral osteopathy. Inside the cranium there is a membrane which forms a layer over the brain, continues downwards inside the spinal column (protecting the spinal cord) and ends in the sacrum and coccyx. The central nervous system, which is covered by this membrane, controls the function of every organ, muscle and nerve in the body. Sutherland believed that the bones of the cranium were not totally fused in adulthood, as was then believed, but that there existed within the cranium a gentle involuntary movement. He suggested that this movement was influenced by the flow of cerebrospinal fluid and that this movement could become blocked. He developed gentle, subtle techniques consisting in the application of mild pressure to help liberate compressions and blockages in the cranium. Cranial sacral osteopathy can help relieve many health problems such as headaches, migraines, back pain, stress, digestive agitation and sinusitis.
- Liberation of fascia tissue. Fascia is the soft tissue component of the connective tissue system. It surrounds and interpenetrates all the structures of the human body (muscular, bones, organs etc); thus it can be said that fascia not only covers the different structures of the body but also the connections between them. Using movements, stretches and pressure, the osteopath can liberate restrictions in the mobility of the fascia, achieving better muscular movement and more balanced relationships between the structures of the body.