The Healing Process and Traditional Osteopathic Medicine
Well-being is based on a myriad of factors. Can you tell me what Health is? What it means to you?
We don’t learn how to “make” someone Healthy in Medical school- we learn about Diseases. We learn to look for symptoms and physical signs; which indicate the presence of a particular disease or dysfunction. In Osteopathic practice, the goal is to understand what aspects of the person are functioning in a healthy manner, how the person is compensating. We also evaluate what anatomical or functional restrictions might be disrupting normal performance. The Osteopathically trained physician draws on extensive knowledge of “living anatomy” and physiology during your examination and continually re-assesses that information while the treatment is taking place. In essence your treatment is custom designed for you, after listening to your story, doing a visual and manual examination and listening with our hands to your body.
Healing is never in a straight line. Just like growth and development, our bodies and minds focus on various tasks at different times and thus changes may take place rapidly or slowly depending on their complexity and interrelationship with other factors of our lives. There may be changes occurring on every level. Thus a change in microcirculation in the lung may inform the immune system that an infection has been harbored in a poorly perfused area and needs to be addressed. The wonder of Osteopathy is that it is possible to work with each person on a cellular level- anywhere in the body and to encourage the local changes in a joint, an organ, a system to communicate healthy patterns to the whole individual.
We are formed physically. The Physics of the body must be optimal in order for Biochemistry to respond. The amount of information constantly assessed by our neuro-endocrine-immune system is enormous and if that information enters the system in a state of chaos- it is extremely difficult for our bodies to function normally. Part of the support of Osteopathy is in allowing the body to regain its regulatory and organizing functions. After a treatment, patient’s may find it easier to breathe, they may have better color, an indication of improved vascular function, they may also be fatigued, experience some changing discomfort, and need time to rest so that their bodies may incorporate the myriad tiny changes moving them toward better function and well-being.
The physician is trained to palpate the difference between an area of the body which is healthy vs. that which is not. For example, one part of our system, the musculoskeletal frame, can affect function in a variety of ways. If someone has an abnormal shape or resistance in their ribcage- it may not only be associated with pain but may also cause some minor or significant difficulties to the organs functioning within the chest wall such as the lungs.
What does the doctor feel? An unhealthy area of bone, for example, may have a more dense consistency, with lower temperature, less plasticity and greater deformation in terms of its overall shape and position. However, exploration of the “dis-eased” parts of someone’s system is not limited to bone. We evaluate every tissue, and many functions such as gut motility, respiration, or vascular position and activity. Every part of the human organism contributes to Health and Disease. We are interested in your psychological and mental stressors as well as your habits, your diet and how you balance your life. These findings can indicate a significant amount of information to the Osteopathically trained physician’s hands and mind and allow them to formulate a treatment designed to integrate the area of dysfunction back into the whole system, such that the healthy mechanisms of the body can begin to regain better function, and the patient experiences greater well-being. Small changes, over time can lead to improved vitality and health.