English
Français 
Osteopathy is perhaps best known as a treatment against spinal pain such as common back pain, stiff neck, etc. But osteopathy is not limited to just those. The osteopath treats the body as a whole, where all systems (musculo-skeletal, circulatory, lymphatic, neurological) are inextricably linked in order to create a state of homeostasis.
Our daily activities tend to put a lot of pressure on our systems and a one single imbalance is sometimes enough to disrupt the fragile equilibrium of the whole body.
Osteopathy addresses all the systems of the body, all ages and all life events. So it applies to infants, children, adolescents, adults, seniors, as well as to pregnant women, post-partum, athletes and people with disabilities.
When should I consult ?
Osteopathy can improve and optimize the health of a patient, through a preventive or/and curative treatment. Our body suffers constant stress from daily life, we can feel dysfunctions as minor tensions that are intermittent and usually vanish after a while. However, the human body is an amazing structure that sole purpose is to function as well as possible. It adapts, it compensates, it endures… But sometimes, it can’t take no more.
Sometimes, those daily pains become chronic disorders that can impact our daily life. Osteopathy can relieve these disorders and it can prevent these dysfunctions from settling by removing primary restrictions straight from the beginning.
So even if you do not suffer from any apparent pain, a general check-up carried out at least once a year at your osteopath will have a preventive effect on your overall health.
Osteopathy and traditional medicine
Osteopathy, as any other type of medicine, has its own limitations: it cannot replace traditional medicine in pathological disorders such as cancers, fractures, genetic disabilities. However, it is an excellent complementary treatment approach that improves the quality of your health and so can soothe or settle some consequences of these diseases, their treatment and/or trauma.
Disorders that osteopathy may treat or relieve
This list is not exhaustive! So for more information, please contact your osteopath.
Musculo-skeletal system
- Neck pain
- Torticollis
- Back pain
- Intercostal pain
- Low back pain
- Sciatica
- Scoliosis
- Coccygeal pain
- Public symphisis pain
- Sprain
- Joint pain
- Tendonitis
Neurological system
- Carpal tunnel
- Scistica
- Neuralgia
- Curalgia
Cranial system and EENT
- Headaches
- Sinusitis
- Migraines
- Neuralgia
- Orbital and facial pain
- Dizziness
- Visual disorders
- Tinnitus
- Benign Vertigo
- TMJ pain or occlusion difficulties
Cardiovascular system
- Circulatory disorders
- Venous congestion
- “Heavy legs” sensation
- Haemorrhoids
Respiratory system
- Asthma
- Chronic respiratory diseases (COPD, chronic bronchitis)
Visceral and digestive system
- Bloating, flatulence
- Chronic constipation/dhiarrhea
- Difficult digestion
- Hiatal hernia
- Gastric reflux
- Colic
- Hepatobiliary disorders (nausea)
- Post-operative adhesions
Genito-Urinary System
- Painful or irregular menstrual periods
- Recurrent cystitis
- Functional infertility
- Reports pain on sexual intercourse
- Osteopathic monitoring of pregnancy and post-partum
Psycho-somatic disorders
- Stress
- Nervousness, anxiety
- Depressive state
- Sleep disorders
- Fatigue
The aftermath of trauma
- Sprains
- Falls
- Accidents de voiture
- Emotional shock
- Loss of mobilization after fractures, operations, etc.
Osteopathy depending on life events
Everyone can benefit from osteopathy,but some conditions
can be typical to an age, activity, medical conditions, etc.
Treatment of infant and child
Like the mother, pregnancy and childbirth prove to be true challenges for the infant as well. During pregnancy, the fetus may suffer the stress felt by its mother, and can spend months in a compromising intra-uterine position. At birth, intense pressure and compression forces will be applied on the baby’s skull, neck, shoulders, and chest. Those forces are accentuated during a difficult birth (too long, too quick, forceps, vacuum, etc).
In addition to paediatric care, regular osteopathic monitoring can relieve these following conditions, as well as supervise the baby’s development to ensure the optimal posture during growth.
- Shock from the process of birth
- Aftermath of the forceps, vacuum, c-section
- Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease
- Digestion disorder
- Colic
- Torticollis
- Chronic otitis
- Sleep disorders
- Strabismus
- Plagiocephaly
- Blocked tear duct
- Canal lacrymal bouché
- Suction difficulties, TMJ
The treatment of teenagers
Adolescence goes hand in hand with extreme physical, psychological and physiological changes. The young adult will have to learn its limits in a scholarly environment, sports, social events, etc.
Osteopathic treatments can have a beneficial preventive outcome if used at the right moment during growth spurs, as well as to improve the development into their adult body.
- Orthodontic treatment
- Scoliosis, kyphosis
- Various joint pain
- School difficulties
- Fatigue, stress, insomnia
- Painful or irregular rules
The treatment of pregnant women
Being pregnant is a wonderful event for women. Nevertheless, in order for the child to develop, women have to endure many significant structural, hormonal and emotional changes. Sometimes, the body will find it difficult to adapt to the foetus’ needs. This can then lead to various aches or increase chronic functional disorders.
Your osteopath will adapt his techniques (soft manipulations) to ease a difficult pregnancy and especially to prepare childbirth. A treatment before delivery improves the general mobility of the pelvis, sacrum, and coccyx. Post-natal monitoring is also needed to help the articular structures and viscera to resettle back to their place.
By monitoring every two months, your osteopath will be able to track your pregnancy in addition to the usually gynecological and obstetric monitoring.
- Joint pain: low back pain, sciatic pain, pain in the sacrum or tailbone
- Digestive disorders: nausea, indigestion, bloating, constipation, pain abdominal difficulty in digestion
- Stress, fatigue, anxiety, fear of childbirth
- Cardiovascular disorders: heavy legs, haemorrhoids
The treatment of athletes
During physical activity, amateur or professional, we create natural micro-traumas on our joints, muscles, and ligaments. Overtraining can cause or accentuate imbalances on these structures, leading to sports injuries, which can become a real setback for the patient.
Osteopathy can improve their performance, their resistance to effort and facilitate recovery work by eliminating all restrictions that cause a decrease in mobility. It may also assist you after serious injuries in addition to rehabilitation by a physiotherapist.
- Contractures, muscle aches
- Pain during exertion
- Tendonitis, tennis elbow, golfers elbow
- After trauma (shock, sprains, muscle tears, sprains, fractures)
- Recovery from exercise
- mprove performance, resistance
- After surgical operations: to help a proper healing, relieve membership
- Rebalancing of post-traumatic stress join.
The treatment of persons with disabilities
In addition to traditional therapeutic follow-up, osteopathy can be helpful in improving a better quality of life to children and/or adults with disabilities (birth, post-traumatic, neurological), pathologies, autism, and behaviour disorders.
Some disabilities decreased elasticity of the tissues or impact on the structure of the joints of the body. One of the concepts of osteopathy is that “the structure governs the function and vice versa”. Osteopathy will therefore help to :
- Free soft tissue and ligamentous barriers
- Restore a better mobility in the joints
- Rebalancing facial and tissue tension areas
- Stimulate neuromuscular activity
- Promote physical and mental well-being, enhance global relaxation and reduce stress
The osteopath will therefore seek to alleviate the tensions to ensure a better harmony between the various structures of the body. You can check with your osteopath, as well as with the association Enfants Handicapes Espoir Ostéopathique (EHEO) on www.eheo.org.
