Osteopathic Treatment in Bondi Junction and the Sydney CBD

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If you click through my site you will find out a little about me and my osteopathic practices and also my clinic times and locations in Bondi Junction and the Sydney CBD. Some of my own observations and commentaries are found in my’ Personal Asides’ page.

As you scroll down below, you will find some information about osteopathy, its history and relevance today.

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Osteopathy is an approach to healthcare that emphasizes the role of the musculoskeletal system in health and disease.

In most countries, osteopathy falls in the realm of the allied health professions. Osteopathic practice emphasises a holistic approach and the skilled use of a range of manual and physical treatment interventions in the prevention and treatment of disease. In practice, this most commonly relates to musculoskeletal problems such as back and neck pain. Osteopathic principles teach that treatment of the musculoskeletal system (bones, soft tissue structures such as muscles, ligaments and tendons, and joints) facilitates the recuperative powers of the body.

The practice of osteopathy began in the United States in 1874. The term "osteopathy" was coined by Andrew Taylor Still. Still, a practicing medic, who lived and worked in Missouri at the time of the American Civil War. It was here he developed the practice of osteopathy, following his disaffection with the limitations and contradictions of medicine as practiced at that time.

Still named his new school of medicine "osteopathy," reasoning that "the bone, osteon, was the starting point from which he was to ascertain the cause of pathological conditions.” Still founded the American School of Osteopathy (now A.T. Still University) in Kirksville, Missouri, for the teaching of osteopathy, in 1892.

The goal of osteopathic manipulative medicine, or OMM, is the resolution of what osteopaths call somatic dysfunction (the impaired or altered function of the musculo-skeletal system) in an attempt to aid the body's own recuperative facilities. Osteopathic manual treatment of the musculoskeletal system employs a diverse array of techniques. These are normally employed together with dietary, postural, exercise and occupational advice, as well as counseling, in an attempt to help patients recover from illness and injury and in an attempt to minimise or manage pain and disease.

Osteopathic treatment employs manual approaches, alongside exercise and other rehabilitative techniques, for the treatment of many neuromusculoskeletal pain syndromes, such as:

· Back, neck and shoulder pain

· Nerve problems like sciatica

· Headache and migraine

· Muscle strains and spasms

· Hip, knee, jaw, elbow, wrist and ankle pain

· Joint injuries and arthritis

· Sports-related injuries like tendonitis (tennis elbow), bursitis and ligament sprains

· Work-related and repetitive strain injuries (RSI)

· Postural and mobility problems

Many osteopaths also manage (or co-manage) organic or Type-O conditions, such as asthma and pulmonary infection, menstrual pain and GIT disturbance.

In a meta-analysis and systematic review of six randomized controlled trials of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) that involved blinded assessments of lower back pain in ambulatory settings, it was concluded that OMT significantly reduces lower back pain, and that the level of pain reduction is greater than expected from placebo effects alone and persists for at least three months.

Another study, which aimed to identify cellular mechanisms at work during osteopathic treatment, was published in the Journal of American Osteopathic Association in December 2007. Data from this study suggest that fibroblast proliferation and expression/secretion of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory interleukins may contribute to the clinical efficacy of indirect osteopathic manipulative techniques.

Safety concerns have been raised in relation to manipulative techniques used in osteopathic practice. 'Neck cracking', i.e. cervical high-velocity low-amplitude thrusting, has received particular attention in the popular media due to a possible risk of arterial occlusion and consequently of stroke. Although the existing data cannot provide a conclusive estimate of the cervical artery dissection risk researchers have stated that a stroke risk of about 1.3 per 100 000 chiropractic visits for individuals aged under 45 years, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.5–16.7 per 100 000 is a theoretically unbiased estimate. Although these data primarily concern chiropractic visits, both osteopaths and chiropractors may practice cervical manipulations.