What is Osteopathy?
“A natural medicine which aims to restore function in the body by treating the causes of pain and imbalance. To achieve this goal the Osteopathic Manual Practitioner relies on the quality and finesse of his/her palpation and works with the position, mobility, and quality of the tissues. Osteopathy is a manual form of therapy which emphasizes the interrelationship between structure and function of the human body. It follows a belief in the body’s ability to self-heal and self-regulate. Osteopathy comes from two Greek words”Osteon” which means bones and “Pathos” for suffering.”
Osteopaths are functional anatomists who use manual therapy. They find the health, rather than focus on disease. Osteopathic treatment works to restore proper body mechanics, nerve impulses and the circulation of body fluids. Practitioners of Osteopathic Manual Therapy follow the theory that imbalances in the human structure contribute to or are directly related to the development and/or maintenance of disease. Anatomy and physiology is the foundation of Osteopathic treatment. Practitioners recognize that the human body is self-regulating and self-healing – and will strive for health if given a chance. Their role is to encourage this self-healing capacity through manual treatment – to convert the physical into the physiological. They allow nature to do its job of removing any and all obstacles and obstructions that will interfere with the proper nutrition and drainage of the body’s tissue. Dr. Andrew Still the founder of Osteopathy and Osteopathy Medicine conveys that human disease and physiological dysfunction are connected with the musculoskeletal system. Essentially dysfunction in bone, muscle, and ligaments, cause symptoms within a variety of systems in the body (circulation, nervous, respiratory) leading to disease. Therefore by treating the musculoskeletal system, he believed that Osteopathy could treat a variety of disease.
Why I choose to become an Osteopath?
My name is Renelle Aumont I’ve been working as a Registered Massage Therapist since 2013. I became interested in Osteopathy after addressing an ongoing hip issue I had post pregnancy and had gotten treated by a local Osteopath introduced to me by my mother. So I had my first osteopathic treatment and it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. It was very gentle and relaxing, and he looked over my whole body, not just the area of concern. I was completely baffled by how someone could seem to do so little yet get such big results After a few treatments I was pain-free. I was very interested in what was so different about this new treatment I had received, coupled with a long-standing interest in all things medical was what led me to make the decision to apply to the Manual Osteopath program today. I had also previously embarked in a visceral manipulation course in 2014 which really increased my fascination with Osteopathy. I was passionate about learning more and more about how the body was treated in this way and how it was different from the conventional norm. I was amazed as to how the body is interconnected in this way via the fascia and how by correcting imbalances in the cranial bones/fascia and organs can lead to balancing the whole body. Being an avid athlete in Crossfit this has only increased my personal understanding of the requirements and demands of sports. Being active and learning about osteopathy makes me know now the importance of movement more than ever. Being in the Crossfit world for 4 years I can see how Osteopathy and Crossfit can significantly co-exist. Osteopath helps to balance the bodies alignment and correct muscle activation when lifting weights. It improves joint range of motion and balance allowing for more efficient technique. In conjunction with exercise rehabilitation, Osteopathy will allow an injured CrossFit or Gym enthusiast to get back to training. For me becoming a Manual Osteopathy and acquiring its techniques is a tool I am looking for in my career in order to provide extraordinary service to my clients and that goes hand in hand with the skills I acquired as a Crossfit athlete. My passion is to educate people on their own bodies, explain how and why they’re suffering from certain symptoms/pains. I believe that if we become more in tune with how our bodies were designed to work, we will be able to remove dysfunction from the joints and soft tissue. Osteopathy is much more than just massage and “cracking”, and by sharing our knowledge we can help create a healthier community. In the future I aspire to increase my knowledge base of sports injuries, this is an area I’m very interested in. Not only osteopathic treatment but also physical rehabilitation.