Yes, osteopathy can help you manage your headache. It also represents the most common cause of consultation both in general practice and in specialized clinics, as well as in complementary therapy clinics, such as osteopathy clinics.
Osteopaths are the
primary providers of health care and treat many patients suffering from headaches. We often treat patients suffering from chronic headaches, which have been sustained for many years.Other patients will experience headaches for a period of a few days to a few months. The most common form of headache is a tension headache, which affects one-third of men and half of women at some point. Tension headache is usually caused by irritation or inflammation of pain-sensitive structures in the head and neck. The pain may feel like dull pain, pressure, or tenderness in the head and neck.
Osteopaths often treat tension headaches by releasing muscles and improving mobility through the joints of the head and neck. Osteopathy is a holistic form of treatment in which the professional is concerned with treating the patient rather than the condition. Migraines are often triggered or worsened by stress, muscle tension, injury, sinus pressure, and incorrect posture. An osteopath can help manage all of these problems.
Evidence from five clinical trials suggests that osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) could effectively reduce pain and improve functional status in people with musculoskeletal conditions, according to a recent study published in BMJ Open. Osteopathic manipulative treatment involves the manual application of force or pressure to detect and treat health conditions by an osteopathic physician. Osteopaths will always evaluate each person individually and advise you on the best course of action for specific symptoms; this may include a series of osteopathic treatments, rehabilitation exercises, referral to your family doctor or other medical professionals to achieve maximum benefit. Overall, the authors of the systematic review found that evidence supporting the effectiveness of osteopathic manipulation to treat headaches was limited and of poor quality.
With the exception of one clinical trial, there were conflicting data comparing pain intensity or other variables in the osteopathic treatment group with the control group. Lucas Bohlen, a researcher at the Osteopathic Research Institute of the Osteopathie Schule Deutschland in Germany, made a similar evaluation. In addition, only two studies used a control group that involved a sham treatment that mimicked the characteristics of real osteopathic treatment. Clinical trials showed that osteopathic treatment resulted in a reduction in pain intensity and frequency of headaches.
Lorraine is also a clinical tutor in the Osteopathy Course in Ara and enjoys the opportunity to teach the next generation of osteopaths. Headaches such as migraine headaches are associated with increased release of pro-inflammatory molecules, and osteopathic treatment may reduce inflammation to relieve headaches.
