Osteopathic intervention can help treat arthritis, back pain, headaches, tennis elbow, digestive problems and postural problems. Treatment can also help with sleep cycles and nervous, circulatory, and lymphatic symptoms. The most common conditions treated by osteopaths are muscle-related pain, usually located in the back and neck. Back and neck pain can be attributed to poor posture, which can also be improved as a result of osteopathic techniques.
The purpose of the regulation is to protect patient safety, but it does not mean that there is scientific evidence that a treatment is effective. Other commonly seen conditions include neck and shoulder pain, sports injuries, repetitive strain disorders, and headache. Professionals also treat various conditions, such as arthritis; although they cannot affect the pathology or progression of the disease, they claim to be able to treat secondary symptoms such as pain from associated muscle spasm. Cranial osteopathy has a particular reputation for treating children with conditions such as infantile cramps, constant crying, and behavioral problems.
That said, osteopathic and chiropractic techniques are converging and much of their therapeutic repertoire is shared. Chiropractors can use X-rays to aid diagnosis, whereas osteopaths do so largely only for the purpose of excluding serious pathology. With the exception of cranial osteopathy, many of the treatment methods used by osteopaths and chiropractors are similar to techniques used by physical therapists with additional training in manipulative therapy. If you use an osteopath and you don't meet this standard of practice, you can complain to the GoSC.
To maintain a practice certificate, osteopaths must complete a set number of hours of continuous professional development. But be sure to ask your family doctor or midwife for advice about your symptoms before seeing an osteopath. A relatively recent branch of chiropractic, the McTimoney School, has developed some of its own manipulative techniques that don't place as much emphasis on high-speed thrusts as osteopathy and conventional chiropractic. The most important possible adverse effects of osteopathy and chiropractic are stroke and spinal cord injury after cervical manipulation.
Sports injuries, such as strains and sprains, are also frequently treated by osteopaths; this is often an integral part of an athlete's recovery and rehabilitation program and can help restore the body to full physical condition in a shorter period of time. Chiropractors and osteopaths can use soft tissue techniques to increase the range of motion of a joint or relieve muscle spasms. Osteopathy is a non-invasive form of manual medicine that focuses on the health of the whole body, recognizing the important relationship between the structure of the body and its functioning as a unit. Osteopathic training covers all medical sciences with a focus on osteopathic principles, diagnosis, treatment and management of musculoskeletal conditions.
Osteopathic professionals are primary health care providers who help the body facilitate its own healing mechanisms by rebalancing the musculoskeletal system, connective tissues, nerves, circulation and internal organs. There is little or no reliable evidence of beneficial effects for many of the other musculoskeletal conditions that are commonly treated. In recent years, the osteopathic and chiropractic professions have shown a greater appreciation of the risks of cervical manipulation, and it is possible that improved practice will lead to a reduction in the rate of serious complications. .
