Tag: Bentham osteopath

Stress and Osteopathy

Hannah Beard
Photo by Pedro Figueras

“There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.”

Ronald Reagan

Recently I went on a workshop about Treating Chronic Stress with MindBody Breakthrough and learned and revised some useful tips that I’d like to share with you. It is relevant to me personally given I’ve just completed 5 years studying a second degree in Osteopathy whilst work and life went on around the edges. It’s also relevant to me professionally as I do see chronically stressed patients.

In Osteopathy, we can treat some of the symptoms of chronic stress such as jaw pain from bruxism, headaches caused by excessive tension in the neck, low back pain, mid back pain, rib pain and the general muscle tension and aches and pains that go with being chronically stressed. Osteopaths study the effects of stress on the body because of its far reaching effects. Selye (1952) describes how every vital organ and function responds to stress; from the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response) activation which leads to increases in stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline which then affects the insulin regulation of the body, the cardiovascular system, and the the digestive system so that the body has extra energy to deal with the threat posed.

Have you ever found that you got unwell after a prolonged period of being under pressure? Teachers, for instance normally spend the first week of the holidays ill after 6-8 weeks of prolonged stress in school. Being stressed for long periods breaks the body’s ability to restore balance and that includes the balance created by the immune system. Reiche, Nunes and Morimoto, (2004) report how persistent activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis (HPA) in the chronic stress state impairs the immune response which contributes to the development and progression of dysfunction and disease within the body.  When coming out of a stressful period of your life you might find yourself becoming ill as your body’s immune system kicks back into action to restore balance.

Photo by Pixabay

Anxiety wants you to withdraw from the world, healing requires connection.

Wale Oladipo, MindBody Breakthrough

Studies into brain imagery have shown that the blood flow and activity in the areas of the brain associated with heightened emotions can increase with chronic stress and anxiety. Over long periods of time this wires in panic disorders, anxiety and depression which basically involve disordered thinking and unbalanced emotional responses. https://www.amenclinics.com/services/brain-spect/

How do you re-balance the brain? Below are some evidenced based tips which I picked up on the course Treating Chronic Stress with MindBody Breakthrough:

  • Take regular exercise for at least 40 minutes, four times a week
  • Sleep for 7-8 hours daily
  • Have regular massage sessions
  • Practice gratitude and appreciation daily
  • Reduce caffeine consumption, alcohol and smoking
  • A balanced diet of high-quality proteins, healthy fats, and fewer carbohydrates will help balance your mood; avoid sugar as it is pro-inflammatory
  • Brain health supplements: Omega 3 fatty acids to reduce oxidative stress in the brain, Magnesium (meant to be good for anxiety), B complex vitamins, Vitamin D, Vitamin C.

Why would coming to see an osteopath help with chronic stress? The evidence behind having regular massages tells us that hands on therapy like massage can “reduce depression, anxiety, cardiac frequency… this can also lead to an increase in vagal activities and a reduction in the levels of cortisol. In stress data from MRI scans, the scans suggested that the massages using moderate pressure reached the cerebral regions including the amygdala, the hypothalamus, the cingulated cortex and all of the areas involved in stress and emotional regulation” (Kurebayashi et al., 2016). So having osteopathic treatment that involves massage can reduce negative emotions by changing the chemical and neurological input to the brain.

Still not convinced? Why not book yourself an osteopathic assessment and treatment session and find out for yourself if osteopathy could help you.

What’s the difference between an osteopath, a physiotherapist and a chiropractor?

Hannah Beard
Touch

This is another common question. The answer, I think, is touch. Osteopaths train for a minimum of 4 years and in that time practice for at least 1000 hours in a clinic getting hands on people. This hones the sense of touch or ‘palpation’ to be able to assess tissue quality, the range of movement, symmetry and even the tenderness of an injuried or strained area. Osteopath assessments and treatments involve palpation so your session will always be ‘hands on’.

A physiotherapist or chiropractor has different principles to an osteopath. Although trying to achieve the same outcome i.e. getting the patient better, the patient will experience treatment differently visiting each professional.

Let’s use low back pain as an example. Where a physio might see glutes not firing and prescribe exercises, an osteopath or chiropractor might see sacroiliac joint dysfunction and perform spinal manipulation and/or articulation. Both aim to help the low back problem and both have advantages and disadvantages (of course). The physio might argue that the spinal manipulation is short lived and won’t help if the glutes don’t fire to stabilise the changes made. The osteopath/chiropractor might argue that the glutes won’t fire properly while there is imbalance and limited movement in the spine. The nerves that fire the glutes leave the spine between L4-S1 so they are unlikely to be the only problem. It’s a bit like a chicken/egg argument where no one answer is ‘right’.

Osteopaths, like physios, are Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) and have been recognised as such since 2017. Chiropractors aren’t.

There are more physios in the NHS than osteopaths who remain a small profession in comparison. There are no chiropractors working in the NHS (to the best of my knowledge.)

What remains important in answering this question is that a good osteo/chiro/physio should get you right with a mixture of hands on, exercise prescription, and lifestyle advice. They’ll go about it in different ways, but a good healthcare professional is worth their weight in gold to their patients.

There are similarities and differences between all three professionals.