MRC is a multi-disciplinary clinic offering osteopathy. Here is a little more on what osteopathy is, and what you can expect on your first visit to MRC
Dr. Amale, Osteopath
Dr. Amale has a very specific and detailed knowledge in anatomy, embryology and physiology. She is very well trained and is therefore capable of feeling all the different structures, tissues, organs, all the fluid flow of blood and lymph and is also able to detect any present obstructions.
Osteopathic Treatment
The goal of Osteopathic treatment at Medica Relief Center is not being just a short term intervention, but is about supporting the self-healing potential that every human being possesses. The focus is on treating and healing the entire patient, rather than treating a patient’s symptoms in a crisis-orientated, one-spot approach. When treating a patient, we will not only treat the site of pain, but will seek to find the cause for why the pain has arisen, therefore reducing the chances of the injury reoccurring. The cause of each complaint differs from person to person, ranging from biopsychosocial factors such as stress, work set up (ergonomics), posture, injuries incurred through trauma or perhaps a pathology such as asthma. It is about a free moving body, and about getting to a point where all the innate healing systems are free to work without dysfunctions. A thorough case history is taken and a diagnosis is established. This, and the superb knowledge of anatomy and physiology, helps Dr. Amale to detect any tension or dysfunction that might be the cause for the symptoms. She then treats this problem with soft and subtle manual techniques or, if necessary, with manipulations to gently free the restricted areas.
We could give the following example to clarify:
An eight-year-old girl, while playing, falls very hard on her bottom. She cries bitterly and complains of pain over her sacrum for a week or so. A kiss and hug consoles her. During a sudden growth spurt as a teenager, the same girl complains of low back ache. By the age of eighteen, she has her first attack of sciatica, which is helped by anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxant medicine. She gives up her favorite sport, because it seems to aggravate the problem.
In her late twenties, married with a stressful job, she begins to have an irritable colon and attacks of cystitis. She takes antibiotics and changes her diet.
And the pain aggravates progressively until at the age of thirty, she has a major attack of low back pain and sciatica and is in bed for two weeks. At this point, hoping to avoid surgery, she visits MRC. And this is where the main past cause of her pain is treated.
The Treatment
A treatment can take up to 50 minutes. We do not heal - but activate the self-healing potential! Osteopathic medicine sees the body’s own healing system as the most effective intervention and seeks stimulating and releasing the body’s own healing resources in every possible way. The body at that point can start this process; and this is the main reason why there are usually several weeks intervals between treatments.
Babies and little children are usually treated with smaller intervals of time, as their system changes very fast. An exhausted person (long disease, long period of stress, major emotional impact) is also treated with smaller intervals of time because his/her system might need more assistance to get started again. Each new session picks up the patient at his/her very state of health at that day. On average it takes 5-6 treatments to get the person back to health. Chronic diseases need more help.
Who seeks help from an Osteopath?
Pregnant women, mothers and babies, seniors with all the problems derived from the aging process and everybody in between. Some examples:
Internal problems: such as irritable bowel, asthma, heart burn, functional heart problems, varicose.
Head/Ear/Nose problems: such as sinus problems, headaches, ear infections, dizziness, jaw problems, vertigo.
Urogenital problems: such as chronic bladder infections, incontinence, kidney problems, prostate problems.
Gynecological problems: such as menstruation cramps, menopause disorders, during/after pregnancy.
Pediatric problems: such as distortion of the skull, vomiting, colic, steady crying, asymmetry.
Overall problems: like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, panic attacks, attention deficit disorders or sleeping disorders, scars, etc.
Approaches in Osteopathy
Although one might hear about different kinds of Osteopathy, it is not exactly the case. In fact, there are different systems in the body, and therefore, there are different names for these systems. And the treatment always depends on where the focus is.
The treatments are the following:
The Myofascial Release Myofascial Release is a safe and very effective hands-on technique that involves applying gentle sustained pressure into the Myofascial connective tissue restrictions to eliminate pain and restore motion. Trauma, inflammatory responses, and/or surgical procedures create Myofascial restrictions that can produce tensile pressures of approximately 2,000 pounds per square inch on pain sensitive structures that do not show up in many of the standard tests (x-rays, myelograms, CAT scans, electromyography, etc.)
The Cranio Sacral System includes the skull, sacrum, brain, spinal cord and nerve tissues. Dysfunction may occur through a blow on the head or a fall on the sacrum, high fevers, reactions to vaccinations, birth process, tooth extraction, etc.
The Visceral System includes all inner organs, blood vessels, lymph vessels and the connective tissues. Dysfunctions may occur through surgery, inflammations, wrong diet, sinking of organs due to age, etc.
The Structural System stands for the musculo-neuro-skeletal system (muscles, nerves, bones, fascia and joints). Dysfunctions may occur through all kinds of accidents (sports, car accidents, falls, blows, etc.)
The Principles of Osteopathy
Self-Healing of the Body: the body has a self-regulating mechanism, which tries to respond to the laws of balance, economy and comfort. Healing wounds, responding to stress, killing germs, etc. are all part of this self-healing mechanism. The highest goal of an Osteopathic treatment is the restoration of this self-healing mechanism.
The Human Body is a Whole, a Unit: The human body is a non-separable unit, in which all systems are dependent on each other. That includes the psyche. And this leads to the recognition that an acute disease might originate in a totally different part of the body system or might even have been triggered by a psychic reason.
The Structure governs the Function: Structure (like body fluids, bones, muscles, organs, nerves) and function (digestion, blood/lymph circulation, etc.) are reciprocal to each other. So a change in function (e.g. a strain) can change the structure (e.g. calcifications), while changes in body structures (e.g. joint or vertebra dislocations) also disturb function (e.g. a nerve tingling).
History of Osteopathy
In 1874, Dr. Andrew Taylor Still named his medical approach Osteopathy. In 1876 he opened the first School of Osteopathy in Kirksville, Mo. For several years, he went from town to town in Missouri and Iowa, treating diseases of all kinds by his new method and affecting many remarkable cures. The number of patients he received decreased remarkably until he was totally unable to care for them, which led, in 1892, to his organization of the American School of Osteopathy.
Although Osteopathy met considerable opposition, its growth was rapid. It was introduced into Hawaii in 1897, into Canada and Great Britain in 1898, and is now practiced in Australia, China and Japan, as well as Europe.
Since 1974 Osteopaths (DO) are equal to Physicians (MD) in the USA. Although Osteopaths in Europe have thorough osteopathic training, there is a missing piece: they are not trained in pharmacology and surgery. But because of that, they do not equal Physicians generally. Allopathic and Osteopathic medicine are based on the same theoretical knowledge of sciences, but classic Osteopathy focuses on treating the functional problems. So Osteopathy is not an alternative to classical doctors, but it complements their work, thus supporting classical medical approaches by treating the existing dysfunctions - which would eventually lead to a structural problem - or by treating dysfunctions, that derive from existing structural problems.