Osteopathic Physicians are graduates of an osteopathic medical school or college in the United States.  They receive a Doctor of Osteopathy or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) degree in the Unitied States. The education needed to become an osteopathic physician is not available in Canada. In Ontario, only a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) is permitted to use the title "osteopath" as per the Medicine Act, 1991. Thus, the small number of  U.S. education osteopathic physicians who are members of the CPSO can be described either as osteopaths or osteopathic physicians.

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Your Appointment with a Manual Practitioner

Your Appointment with a Manual Practitioner

At your first appointment, the osteopathic manual practitioner should always:

1. Conduct a thorough survey of your health

The practitioner might want to learn a lot about your current and past health, to find out:

• what problem is bothering you now
• what general health issues you have, if any
• what medical treatments you have had throughout your life

2. Give you a physical examination

The manual practitioner should examine you physically to check your condition and make sure it is safe for you to receive osteopathic treatment. They may also assess the systems and structures of your body that may be related to your complaint, such as

• your posture
• your gait (the way you walk)
• the motion of your joints

The practitioner should also palpate various areas of your body to learn about

• the tone of your tissues (their strength and tension)
• whether there are any restrictions
• your biorhythm

It's a good idea to wear loose clothing, such as shorts and a T-shirt or tank top.

3. Develop a treatment plan

Together, you and your osteopathic manual practitioner should review the results of your health survey and physical examination. Based on all this information, the osteopath will propose a treatment plan for you.

• check to see the results of your previous treatment
• reassess the areas to be treated
• use one or more of the osteopathic treatment methods, depending on what you need Your body needs time to adapt to each treatment, especially if your problem is chronic.

A week is usually enough time for your body to adapt, so in most cases treatments are given once a week or once every 2 weeks. As your condition starts to improve, you will need treatments less often. 

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Manual Osteopathic Treatment Methods

Osteopathic Manual Practitioners identify, assess, and treat the body's structures and rhythms using a gentle, hands-on approach. This fundamental technique is called osteopathic palpation. Manual practitioners spend many years developing the very sensitive sense of touch they need to master osteopathic palpation.

Osteopathic palpation is what makes manual osteopathy different from other forms of therapy. Manual practitioners use it in the 4 major treatment techniques:

1. Soft Tissue Manipulation

The practitioner uses soft tissue manipulation in many different ways. In general, they use it to evaluate the condition of tissues and to help the body's fluids (such as blood and lymphatic fluid) flow smoothly. Keeping fluids flowing smoothly reduces harmful fluid retention and makes the body's immune system more effective.

Fascia is tissue found in all parts of the body. It connects all of the body's structures at both superficial and deep levels. Practitioners evaluate the fascia to find areas of restriction, and then use soft tissue manipulation to make sure the length and tension of the fascia are properly balanced.

Throughout the treatment, osteopaths keep checking on the state of the body's tissues. If one technique isn't working to correct a restriction, they use another approach instead. Above all, osteopathic manual practitioners try to restore health without over-treating.

2. Osteopathic articular technique

Osteopathic Manual Practitioners use this technique to:

• reduce muscle spasms near a joint
• ease neurological irritations around a joint
• make joints more mobile
• reduce pain and discomfort

The articular technique involves gently moving 2 joint surfaces. Before doing this, practitioners carefully prepare the soft tissues around the treatment area. They also move the patient into a position that will minimize, or eliminate the energy and force needed to perform the manoeuvre. Many patients find this technique less forceful than joint manipulations.

A click is sometimes heard when the correction is made. This is nothing more than the synovial fluid moving through the joint.

The osteopathic articular technique is a very small component of osteopathy. Patients who do not want to have this (or any other) technique performed on them are encouraged to discuss their concerns with their practitioner. Osteopathic Manual Practitioners can use other methods to achieve similar results.

3. Cranial osteopathy

This is the most gentle osteopathic technique, and it requires the most experience to use effectively. To learn this technique, Osteopathic Manual Practitioners undergo years of intensive training. Through this training, their hands become sensitive to the cranial mobility and develop great precision in utilizing cranial technique.

Osteopathic manual practitioners use this gentle technique to assess and treat the mobility of the skull and its contents. They may also use it to assess and treat the spine, the sacrum, and other parts of the body.

The goal of this technique is to adjust the body's physiology by restoring balance to the circulation of the blood and other body fluids. Practitioners do this by treating the body's inherent biorhythm. Practitioners trained in this technique can feel this rhythm in the patient's head, spinal cord, and in the sacrum and the rest of the body. Osteopathic Manual Practitioners use the biorhythm to assess the patient's condition, and they may modify it during treatment.

4. Visceral manipulation

Osteopathic Manual Practitioners use visceral manipulation to treat organs and viscera of the body, including:

• lungs
• heart
• liver
• spleen
• kidneys
• stomach
• pancreas
• intestines
• bladder
• uterus

Patients may feel pain in one or more of these organs, or the viscera may be less pliable than it should be. Osteopathic manual practitioners gently move the structures themselves and the fascia (connective tissue) that surrounds them to restore full movement.

Most patients treated with visceral manipulation feel only gentle pressure of the osteopathic manual practitioner's hand. But the corrections are powerful enough to improve the mobility of an organ, improve blood flow, and help the organ function more effectively. Arteries, nerves and veins may also be included in the treatment. 

The above (and many other) osteopathic manual techniques and approaches are used in a coordinated and rational fashion to slowly adjust the patients anatomy and physiology towards normal, so that the patients body can heal itself.

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Why Choose Osteopathy?

Osteopathic manual practitioners assess and treat your body as a whole, because:

• symptoms sometimes show up in a different part of your body from where the problem actually is
• there may be several factors contributing to the symptoms you experience

Osteopathic treatment is efficient, which helps to minimize the number of visits you need.

Practitioners go through many years of training to develop their highly refined palpatory skills.

Note: It is important that you speak with your medical doctor for the complete diagnosis of any medical condition.

For further information please visit Osteopathy BC at https://osteopathybc.ca/