So what is osteopathic medicine and how do the treatments benefit your health? Osteopathy is an alternative medicine commonly associated with the treatment of back and joint pain, but it can also be beneficial in a holistic sense.
Doctors of osteopathic medicine are licensed physicians who are qualified to practice medicine, perform surgery and prescribe medications. An Osteopathic medicine doctor will devise a treatment plan which focus on your overall health and look beyond your symptoms to understand how lifestyle and environmental factors are impacting your wellbeing.
Your body and mind are connected, so the chances are if you’re suffering from stress or anxiety or other ailments, this will come out in different ways in your body. You could have aches and pains, or trouble sleeping, and osteopathy can help you overcome all of these.
Why Osteopathic Medicine?
Many osteopathic doctors will use hands-on, manual treatments to reduce pain, increase physical mobility, and improve the circulation of blood and lymphatic fluids. This in turn help reduce stress and anxiety. Read on to find out if osteopathy should be part of your overall health plan.
Osteopathic Treatments for Anxiety
Feeling anxious is a completely normal reaction to stress and pressure. More people are going through anxiety due to the uncertainty of the current climate. It’s totally natural to feel the effects of this on your body. There are several natural remedies that can help you deal with anxiety. To complement these, an osteopath can treat the various symptoms that come with it. To learn how to manage your anxiety, consider treating your mind and body as a whole, this is what a doctor of osteopathic medicine will do.
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Aches and Pains Remedies from Osteopathy
Osteopathy works famously as an effective back pain treatment, but it’s also good for headaches. Stress hormones cause tension in the neck and shoulders and stiffness in the upper body and joints. This tension creates knots which affect your blood flow and cause headaches. Osteopathy uses massage techniques to relieve pressure and improve blood flow throughout the spine and muscles. This helps to reduce headaches, tension and pain.
Read More >>> 6 Back Pain Remedies for Fast Relief
Chest Tightness
Chest tightness is a common symptom of stress or anxiety because of the panic sensation causing shortness of breath. Your heart rate increases. You feel nervous. It’s natural that you’ve all felt this at some point, especially dealing with a full-time job plus kids running around. One technique that osteopaths will try is breathing exercises.
Deep breathing exercises help stretch and relax the tense muscles around your neck, chest, and diaphragm. This has a calming effect and soothes your chest tightness as well. There are other ways you can practice relaxation techniques, for example, yoga or meditation. Try out a mindfulness tutorial online:
Insomnia and Osteopathy
Unfortunately, this is a common problem affected by stress and anxiety. It’s frustrating when you know all you need is a good night’s sleep to be able to face what tomorrow throws at you. But no matter what you try, all that worry and concern keep you awake anyway.
Insomnia is connected to your sympathetic nervous system. This is the system of your spine and muscles, leading up to your shoulder blades from your lower back. Osteopaths work this area to try to solve the problem. Massage treatment here can help with insomnia.
Osteopaths also use a technique to activate the part of your brain that deals with your rest and digest nervous system. This allows you to relax and will help to slow down your heart rate and breathing. If you’re still having trouble sleeping there are some other lifestyle changes you can try.
This is only a guide to some of the techniques osteopaths use to improve physical and mental wellbeing. There are many factors contributing to your stress levels and osteopathy is only one solution. Speak to your GP for more information.
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