Osteopathy and Arthritis

Arthritis is an inflammation of any joint. There are two types of arthritis: osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Osteoarthritis is often described as a wear and tear of the joints caused by age, repetitive actions, and obesity and also altered postural and biomechanics (movements of the body) such as a past trauma, growth of the body, and a traumatic experience such as birth, or a vehicle accident.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is described as an autoimmune condition in which the body’s immune system attacks the body’s own tissue. Rheumatoid arthritis usually affects the entire body with the most often affected joints being the ankles, feet, hands, knees and wrists.

The joints can be warm, tender and swollen. Typically there is a discoloration of the skin over the joint that looks purplish. Joint deformities of the hands and feet as the disease progresses are quite common.

The symptoms of arthritis center on the joints due to inflammation so specific movements and treatment techniques are used by the osteopathy medicine clinicians to encourage the movement of fluid around the joints and tissues to help in the removal of the inflammatory substances from the joints. The techniques used also reduce the pain of arthritis. Diet and lifestyle can also help to reduce symptoms of arthritis.

Diagnosis

X-rays, blood tests, and MRI scans may be used to help assess the extent of the arthritic condition. Even though nothing can be done to undo the damage already done by arthritis osteopathic treatment can help to reduce the pain, swelling, and improve mobility and range of motion of each joint involved. Osteopathic treatment can help with neck pain, low back pain and swelling, hip pain and lack of mobility, and early morning stiffness.

The treatment’s goal is to improve the mobility and to reduce the swelling by using gentle, manual osteopathic techniques on each of the affected joints, on muscles, and also on ligaments. Exercises at home in warm water or salt baths may be suggested as well as other exercises and lifestyle changes designed to improve function and reduce pain.

You Can Do It

No patient needs to accept the advice that there is nothing that can be done about the pain and suffering of arthritis. Exercise, diet changes and lifestyle changes along with osteopathic treatment can over time reduce the pain, and increase mobility. No patient is too young or too old to receive osteopathic treatment and care by those who are dedicated to helping your body to heal itself.

No person should suffer needlessly. It is possible for your body to heal itself once osteopathic treatment has better aligned the body and allowed the various body parts to work in harmony to help the body to better function, and to restore health to the body parts as well as to heal tissue as the body reduces pain and inflammation.

This article originally appeared on Science Beta.

Rolfing Therapy: A Way To Align The Body And Relieve Pain!

There are many hands-on pain relief methods, such as massage, trigger point therapy, reiki, stretching, physical therapy... Among these is Rolfing. Learn more.

Rolfing is a method of structural integration accomplished by soft tissue manipulation and movement education. Developed in the 1950s by Ida Rolf, this bodywork method has allowed people to stand straighter, move better than ever and gain height through its focus on correcting tissue fixations.

It is no secret that physical and emotional stress leaves its mark in the body via tight muscles, cramps, trigger points, aches and pains. Every time we have been in a stressful situation, our body has reacted by tightening up and holding that stress in the tissues.

What Is Rolfing?

Every physical sprain or strain we have suffered is still locked into muscle memory. Is there any doubt as to why we suffer chronic pain, especially musculo-skeletal pain?

There are many hands-on pain relief methods, such as massage, trigger point therapy, reiki, stretching, physical therapy and others. Among these is Rolfing, which specializes in soft tissue release.

Basically, by releasing the adhesions and scar tissue holding muscle, fascia and tendon locked into spasm, the body can be corrected and free motion returned. This is accomplished by direct deep pressure that a practitioner applies to the body of a client with their fist, fingers and elbows.

Rolfing may be painful for some because of the deep pressure and tearing actions used. However, the pain only remains while the treatment is in session. The pain is evoked by the pressure exerted into the adhered soft tissue areas.

Once the adhesions are worked out, the pain subsides and the body is returned to normal ranges of motion and suppleness.

The Benefits Of Rolfing

Since Rolfers differentiate between good posture and correct body structure, they strive to organize the skeletal system that has been made "Crooked" through injury and stress. By correcting the underlying structure of the body, and also removing adhesion of muscle and connective tissue, the body can realign and hold itself properly. And with proper structure and posture comes pain relief.

Through Rolfing sessions people can expect to improve flexibility, athletic performance, reduce swelling and pain, increase range of motion and correct posture. All types of performance improve and pain disappears when the muscles fire completely and rest completely. And this can only happen when the body is correctly aligned.

You might be asking yourself how Rolfing is different than regular massage. The difference is in the focus on the body treatment. Whereas massage improves circulation and helps relaxations and short term stress, Rolfing focuses on re-ordering the body to prevent the pains returning. Also, whereas massage works on muscle tissue Rolfing works on the fascia or connective tissue.

Conclusion

So if you suffer muscle or skeletal pain and have tried traditional massage, why not go one step farther and give Rolfing a try. It's a deeper therapy that may be the answer you are seeking.

Article originally appeared on BodyBuilding.com and was written by Steven Hefferon.

Ease Sore Muscles and Improve Blood Flow with Massage

Massage therapy can help ease sore muscles and improve blood flow for people who are active as well as for those who do not exercise, a small study finds.

Those effects can last for more than 72 hours, researchers found. People with poor circulation or limited ability to move are among those who could benefit most from massage therapy, they noted.

“Our study validates the value of massage in exercise and injury, which has been previously recognized but based on minimal data,” Nina Cherie Franklin, study first author and a postdoctoral fellow in physical therapy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said in a university news release. “It also suggests the value of massage outside of the context of exercise.”

In the study, the researchers asked 36 healthy but inactive young adults to use a leg press machine until their legs became sore. Half of the participants were given a Swedish leg massage after they exercised. All of the participants rated their muscle soreness on a scale from one to 10. A third comparison group did not exercise, but got a massage.

Although both exercise groups were sore right after their workout, the people who got the massage said they had no soreness 90 minutes later. In contrast, those in the group that didn’t receive a massage said they were sore 24 hours after they exercised.

Because muscle injury from exercise has been shown to reduce blood flow, researchers say, they also measured the participants’ “brachial artery flow mediated dilation” in their arms. This standard measure of general vascular health was taken 90 minutes as well as one, two and three days after exercise.

The people who got a massage after they exercised had improved blood flow at every testing interval and the benefits of the massage didn’t dissipate until after 72 hours had passed, researchers found. People who did not receive a massage after exercise had reduced blood flow after 90 minutes and returned to normal levels at 72 hours.

“We believe that massage is really changing physiology in a positive way,” Franklin said. “This is not just blood flow speeds — this is actually a vascular response.”

And massage doesn’t just help people who exercise, the researchers also found.

“The big surprise was the massage-only control group, who showed virtually identical levels of improvement in circulation as the exercise and massage group,” study principal investigator Shane Phillips, an associate professor of physical therapy at UIC, said in the news release. “The circulatory response was sustained for a number of days, which suggests that massage may be protective.”

The study found that participants’ blood flow was changed far away from the sore muscles. Researchers concluded that massage benefits are systemic and not confined to one specific area of the body.

While the study found an association between massage and improved circulation, it did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship.

The study was recently published online ahead of publication in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.