Complaints in adults
Osteopathy is for all ages!
Osteopathy is a manual therapy that examines joints, vertebrae, nerves and organs for their mobility.
This mobility is necessary to function well and without complaints.
An osteopath knows which body tissues are connected to each other and how they can influence each other.
Where movement is disturbed, osteopathic treatment is aimed at restoring this movement.
The treatment involves stretching, loosening and mobilizing tissues (joints, muscles, nerves and connective tissue around the organs) by moving them with the hands.
By restoring movement, the affected part of the body can function optimally again and the pain is reduced or disappears.
Therefore, only the hands are used to find and treat loss of mobility.
Examples:
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I've been experiencing lower back pain for six months, with no apparent cause. Medication from my GP (diclofenac and paracetamol) and physiotherapy treatments have had no effect.
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I've been experiencing prolonged headaches for years. Medication from my GP, a referral to a neurologist, and treatments like physiotherapy and Caesar therapy haven't helped.
Osteopathy can effectively treat chronic, long-term complaints that arise without any apparent cause.
The treatment
Before your first appointment, you'll receive a questionnaire by email. This will give me a preliminary understanding of your symptoms. During the initial consultation, we'll discuss your medical history and symptoms in detail.
This is followed by a physical examination. I'll feel for any restricted movement in muscles, joints, nerves, and organs. These restricted movements can cause tension elsewhere in the body.
We also examine whether environmental factors and lifestyle influence the development or maintenance of symptoms. These factors include stress, diet, exercise, sleep, and emotions.
Together we will look at what is needed to find a sustainable solution to your complaints.
Various treatment indications
(Chronic) back and neck complaints
Muscle and/or joint complaints
Radiating nerve pain
Headache / migraine
Abdominal complaints
Stomach and (irritable) intestinal complaints
Dizziness complaints
Hyperventilation
Post-traumatic complaints (including whiplash)
Repetitive strain injury (RSI, tennis elbow, golfer's elbow)
Fatigue complaints and concentration problems
Jaw problems
Somatically unexplained physical complaints (SOLK)
Restless legs and tired legs
Sports injuries
Unexplained complaints, without an identifiable medical cause.
Prevention of recurring complaints, an “APK” treatment.
This list above is not exhaustive. If you have any questions about treatment options, please feel free to contact us.
Example case
In this (fictional) case study, I explain how physical complaints are sometimes interconnected—even if they seem unrelated at first glance. Patricia, a 45-year-old woman, comes to my practice with pain in her lower back. The pain radiates to her right buttock and the back of her thigh. When I ask her more, she tells me she also regularly suffers from headaches and that her abdomen often feels bloated, along with changes in bowel movements. At first glance, these seem like three separate complaints. But are they? The physical examination reveals that her lower vertebra and the right pelvic joint are very tight. This could explain the pain in her lower back. But then the question is: why are these joints so tight? When I examine her right lower abdomen, it is very tense and painful, even with light pressure. This is striking. You should know that all organs in your abdomen are attached to the spinal column, among other things, which keeps them in their proper place within the abdomen. In this case, her intestines appear tense and sensitive, pulling on the front of the stuck vertebra. This tension prevents the vertebra from moving properly, causing the back pain. These intestinal complaints were also mentioned in our initial consultation: the bloating and irregular bowel movements. A harmless digestive problem may be the underlying cause, which requires further investigation. Moreover, the abdominal organs are connected to the brain via a long nerve that exits the spinal column at the upper cervical vertebrae and travels through the neck and chest to the abdominal organs. If there is a lot of tension or irritation in the intestines, this can overload the neck via this nerve. This can lead to tension or overstimulation in the neck, and can ultimately cause a headache. In this example, you can see how both the back pain and the headache originate in the abdomen. If we only treat the back and do nothing about the tension in the abdomen, the complaint will likely not go away or will quickly return. Of course, multiple factors often play a role – such as posture, stress, muscle strength, and stability – but in this case, I focused primarily on the influence of the abdomen on the back. Every (back) complaint is unique. The cause can vary from person to person and therefore requires a personalized treatment.