Restore your body’s balance with Osteopathy
Improve your mobility by treating the cause of pain that’s the result of injury, stress or overuse and repetition of everyday activities.
Osteopathy is based on the crucial principles for well-being — the good health and harmonious interrelation of skeleton, muscles, ligaments, organs, and connective tissue.
In the late 1800s, Dr. Andrew Taylor Still realized that in order to achieve positive changes in health, all body parts should work harmoniously together as a single unit. His goal was to restore the body to optimal health with minimal surgery and medicine. By the 1890s, he set up the first Osteopathy college, and his ideas of the holistic approach began.
Treatments that work well with Osteopathy:
Why choose Osteopathy to help you with pain?
The body is often able to take care of itself to compensate for injury. However, in some instances, the damage is greater than the body’s ability to adapt or heal.
In Osteopathic treatment, we use hands for complete diagnosis and treatment. Orthopedic and other manual tests and techniques are used to find and treat the root causes. It is suitable for almost anyone and can contribute to the treatment and management of a wide range of conditions. Our primary focus in treatments is restoring optimal functioning to bones, muscles, fascia, nerves and organs when treating acute or chronic pain. We treat not only adults, but we do specialize in treating infants and childrens too.
At Active Therapy in North Vancouver, our Manual Osteopathic Practitioners focuse on three significant methods of treatment: Structural, Craniosacral, and Visceral manipulation.
Can osteopathy help
babies and children?
Structural Osteopathy
When people visit our clinic in North Vancouver for a structural osteopathic treatment, we provide physical, hands-on therapy involving fascia manipulation, muscle stretching and joint mobilization. During your session, we use various techniques, such as the strain/counter strain technique, balanced ligamentous tension (BLT) technique, muscle energy technique (MET) and others. These techniques are gentle, safe, painless and very effective.
As experienced Osteopathic Practitioners practicing in Vancouver, we have developed a keen sense of touch to master osteopathic palpation. That is what makes Manual Osteopathy different from other forms of therapy.
Some of the benefits we can help you with through a structural treatment session include:
- Reduced acute and chronic pain and stiffness in joints and muscles
- Help with joint osteoarthritis, trigger points, tendinitis/tendinopathy/tendinosis
- Mitigate spinal problems caused by poor posture or spinal disk injuries
- Increased range of motion in joints
- Improved posture alignment
- Relief from acute or chronic headaches and migraines
- Reduced scars and adhesions (bands of scar tissue)
- Help with trauma resulting from accidents (sports injuries, motor vehicle injuries, etc.)
- Alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome
Craniosacral Therapy (CST)
CST is the gentlest osteopathic technique developed by the founder of Osteopathy. It’s a non-invasive type of bodywork that relieves compression in the bones of the head that are connected by sutures, sacrum and spinal column.
Treatment provides a very gentle manipulation within the Cranial Sacral area to calm, relax and heal. Craniosacral therapy can have a profound effect on the body by improving the circulation of all body fluids. Especially cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that protects the spinal cord and brain and brings nutrition to our brain. Another benefit is calming the nervous system and removing patterns of strain anywhere in the body. Due to the gentle approach, CST is recommended for babies and children.
What conditions do we treat with Craniosacral Therapy?
- Chronic headaches, migraines, TMJ syndrome, birth traumas
- Chronic neck and back pain
- Learning disabilities, ADHD, stress disorders, insomnia, vertigo, anxiety and depression
- Menstruation conditions, hormonal imbalances, sacroiliac joint ( SI ) pain
- Sinus infection, whiplash, fibromyalgia, fascial adhesions, post-concussion syndrome
- What can you experience during a CST treatment session?
Most of our clients feel a general sense of relaxation. Experiences during a CST session are as individual as the clients and practitioners themselves. Experiences can even vary from session to session. At times our clients may feel very sleepy or may see colours. Others will feel sensations within the body such as tingling, hot and cold, pins and needles, pulsations, a stretching of tissues in particular parts of the body, increased fluid flow or increased energy flow.
Visceral Manipulation (VM)
VM is a hands-on therapy based on the principle that organs have mobility in response to the body moving and natural functions. This technique employs gentle touch that alleviates tension by encouraging the normal mobility, tone and motion of our organs. The visceral system includes the internal organs of the body, such as the liver, stomach, gallbladder, kidneys, spleen, uterus, bladder, pancreas and intestines. If organs cannot freely move, adhesions and displacement can occur, leading to pain, dysfunction and poor posture.
Visceral Manipulation can help with:
- Sciatica, neck, back and hip pain
- Headaches and migraine
- Women’s health problems
- Digestive problems, less bloating
- Swallowing difficulties
- Incontinence problems
- Increasing immunity
- Chronic pelvic pain
- Acid reflux
Can osteopathy help my lower back pain?
Lower back pain is one of the most common reasons our clients are coming to see our Osteopathic practitioners. It can effectively bring relief of pain without using pain medication or surgical options.
The earlier you seek treatment, the more likely we can prevent your condition from becoming chronic. Beyond fixing your current back pain, our Manual Osteopaths will also provide you with proper corrective exercise and stretching to improve posture and alignment.
How is Active Therapy North Vancouver’s Osteopathy different than Chiropractic treatment or Physiotherapy?
There are arguably more similarities than differences between these three professions. Both Osteopathy and Physiotherapy treat musculoskeletal pain and use hands-on treatments. In addition, Osteopaths, Physiotherapists and Chiropractors all train extensively in anatomy, physiology and pathology. The main feature of chiropractic treatment that sets it apart from physiotherapy and osteopathy is its focus on manipulation. Chiropractors focus more on treating the skeletal system, and their treatments are significantly shorter.
Despite their differences in philosophy and treatment, the aim of both Osteopathy and Physiotherapy is to relieve pain. While osteopathic treatment is 90% hands-on, the majority of physiotherapists use a 60% hands-on approach. Physiotherapy treatment will focus on mobilizing the site of injury rather than the ‘whole body’ approach of our Osteopathic practitioners.
Is Osteopathy covered by MSP or Extended Health Benefits?
MSP does not cover osteopathy. However, some providers of extended health insurance have an established relationship with OsteopathyBC and NMOS associations and accept members as qualified providers. Check with your health insurance company to see if Osteopathy is covered in your extended health benefits plan. Upon payment at the clinic a receipt will be issued, which will be proof of payment to be used to submit to your insurance company.
Synergy of Osteopathy & Pilates
At Active Therapy Clinic, we often find ourselves exploring various avenues, from holistic therapies to fitness regimens. Two approaches that have gained recognition for their ability to improve physical well-being and overall health are Osteopathy and Pilates. While each of these methods offers unique benefits, the combination of osteopathy and Pilates can be a powerful synergy, offering more comprehensive and effective results. For more information about Osteopathy with Pilates approach, follow this link.
Learn why Kirsten O’Loughlin, Michal Kapic, and Mehrdad Darvish are considered some of North Vancouver’s best Manual Osteopaths
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